Most outdated bird name (1 Viewer)

[Frenchy]

Egyptian Plover? It no longer occurs in Egypt (despite many optimistic modern records on eBird!!) and its never been a plover. Personally i'd favour giving it an entirely new name to reflect its in its own family. I quite like "African River-courser", or simply "River-courser".

I know its closer to other waders cp to coursers, but it has a nice ring to it

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Egyptian Plover? It no longer occurs in Egypt (despite many optimistic modern records on eBird!!) and its never been a plover. Personally i'd favour giving it an entirely new name to reflect its in its own family. I quite like "African River-courser", or simply "River-courser".

I know its closer to other waders cp to coursers, but it has a nice ring to it

Pluvian fluviatile in French x) River Plovian ?

 

[cajanuma]

Egyptian Plover? It no longer occurs in Egypt (despite many optimistic modern records on eBird!!) and its never been a plover. Personally i'd favour giving it an entirely new name to reflect its in its own family. I quite like "African River-courser", or simply "River-courser".

I know its closer to other waders cp to coursers, but it has a nice ring to it

The Italian name is Guardiano dei coccodrilli, or "the guardian of the crocodiles"". That would definitely make for a unique name.

 

[TomDerutter]

The Italian name is Guardiano dei coccodrilli, or "the guardian of the crocodiles"". That would definitely make for a unique name.

Same in dutch

 

[l_raty]

The Italian name is Guardiano dei coccodrilli, or "the guardian of the crocodiles"". That would definitely make for a unique name.

It has been called "Crocodile-bird" in English.

 

[James Jobling]

I know, let’s devise a plan to give each bird species a unique name in, say, Latin, that would be a consistent identifier usable in any language, leaving the polyglots to battle over their favourite vernaculars.

 

[Richard Prior]

I know, let’s devise a plan to give each bird species a unique name in, say, Latin, that would be a consistent identifier usable in any language, leaving the polyglots to battle over their favourite vernaculars.

Yes but where’s the fun in that James?

 

[Paul Clapham]

I know, let’s devise a plan to give each bird species a unique name in, say, Latin, that would be a consistent identifier usable in any language, leaving the polyglots to battle over their favourite vernaculars.

Latin is so old school though. I mean hardly anybody even speaks it any more. The new international language is English. So all we have to do is to get English speakers to agree on the unique name and everything's tickety boo.

 

[Jos Stratford]

I know, let’s devise a plan to give each bird species a unique name in, say, Latin, that would be a consistent identifier usable in any language, leaving the polyglots to battle over their favourite vernaculars.

Only two little issues - (a) it is not consistent, it is subject to the whims of the latest taxonomy, thus seems to change more often than the English names, (b) given most everyday folk know no Latin, it is usable by a tiny minority in any language

 

[Jos Stratford]

The Italian name is Guardiano dei coccodrilli, or "the guardian of the crocodiles"". That would definitely make for a unique name.

Henceforth Egyptian Plover is known as 'Crocodile Dundee', sure has a neat ring about it 👍

 

[Richard Prior]

Bring back Esperanto that’s what I say

 

[Trinovid]

I think most one word names to describe/name a bird species are fine as is, because even if the original meaning is lost, the word now only links to that bird species.

So please, always keep Gyrfalcon, Lammergeier, Smew, Limpkin, Emu, Kagu, Hoatzin and Sunbittern, over other two part split names, it makes it clear that these are unique animals…

Pretty much covers how I feel on this type of subject, although I do see a split between scientific accuracy and common naming practices.
Science should remain scientific and still be able to allow for inaccuracies in daily usage naming conventions.

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Latin is so old school though. I mean hardly anybody even speaks it any more. The new international language is English. So all we have to do is to get English speakers to agree on the unique name and everything's tickety boo.

How interesting, lets first agree on what is a Robin is in England, North America and Australia, South Africa and so on. Never seen a more stupid proposal. Organismes have only one name, the scientific name and yes that can change with new insights. If some local people agree to name it otherwise, ok with me, but please tell me what you are talking about and have agreed upon.

Latin is just as stuped as Dutch, German or English. Thats is why biologists agreed to use Latin names a long time ago, even long before I was born, lets keep to that convention. (By the way, English is not the most spoken language on earth, so why claim it).

Fred

 

[jurek]

It is my impression that the majority of the birders calling a Meadow Pipit a Mipit themselves consider this slang. As long as they do not consider it a serious name, I would not place mipit into a field guide or checklist.

This is a normal way how real language evolves. See for example 100s of words related to computers and IT which appeared this way in the last 20 years.

Egyptian Plover? It no longer occurs in Egypt (despite many optimistic modern records on eBird!!) and its never been a plover.

Indeed - last record in Egypt was in 1937 so 86 years ago!

And not a Plover in either sense - not a Pluvialis and does not occur on plowed fields. Possible short names could be Nilebird or Sandrunner.

The Italian name is Guardiano dei coccodrilli, or "the guardian of the crocodiles"". That would definitely make for a unique name.

This is a misleading name, coming from the 2400 year old legend that it picks teeth of crocodiles. A good reason to change the name is that some naturalists still believe it in the 21. century!

 

[l_raty]

This is a normal way how real language evolves.

Perhaps, but this is most definitely not the way to go with names that are supposed to act as "consistent identifiers" of bird species.

 

[Xenospiza]

This is a misleading name, coming from the 2400 year old legend that it picks teeth of crocodiles. A good reason to change the name is that some naturalists still believe it in the 21. century!

The legend seems to be impossible to root out... but the habitat (sandy banks) fits both and being a guardian is something else than being an orthodontist. It's a nice unique name for a unique bird, even if I didn't see any crocodiles where I saw Egyptian Plover.

In Germany, it was proposed to change the name for Nightjar from "Goatsucker" to "Nightswallow" (the name in use in the Netherlands). The scientific name Caprimulgus will ensure the legend is not forgotten by those who understand Latin.
Bohemian Waxwing is called "Pestilence Bird" in Dutch, because its erratic occurrence was sure to mean something horrible... maybe we need the name "Photographer Bird" now? The English name only fits because "Bohemian" has come to mean something different...

Which brings me to the most outdated name in English: Barnacle Goose!

 

[Farnboro John]

Only two little issues - (a) it is not consistent, it is subject to the whims of the latest taxonomy, thus seems to change more often than the English names, (b) given most everyday folk know no Latin, it is usable by a tiny minority in any language

However, alea jacta est!

John

 

[01101001]

I've opened Wikipedia, and I'm being told that Egyptian Plover's Polish name is 'Leech-eater'.

 

[Frenchy]

I'm glad we all agree on Egyptian Plover now being called River-courser. Its a great name in the same vein as Quail-plover is a great name, and not an immediately stupid name as in paying homage to a legendary trait that has never been proven to occur....

See, Birdforum can bring us all together to agree on a common cause.

 

[Trinovid]

I'm glad we all agree on Egyptian Plover now being called…

Except that we don’t. I like the name already and see no reason whatsoever to change anything unless it’s on a taxonomic level.

Please don’t speak for others in order to magnify your own opinions.