I have just moved to Florida from Ireland and have discovered that many birds have different names over here...I know I should just start to learn scientific names, but does anyone know of a list of British names for North American birds that might help me in the meantime. Thanks.
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British names for North American birds (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Sligh
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Tim42
Birder4life
I think we call all birds by the same name, for example, you guys have the European Robin and we have the American Robin, but they look very different from each other. Would you call any of the American birds something different in Ireland? Also, in the Middle East and Europe I believe eagles are called buzzards there. I think of a buzzard as a vulture, clearly not an eagle. Cheers! B 
robinm
Registered User
We actually call members of the buteo family buzzards whereas you call them hawks. Eagles are eagles
There are obvious differences like Loon vs Diver and Jaeger vs Skua. I got used to the differences fairly quickly on my trips so I wouldn't worry. One that threw me at first was the use of Sparrowhawk which is not in my Sibley. I discovered this is the American Kestrel.
ben_lewis
Well-known member
One that threw me at first was the use of Sparrowhawk which is not in my Sibley. I discovered this is the American Kestrel.[/QUOTE]
That sounds very odd to me, calling a Kestrel a Sparrowhawk! Here in the UK we call Eurasian Sparrowhawks- Sparrowhawks, it makes more sense and confuses less people! Also calling Vultures- Buzzards sounds like a recipe for disaster, why not call them vultures as that is what they are and what the rest of the world calls them?
That sounds very odd to me, calling a Kestrel a Sparrowhawk! Here in the UK we call Eurasian Sparrowhawks- Sparrowhawks, it makes more sense and confuses less people! Also calling Vultures- Buzzards sounds like a recipe for disaster, why not call them vultures as that is what they are and what the rest of the world calls them?
No they're not, they're not even in the same family as the old world vultures. The only way to avoid confusion would be to adopt an entirely new name for them. "Condors" might be a good candidate. But then again why should millions of people change the way they talk for the benefit of a few expatriate bird watchers?
chris butterworth
aka The Person Named Above
I've always thought that Condor would be the most appropriate name for New World Vultures - an American name for an American group. As for people changing the names of birds to suit 'foreigners' - how come we now have Monk Vulture when it was always Black Vulture ??????????????
Chris
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Periwinkle
Tame Valley Birder
American Kestrel and Eurasian Sparrowhawk are completely different birds.
captaincarot
Well-known member
The only way to avoid confusion would be to adopt an entirely new name for them. "Condors" might be a good candidate. /QUOTE]
I've always thought that Condor would be the most appropriate name for New World Vultures - an American name for an American group. As for people changing the names of birds to suit 'foreigners' - how come we now have Monk Vulture when it was always Black Vulture ??????????????
Chris
what you mean like some loons wanting to change the names of divers to loons o
chris butterworth
aka The Person Named Above
what you mean like some loons wanting to change the names of divers to loons o
BAD MAN, BAD BAD MAN :t:
Chris
That sounds very odd to me, calling a Kestrel a Sparrowhawk! Here in the UK we call Eurasian Sparrowhawks- Sparrowhawks, it makes more sense and confuses less people! Also calling Vultures- Buzzards sounds like a recipe for disaster, why not call them vultures as that is what they are and what the rest of the world calls them?[/QUOTE]...........................................................................)
As for Kestrels: Not all the time and everywhere here in the USA though. We always called a Kestrel a Kestrel here in NE Pennsylvania AFAIK, but we did call a Sharp-shinned Hawk a Sparrow Hawk when I was a kid. We also called a Northern Harrier a Marsh Hawk and, if I am not mistaken, you call the same bird in Europe a Hen Harrier.
And you are correct on Buzzard. Our buzzard here was always the ubiquitous Turkey Vulture (Buzzard).
Bob
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I think, based on it's size, your Sparrowhawk is closer to our Cooper's Hawk here. The Sharp-shin is really quite small, especially the male.
Bob
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chris butterworth
aka The Person Named Above
Our Sparrowhawk is the Eurasian equivalent of Sharp-shin. The only othe accipter in N.W. Europe is Northern Goshawk - nothing inbetween.
Chris
What about 'Old Squaw' and 'Dovkie' for confusing people?
C
Chris
What about 'Old Squaw' and 'Dovkie' for confusing people?
C
I'm not aware of any but there may be one somewhere. If you have European and N.Am. field guides you can compare side by side. But that's not a perfect solution. Some very similar species, e.g. Snowy and Little Egret, Spotted and Common Sandpipers are different species--not just different names. You should check scientific names to see if they are the same. But that's not perfectly reliable either because sometimes the guides will use different scientific names for the same species.
Sparrowhawk used to be the standard name for American Kestrel--you''ll find it in really old field guides, which should also have "Pigeon Hawk" for Merlin and "Duck Hawk" for Peregrine Falcon. These names were all officially changed to their current form because, IIRC, it was thought they reinforced the idea that raptors were threats to particular types of birds and ought to be eliminated.
Best,
Jim
Sparrow Hawk was actually the "official" name (found in all the bird books of the time) for the American Kestrel until the 1950s or 1960s (or maybe even later, I'm not sure exactly when it was dropped in favor of the modern name). It was part of a series of official American falcon names based roughly on size, the others being "Pigeon Hawk" (= Merlin) & "Duck Hawk" (= Peregrine). Goshawk (= Goose Hawk") is part of the same series, though applied to an accipiter not a falcon, and of course is still current. In 2 of these cases, interestingly enough, the old common names are translations of the scientific names: "sparverius" (American Kestrel) = "sparrow"; "columbarius" (Merlin) = "Pigeon".
As far as loon vs diver & the rest, I wouldn’t change anything. I don’t have a problem with different names for the same birds on the 2 sides of the Atlantic. In fact, I rather approve of them.
As far as loon vs diver & the rest, I wouldn’t change anything. I don’t have a problem with different names for the same birds on the 2 sides of the Atlantic. In fact, I rather approve of them.
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Hyrax
Well-known member
Too right! Pigeon Guillemot almost had me. If I hadn't had to learn the scientific names anyway, I may well have dismissed them as Black Guillemots
Jeff Hopkins
Just another...observer
Others I can think of are
horned lark - shore lark
horned grebe - Slavonian grebe
eared grebe - black-necked grebe
lapland longspur - lapland bunting
Kentish plover - snowy plover
though that last one hopefully will be split soon in the US.
The other twist is where we have the same bird on both sides of the Atlantic, but it's the only species of its kind in the UK where there are multiple species in NA, e.g. (winter/pacific) wren, (barn) swallow, etc.
horned lark - shore lark
horned grebe - Slavonian grebe
eared grebe - black-necked grebe
lapland longspur - lapland bunting
Kentish plover - snowy plover
though that last one hopefully will be split soon in the US.
The other twist is where we have the same bird on both sides of the Atlantic, but it's the only species of its kind in the UK where there are multiple species in NA, e.g. (winter/pacific) wren, (barn) swallow, etc.
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