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Birding parlance (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Simon A
- Start date
Darrell Clegg
Well-known member
Birdman, Alan.
Very interesting about the sparrows. Although I have lived in Cornwall for many years I grew up in Featherstone West Yorkshire and we called them "spoggies"
By 'eck - accents eh!!
Darrell
Very interesting about the sparrows. Although I have lived in Cornwall for many years I grew up in Featherstone West Yorkshire and we called them "spoggies"
By 'eck - accents eh!!
Darrell
Darrell Clegg
Well-known member
Kevin,
Steve Madge told me a very funny tale last week about a holiday he and some friends had in Ireland one Christmas many years ago. On Boxing day he heard a knock at the door and answered it to find some very drunken Irishmen announcing that they were the "wren boys" Steve misheard them and thought they said "rent boys" - I'll leave you to think up your own ending to that!!!!
Darrell
Steve Madge told me a very funny tale last week about a holiday he and some friends had in Ireland one Christmas many years ago. On Boxing day he heard a knock at the door and answered it to find some very drunken Irishmen announcing that they were the "wren boys" Steve misheard them and thought they said "rent boys" - I'll leave you to think up your own ending to that!!!!
Darrell
Someone mentioned accents..... I still can't get over the people I've talked to on-line for years, suddenly turn out to have american accents when you eventually chat to them on the phone or meet them. I'd presumed everyone on the net had an Thames estuary accent like myself :t:
Spadgers down here! And I usually end up calling wobblers instead of Warblers.
Andy
Spadgers down here! And I usually end up calling wobblers instead of Warblers.
Andy
birdman
Орнитол&
I know this is going off at a tangent slightly, but speaking of accents...
I have a couple of Sikh friends, and I'm also partial to Indian Food and so frequent the local curry-serving establishments as often as possible.
Consequently, I KNOW that all Asian people speak with a Yorkshire Accent.
So imagine my surprise on visiting the Everest in Fort William, to hear the waiters etc. speaking Scottish!?!?!?!
OK.. now you can go back to bird names....
I have a couple of Sikh friends, and I'm also partial to Indian Food and so frequent the local curry-serving establishments as often as possible.
Consequently, I KNOW that all Asian people speak with a Yorkshire Accent.
So imagine my surprise on visiting the Everest in Fort William, to hear the waiters etc. speaking Scottish!?!?!?!
OK.. now you can go back to bird names....
Crikey, what a veritable can of worms I've opened up with this one! Many thanks for responses so far - some fascinating stuff indeed.
Hailing originally from the Mansfield area (Notts), it was definitely 'spuggies' for me.
Delved deep into the lumber room of my memory and have recalled one or two from my UK birding days:
"Masher" - Marsh harrier;
"Gypo" - Egyptian goose (not terribly PC);
"John Craven" - Raven;
"Tart's tick" - common (ish) bird that you haven't seen.
Haven't heard too many Aussie ones, but I'm sure they're out there being uttered somewhere.
Cheers,
Hailing originally from the Mansfield area (Notts), it was definitely 'spuggies' for me.
Delved deep into the lumber room of my memory and have recalled one or two from my UK birding days:
"Masher" - Marsh harrier;
"Gypo" - Egyptian goose (not terribly PC);
"John Craven" - Raven;
"Tart's tick" - common (ish) bird that you haven't seen.
Haven't heard too many Aussie ones, but I'm sure they're out there being uttered somewhere.
Cheers,
alan_rymer
Well-known member
Eee bye gum, ecky thump.
Beverlybaynes
Mod Squad
Another Americanism I've thought of, that's at least used in the midwest and south, is calling the Woodcock 'bogsucker'.
I've dusted off my old used copy of "The Dictionary of American Bird Names" by Ernest Choate, and have found, among other things:
ACCENTOR: Local name for the Ovenbird, for the penetrating two-syllable song in which the first syllable is accented: TEACH-er, TEACH-er, TEACH-er
BALDPATE: American Widgeon (the white forehead patch resembling baldness)
BASKETBIRD: Baltimore or Northern Oriole, whose nest resembles a basket hanging from a branch
BOGBUMPER: American Bittern, probably for its call
BURGOMASTER: Great Black-Backed Gull, for its large, dominating size
CHEWINK: Towhee, for its call
CUTWATER: Black Skimmer, for how its bill is cutting through water as it feeds
GOBBLER: Wild Turkey, for its call
HELL-DIVER: Grebes, particularly the Pied-Bill
LOG-COCK: Pileated Woodpecker
LORD GOD BIRD: Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, supposedly because its rare sighting and large size would cause people to exclaim, "Lord God, the Bird!"
MUD-HEN: A coot. And there's a baseball team in Toledo, Ohio that calls itself the Mudhens!! Klinger would wear their jerseys on M*A*S*H
RAIN-BIRD: American Cuckoos
REED BIRD: Bobolink, for where they congregate, especially in the Middle Atlantic states, before fall migration
SAWBILL: Mergansers (divers) for their serrated bills
SNAKE BIRD: Anhinga (for which I've also heard WATER TURKEY)
THUNDER PUMPER: American Bittern, for its call
TIMBER DOODLE: Still another for the Woodcock
WHISKY JAY: Common, local name for the Gray Jay
I've dusted off my old used copy of "The Dictionary of American Bird Names" by Ernest Choate, and have found, among other things:
ACCENTOR: Local name for the Ovenbird, for the penetrating two-syllable song in which the first syllable is accented: TEACH-er, TEACH-er, TEACH-er
BALDPATE: American Widgeon (the white forehead patch resembling baldness)
BASKETBIRD: Baltimore or Northern Oriole, whose nest resembles a basket hanging from a branch
BOGBUMPER: American Bittern, probably for its call
BURGOMASTER: Great Black-Backed Gull, for its large, dominating size
CHEWINK: Towhee, for its call
CUTWATER: Black Skimmer, for how its bill is cutting through water as it feeds
GOBBLER: Wild Turkey, for its call
HELL-DIVER: Grebes, particularly the Pied-Bill
LOG-COCK: Pileated Woodpecker
LORD GOD BIRD: Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, supposedly because its rare sighting and large size would cause people to exclaim, "Lord God, the Bird!"
MUD-HEN: A coot. And there's a baseball team in Toledo, Ohio that calls itself the Mudhens!! Klinger would wear their jerseys on M*A*S*H
RAIN-BIRD: American Cuckoos
REED BIRD: Bobolink, for where they congregate, especially in the Middle Atlantic states, before fall migration
SAWBILL: Mergansers (divers) for their serrated bills
SNAKE BIRD: Anhinga (for which I've also heard WATER TURKEY)
THUNDER PUMPER: American Bittern, for its call
TIMBER DOODLE: Still another for the Woodcock
WHISKY JAY: Common, local name for the Gray Jay
bristolbirder
Well-known member
Andrew.
"Dip out must be a pure birding term as it is not in my dictionary of Idioms."
Have to disagree with you there mate as "dip out" or"dipped out" meaning to miss out on something, was quite a common expression down here at least as far back as the 70's.
Possibly an old hippy term. (Not that I would know about such things of course!) :girl:
"Dip out must be a pure birding term as it is not in my dictionary of Idioms."
Have to disagree with you there mate as "dip out" or"dipped out" meaning to miss out on something, was quite a common expression down here at least as far back as the 70's.
Possibly an old hippy term. (Not that I would know about such things of course!) :girl:
Surreybirder
Ken Noble
Michael Frankis said:
Alpine Dunnock (nice bird!) seems to be pushing it a bit--though I agree that it's better than hedge accentor. Still don't know how to pronounce it!:bounce:
Michael Frankis
conehead
Another very useful one ..
Pine Crossbill
Equals {Parrot + Scottish} Crossbill, since unless you've got a recording and sound analysis setup, you can't tell them apart
As opposed to Spruce Crossbill (= Common Crossbill). In both cases, the names derived from their favoured food trees.
Michael
Pine Crossbill
Equals {Parrot + Scottish} Crossbill, since unless you've got a recording and sound analysis setup, you can't tell them apart
As opposed to Spruce Crossbill (= Common Crossbill). In both cases, the names derived from their favoured food trees.
Michael
P
peter hayes
Guest
Have you had many grippos, Kevin?!!!!!
It seems that 'Spadger' or 'Sparrer' or 'Spadgick' are used pretty well throughout England, whereas 'Spuggie' is mostly a northern term. In the south-east it can be 'Sparr'.
Probably all derived from variations on Old Norse 'sporr', Old German 'sparo', Middle English 'sparewe', or Old English 'sparwa'.
Alan Hill
Probably all derived from variations on Old Norse 'sporr', Old German 'sparo', Middle English 'sparewe', or Old English 'sparwa'.
Alan Hill
P
peter hayes
Guest
Kevin
No wonder you RM's are lifelong friends - you speak an entirely different language to the rest of us!
No wonder you RM's are lifelong friends - you speak an entirely different language to the rest of us!
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