Alternative Names. (1 Viewer)

Andrew

wibble wibble

• Jan 21, 2003

• #1

Hello all,

I want to start a forum thread to educate newcomers to birding like myself. The use of various names can be confusing to us so to kick off can anyone help me out with two names . .

Bonxie
I know this is a Shearwater but which one is it?

Caspian Gull
Is this a species not covered by Collins Guide or an alternative name for one of the gulls?

Hope this thread will help a lot of birders learn the various slang terms birders use.

 

S

Stringer

Well-known member

• Jan 21, 2003

• #2

Bonxie is a Scottish name for great skua
Caspian Gull is a race/subspecies of herring gull

 

MikePearson

Well-known member

• Jan 21, 2003

• #3

Yeh good idea Andrew, I keep seeing black brant and while I think that this a morph of 'Brent geese'[ I may well be wrong.

Apologies for being a dude!

Mike

 

fatbirder

Fatbirder

• Jan 21, 2003

• #4

Black Brant is one form of Brent goose - one of three dark-bellied and pael-bellied being the other two... some people have split off Black Brant as a separate species...

bo

 

El Annie

Phew..............

• Jan 21, 2003

• #5

What a great idea Andrew - I remember first time I saw 'sprawk' not a clue what it was supposed to be!! Turned out to be Sparrow Hawk

Annie

 

T0ny

Okillre Member

• Jan 21, 2003

• #6

Bill Oddie's got a reasonable glossary in, you guessed it, the Little Black Bird Book. To tickle the old grey matter, any takers on Whoopie and Ring Pull ?

Tony

 

Andrew

wibble wibble

• Jan 22, 2003

• #7

I assume this is a test? I would guess Whoopie is Whooper Swan and Ringed Pull is Ringed Plover?

Thanks for elucidating on the Bonxie and Caspian. Can anyone show me where I can see the identification requirements of a caspian Gull cos I might see one at Belvide this weekend?

Another one here, I assume Redhead is a female Smew, what about Brownheads?

 

Last edited: Jan 22, 2003

T0ny

Okillre Member

• Jan 22, 2003

• #8

Andrew,
Right about the Ringed Plover, but usually a Whoopie is a Wood Pigeon - often said with a note of irony or resignation in the voice, as they are notorious for doing in-flight impressions of a whole host of other species.

I think redhead and brownhead are interchangeable terms for the females and immatures of the sawbills (Smew, Goosander and Merganser) and also Goldeneye.

Tony

 

birdman

Орнитол&

• Jan 22, 2003

• #9

I've mentioned this in a previous thread - please see "Passion for Books" in Books and Pubs, if you're interested in the rest of my recommendations - but on the subject of names, may I suggest you buy or borrow a copy of...

British Birds, their Folklore, Names and Literature. (Francesca Greenoak - ISBN 0-7136-4814-7)

Not only do you get 51 alternative British names for the Dunnock, but also details of the derivation of many British bird names, and the varying ways in which birds have made an impact in British legend. A very interesting alternative to the standard fayre for the bird enthusiast.

 

Reader

Well-known member

• Jan 22, 2003

• #10

A couple of shortened versions of bird names spring to mind like:
The Lesserpecker (lesser spotted woodpecker)
Fudge duck (Ferruginous Duck)

I bet you good people could come up with some brilliantly funny ones (especially with the sense of humour that came up with earlier jokes): lol

 

jeff

Well-known member

• Jan 22, 2003

• #11

Andrew said:

Thanks for elucidating on the Bonxie and Caspian. Can anyone show me where I can see the identification requirements of a caspian Gull cos I might see one at Belvide this weekend?

Click to expand...

You could try the gull id site.......

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/6181/cach_d.htm

or surfbirds

http://www.surfbirds.com/ID Articles/ad.html

 

Last edited: Jan 22, 2003

Andrew

wibble wibble

• Jan 22, 2003

• #12

Jeff,

Thanks for those links, it certainly seems a hard bird to identify however I have reeled off a hard copy to take with me.

Birdman,
Thanks for the suggested reading material, I'm always up for a good book on birds and birding. Got enough fieldguides for now though!

Here's another few terms. . .

Leucistic - I assume this is a bird with anomalies in plumage resulting in white patches like a blackbird down at the local Kwiksave?

Melanistic - Is this the opposite of leucistic where the bird is black as opposed to it's normal pluamge?

 

H

HH75

Well-known member

• Jan 22, 2003

• #13

Hi Andrew,
If you are interested in the identification of Caspian Gull it would be well worth your while getting your hands on one of the papers published in journals such as British Birds,Birding World and Alula,or maybe purchasing the forthcoming gulls guide by Klaus Malling Olsen(due next month).
Of course,while the answer you got(i.e.that Caspian is a subspecies of Herring)is correct,it may conceivably be split in the future.It's a good candidate for splitting,as it can be identified in the field at all ages(with care),differs from "our" Herring in voice/behaviour etc.,and usually doesn't interbreed with any other forms of Herring Gull(except most notably in inland colonies in Poland,which have only recently been established and have only small numbers of Herring,Caspian and Yellow-legged,so as to increase the likelihood of interbreeding)
Caspians are very rare here in Ireland,but more abundant(while still being rare)in the UK.Where is Belvide?Caspians more likely in the Midlands or E.England.
Harry

 

Andrew

wibble wibble

• Jan 22, 2003

• #14

Thanks for the info Harry, Belvide is in Staffordshire about a few miles north west of Wolverhampton if I am recollecting rightly. there have been good reports from here. I am keen on the gull and the many Goosanders, I see Megansers myself being on the coast so Goosanders will be a new tick for me.

 

Andrew

wibble wibble

• Jan 24, 2003

• #15

I did not get the Caspian today at Belvide, however I did get a nice selection of birds including an Iceland Gull, Goosanders and 16 Reed Buntings.