Avian misnomers (2 Viewers)

[alanc]

55

 

[Microtus]

Also, birds with extraneous words:

Black-capped Donacobius: In contrast to all the other Donacobius?
Rosy Thrush-tanager: In contrast to all the other Thrush-tanagers?

Exactly. Both those names bother me.

 

[Microtus]

Acadian Flycatcher. It's an extremely rare bird in Nova Scotia, which hasn't been known as Acadia since the 1700s.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. In fact, all the empids have yellow bellies. The distinguishing yellow area on the Yellow-bellied Fly is actually the throat.

 

[Nightjar61]

Inca Dove. Its range is from northern Central America to the southwestern USA. The Incas, of course, were in the Andes of South America.

A proposal to change the name to Aztec Dove was rejected by the AOS a few years ago. Much of the bird’s range is within what was once the Aztec empire.

Dave

 

[Mysticete]

Inca Dove. Its range is from northern Central America to the southwestern USA. The Incas, of course, were in the Andes of South America.

A proposal to change the name to Aztec Dove was rejected by the AOS a few years ago. Much of the bird’s range is within what was once the Aztec empire.

Dave

I have a feeling this is going to be revisited as part of the reassessment of common bird names

 

[Xenospiza]

Acadian Flycatcher. It's an extremely rare bird in Nova Scotia, which hasn't been known as Acadia since the 1700s.

It's still in use though: Acadia National Park - Wikipedia

Apparently it originally meant "any Empid": it would fit Yellow-bellied Flycatcher much better.
And it may be important to learn why this region hasn't been known as Acadia since the 1700s.

 

[Xenospiza]

55

Muttonbird isn't an official name: it is used for (the chicks of) Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwater.

 

[alanc]

ok have discounted Muttonbird
so 57.....

 

[dantheman]

ok have discounted Muttonbird
so 57.....

Half-price lamb? Baked Beans?

Thread needs renaming imo.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Muttonbird isn't an official name: it is used for (the chicks of) Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwater.

I do know that, I was simply adding to the food theme, started by Jan.

 

[Xenospiza]

I do know that, I was simply adding to the food theme, started by Jan.

I know you know that, but it should not have been counted as a "misnomer" by alanc.

 

[dantheman]

Technically, many of the numbered misnomers are not misnomers, but the number of species mentioned on this thread. What would be interesting, imo, would be to discuss/come up with a consensus (if possible!) of those that really are misnomers/misnamed!

 

[jurek]

Inca Dove. Its range is from northern Central America to the southwestern USA. The Incas, of course, were in the Andes of South America.

A proposal to change the name to Aztec Dove was rejected by the AOS a few years ago. Much of the bird’s range is within what was once the Aztec empire.

Dave

It will be interesting watching those American keyboard warriors, who want to change bird names not politically correct or racially tolerant enough.

Incas and Aztecs practiced violence and discrimination which Stalin or Hitler would consider horrible.

The same can be told about many other non-industrial cultures, actually.

 

[dantheman]

It will be interesting watching those American keyboard warriors, who want to change bird names not politically correct or racially tolerant enough.

Incas and Aztecs practiced violence and discrimination which Stalin or Hitler would consider horrible.

The same can be told about many other non-industrial cultures, actually.

You just lost ...

Godwin's law - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No need to digress into names, but whoever White or Sykes, was, I've never met them, so irrelevant to me - avian misnomers???

 

[Richard Prior]

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?

Maybe it only comes out to play when the daylight begins to end Andy !
Stygian gloom: “The middle half of this game, and the end, was played out in gloom so Stygian Dickie Bird would have been reaching for the smelling-salts and a handy flashlight.”

 

[Xenospiza]

Gull-billed Tern: no gull has such a bill
Parakeet Auklet: no parakeet has such a bill
Trocaz Pigeon: this means "pigeon pigeon". I agree that "Madeiran Pigeon" would be boring and the old "Long-toed Pigeon" is just silly..

 

[alanc]

Lady Amherst?????

alan

 

[Sangahyando]

Lady Amherst?????

alan

Well if you're now including eponyms, then you have to target all of them, and that's a lot. IMO that's kind going into a different direction, though.

 

[MJB]

Steppe Grey Shrike** (whose status over the decades has swung between species and subspecies) characteristically occupies desert, saxaul desert or dry rough ground, & not steppe-like grassland as a migrant breeder (Panov & Bannikova 2010), thus the English name Saxaul Grey Shrike is inadequate.

Currently, it is a subspecies (IOC11.1) within the Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor complex, but molecular research so far carried out indicates its closest relative in that complex is the largely sedentary lahtora of the Indian subcontinent, just reaching easternmost Iran, which taxon has priority (Olsson et al 2010) (Some have called lahtora + pallidirostris Desert Grey Shrike, but that name has been used earlier for the African taxon elegans.

The OSME Region List names this combination 'Mauryan Grey Shrike', because its distribution matches that of the greatest extent of the Mauryan Empire (also called the Mahajanapada Federation). Possible other English names are 'Mughal Shrike' or 'Timur Shrike'.

Dutch Birding group lahtora + pallidirostris + aucheri + buryi as 'Asian Grey Shrike'.
MJB
**The name Steppe Grey Shrike has also been used earlier, but for L.(e.) homeyeri (Dement'ev & Gladkov 1968).

Dement'ev, GP and NA Gladkov. 1968. Birds of the Soviet Union. Vol 6. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem. [English translation of the 1954 Russian original: Ptitsy Sovetskogo Soyuza. Sovetskaya Nauka, Moscow.]
Olsson, U, P Alström, L Svensson, M Aliabadian and P Sundberg. 2010. The Lanius excubitor (Aves, Passeriformes) conundrum—Taxonomic dilemma when molecular and non-molecular data tell different stories. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 55(2): 347-357.
Panov, EN and AA Bannikova. 2010. On the validity of the 'Steppe Grey Shrike' as an independent species. Sandgrouse 32(2): 141-146.