Avian misnomers (1 Viewer)

[alanc]

It occured to me the other day that many of our feathered friends have either misleading or inaccurate English names. I thought it might be fun to see how many the members can come up with. Please no duplication.

I will start with one highlighted to me by my 8 year old grandson

#1 Black-headed Gull (it's brown)

cheers alan

 

[Nightjar61]

2. Ring-necked Duck.

It’s almost impossible to see the dark brown ring between the purple head and black breast. I’ve seen thousands of Ring-necked Ducks, but saw the ring only once, at very close range and in good lighting conditions.

Dave

 

[Andy Adcock]

Turtle Doves look nothing like Turtles.

 

[mummymonkey]

There is a recent fashion for sticking the prefix "common" in front of the names of birds that are anything but.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Iceland Gulls come from Greenland....

 

[opisska]

Bohemian Waxwing. I truly can't imagine how it got this name, as it's only an irregular winter visitor in Bohemia!

 

[aeshna5]

Marsh Tit- never seen one in a marsh. a bird of deciduous woodland.

 

[Lisa W]

Hooded Oriole and Scott’s Oriole, the Scott’s has the hood not the hooded. Took me the longest time to get them straight.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Grey Wagtail

 

[Th. Stegmann]

Bald Eagle... Has anybody ever seriously seen a "bald" one?

 

[Sangahyando]

Bohemian Waxwing. I truly can't imagine how it got this name, as it's only an irregular winter visitor in Bohemia!

Well, on the other hand, at least it's the only bird (AFAIK) with the prefix "Bohemian". Maybe the person naming it just wanted an excuse for some regional representation

Hooded Oriole and Scott’s Oriole, the Scott’s has the hood not the hooded. Took me the longest time to get them straight.

Also, they're technically not orioles (as in: related to the Golden Oriole), but troupials (oriole analogues from the Americas)...

 

[opisska]

Marsh Tit- never seen one in a marsh. a bird of deciduous woodland.

Is a wetland in a forest still "marsh" in English or not? Here in Poland we have a lot this kind of habitat where you have deep mud, peat and small water bodies in a forest and Marsh tits love that.

 

[skatebirder]

Garden Warbler, Blackcap (female), maybe Black Kite and Bluetit are also pushing it a bit.

 

[skatebirder]

Bird namers don't get colours right very often, do they (Green Sandpiper?) and sometimes they use the flimsiest of evidence (Spotted Flycatcher). They must have been having a rare moment of enlightenment when they named Red-flanked Bluetail...or is that flank orange?

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Moustached Warbler

 

[Andy Adcock]

Tambourine Dove, looks nothing like a tambourine and to my knowledge, has never been observed, playing one.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Stygian Owl - As stygian means of or relating to the river Styx in Greek mythology, how does this name attach to a bird that isn't even found in Europe?

 

[dantheman]

Bohemian Waxwing. I truly can't imagine how it got this name, as it's only an irregular winter visitor in Bohemia!

Named after their socially unconventional lifestyles - including hanging around in groups in unexpected places (such as supermarket car parks), and in fairly flamboyant style.

 

[opisska]

Named after their socially unconventional lifestyles - including hanging around in groups in unexpected places (such as supermarket car parks), and in fairly flamboyant style.

You are actually onto something, as it seems that the Waxwings are actually named after their wandering lifestyles - however that's still a "second hand misnomers", because "bohemian" is used for this because somebody in France once thought that the likewise wandering Roma people come from Bohemia, which is however not true.

In any case, for "flamboyant style" the Czech people (currently residing in Bohemia) are the worst representatives you could ever choose

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Another colour example, Purple Sandpiper