• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Language question: waterbirds or water birds (2 Viewers)

Gonçalo Elias

Gonçalo Elias

avesdeportugal.info
Portugal
Hi all,

I am not sure if this is the right forum to ask this, if not please redirect me.

My question is this: in British English, what is the correct way to write when the subject is aquatic birds:

water birds (two words)
OR
waterbirds (a single word)

For example: at lake X, it is possible to see many wintering waterbirds / water birds

Thanks in advance for any help.
Gonçalo
 
I would prefer "waterbirds" (just as in seabirds, shorebirds). The RSPB and BTO use this too.

Waterfowl feels more like a hunting term for ducks.
 
Waterbirds and wildfowl. The former encompasses wildfowl, crakes, rails and I would have thought herons etc, others may have their own opinions. Wildfowl is limited to ducks, geese and swans.

John
 
Xenospiza said:
I would prefer "waterbirds" (just as in seabirds, shorebirds). The RSPB and BTO use this too.

Waterfowl feels more like a hunting term for ducks.
Click to expand...

...and 'waterbird' is in the acroynym 'AEWA'... (The African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement) and has been since the early 1990s at least.
MJB
 
[QUOTE. Wildfowl is limited to ducks, geese and swans.John[/QUOTE]

Yes, Waterfowl includes only ducks, geese and swans. If you want to include other birds then use Waterbirds.
 
Gonçalo Elias said:
Hi all,

I am not sure if this is the right forum to ask this, if not please redirect me.

My question is this: in British English, what is the correct way to write when the subject is aquatic birds:

water birds (two words)
OR
waterbirds (a single word)

For example: at lake X, it is possible to see many wintering waterbirds / water birds

Thanks in advance for any help.
Gonçalo
Click to expand...

Hope this doesn't confuse you, but I'd say, yes, I agree with most on this thread - "waterbird" - but also suggest that "water birds" is not wrong.
 
davercox said:
Hope this doesn't confuse you, but I'd say, yes, I agree with most on this thread - "waterbird" - but also suggest that "water birds" is not wrong.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave. No problem, I am not confused, actually I have found both options in many texts so from the beginning I felt that both were correct. My question was more about which of them is preferable.

Regards,
Gonçalo
 
Waterbirds over water birds imo. It's kind of entered into the english language as a real term so better to use it?

(But then it is land mammals not landmammals still ...)
 
As an other not-English-native-speaker, I think English isn't always logical. (And it maybe so with Finnish too - but lets not talk about that now) 3:)
 
"water birds" isn't specific enough.

For example you can go to see some woodland birds, some moorland birds or some mountain birds. You wouldn't go to see some water birds, but you might go to see some lakeside birds or estuary birds.
 
dantheman said:
"water birds" isn't specific enough.

For example you can go to see some woodland birds, some moorland birds or some mountain birds. You wouldn't go to see some water birds, but you might go to see some lakeside birds or estuary birds.
Click to expand...

AEWA (see my post above) is quite specific about their long-established term 'waterbird(s)' means:

"AEWA covers 255 species of birds ecologically dependent on wetlands for at least part of their annual cycle, including many species of divers, grebes, pelicans, cormorants, herons, storks, rails, ibises, spoonbills, flamingos, ducks, swans, geese, cranes, waders, gulls, terns, tropic birds, auks, frigate birds and even the south African penguin." AEWA then lists all 255.

So yes, you would go to see waterbirds... (tongue firmly in cheek):t:
MJB
 
Quote:
True. But who said it had to be? Anyway, what language is? Show me a language with no "irregular verbs"....
Farnboro John

Hey, John, please mind your linguistic remarks :)^). Afrikaans, the beautiful language of South Africa, which developed parallelously to our own Dutch - and which some of my compatriots still qualify as "such a funny speech" - has dropped all irregular verbs which the Dutch language still contains. There is even no imperfect past tense, as in "I was, I did, he came", in Dutch :"ik was, ik deed, hij kwam"; such phrases have turned into "ek het gewees" (Dutch: ik ben geweest), "ek het gedoen" (Dutch: doen, gedaan = to do, done), hy het gekom (Dutch: hij is gekomen).
By the way, the linguistic development did not take away all irregularities, example: in Dutch we have "nacht, nachten" (night, nights), in Afrikaans: nag, plural: nagte, and Dutch: "dag, dagen" (day, days) became: dag, daë, so South African children have to learn such things which are not logical for them. . .
Cheers, just a side-track (side track?) from a language freak, Jan (= John) van der Brugge
 
MJB said:
AEWA (see my post above) is quite specific about their long-established term 'waterbird(s)' means:

"AEWA covers 255 species of birds ecologically dependent on wetlands for at least part of their annual cycle, including many species of divers, grebes, pelicans, cormorants, herons, storks, rails, ibises, spoonbills, flamingos, ducks, swans, geese, cranes, waders, gulls, terns, tropic birds, auks, frigate birds and even the south African penguin." AEWA then lists all 255.

So yes, you would go to see waterbirds... (tongue firmly in cheek):t:
MJB
Click to expand...

In which connection, "shorebirds": a term for waders that still hasn't really caught on..... 3:)

John
 
Warning! This thread is more than 4 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

A
Any advice on the topic of attracting green darners to our backyard?
Replies
0
Views
278
Avon Avians
A
binomania
What should I do with my 300 video reviews? Request for advice
Replies
7
Views
710
tenex
tenex
A
SOUND Recording ID Requested - Several different calls/birds/songs recorded
Replies
0
Views
793
Apb_birds
A
laszlo111
Southern Morocco, November 2022.
Replies
6
Views
2K
laszlo111
laszlo111
JRP01
Santoña 8 to 11 december 2022
Replies
0
Views
648
JRP01
JRP01

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)
Back
Top