Birds in Bagan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bagan is situated on the shore of a branch of the largest river in Myanmar, the mighty Ayeyarwadi, in the British colonial time known as Irrawaddy. The habitat in this area is dry shrubland, dominated by acacias and a cactus-like species of tree spurge, Euphorbia antiquorum.

During a visit to Bagan in 2007, Judy and I stayed in a charming hotel in the centre of the shrubland, and we found the area so pleasant that we stayed here for more than two weeks. We spent the time walking around in the shrubland, occasionally resting at the shore of the Ayeyarwadi, or in the shade, provided by the many pagodas. During our stay, I succeeded in taking pictures of a large part of the local bird species.

Families, genera, and species are presented in alphabetical order. Nomenclature largely follows the IOC World Bird List (worldbirdnames.org). Information about etymology is often based on J.A. Jobling, 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names, Christopher Helm, London.

In case you encounter any errors on this page, I would be grateful to hear about it. You can use the address at the bottom of the page.

 

 

The family name is derived from the Latin accipiter (‘hawk’), from accipere (‘to grasp’), naturally alluding to the sharp talons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin caelum (‘sky’), and a diminutive suffix, thus ‘small sky’, i.e. having the colour of the sky, thus ‘sky-blue’, alluding to the bluish sheen in the plumage.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek aigithos, a mythical bird mentioned by Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) and other classical authors.

 

The specific name may be derived from the Greek typhe, referring to Tiphys, skilled helmsman on the ship Argo, which carried Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. (You may read more about this quest on the page Animals – Animals as servants of Man: Sheep and goat.)

The common name supposedly stems from the Greek ioros (‘watchman’, ‘towncrier’). The connection is obscure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The etymology of the generic name is obscure.

 

The specific name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘small-winged’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘brown’ or ‘dusky’.

 

 

 

 

 

These birds are not closely related to cuckoos or shrikes. The name may refer to the grey colour of many cuckooshrikes, which makes them superficially resemble cuckoos.

 

Several of the species are very colourful, the males being predominantly red and black, the females yellow and black. Other members of the genus are presented on the pages In praise of the colour orange, and Animals – Birds: Birds in Taiwan.

The generic name is derived from the Greek peri (‘very’ or ‘all around’) and krokotos (‘golden-yellow’). The word minivet is of unknown origin.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white-fronted’, whereas the popular name commemorates British physician and naturalist Thomas Caverhill Jerdon (1811-1872) who described many birds species in India, several of which are named after him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘dove’, the feminine form of columbus (‘male dove’), a Latinized version of the Greek kolumbos (‘diver’). This name was applied by Greek comic-writer Aristophanes (c. 446-386 B.C.) to the common rock pigeons, due to the ‘swimming’ motion made by their wings in flight.

 

However, the species was domesticated at an early stage, and numerous forms are found in most parts of the world, including feral pigeons, which often form huge populations in cities around the world.

The specific name stems from Theodore Gaza’s work from 1476, Aristotelis de natura animalium, in which he translates the Greek word for dove, peleia (probably derived from pellos = ‘dark-coloured’), into livia, derived from the Latin livens (‘lead-coloured’), ultimately from livere (‘being bluish’).

Several pictures, depicting this bird, are shown on the page Animals: Urban animal life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, jackdaws were also placed in this genus, but following genetic research, they have been moved to a separate genus, Coloeus.

 

Other pictures, depicting this bird, are shown on the page Animals: Urban animal life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Hindi name for the male of this bird, jaggar, and the common name is a derivation of this term.

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, the family was much larger, encompassing bushshrikes, puffbacks, tchagras, boubous, and helmetshrikes. However, genetic research has shown that these groups are not closely related to shrikes. As a consequence, bushshrikes, puffbacks, tchagras, and boubous have been moved to the family Malaconotidae, helmetshrikes to the family Vangidae.

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin lanio (‘butcher’), derived from laniare (‘tearing to pieces’). Shrikes were formerly known as ‘butcher-birds’, referring to their habit of storing prey by impaling it on thorns and sharp twigs, thus resembling a butcher’s slaughterhouse. The name shrike stems from Old English scric, alluding to their call.

 

The specific name is composed of the specific name of the European red-backed shrike (L. collurio), and Ancient Greek oides (‘resembling’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the past, these genera all belonged to the family Timaliidae, which constituted a true ‘waste-bin of systematics’, in which hundreds of bird species were placed. Today, most of these species have been moved to other families.

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘-throated’. Did the author forget albo– (‘white’)?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Greek name of the European bee-eater (M. apiaster). Originally it meant ‘endowed with speech’, used in poetry to describe articulated people who ‘divided voices’, from meros (‘portion’) and ops (‘voice’). (Source: en.wiktionary.org)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) mentions anthos, a small, brightly coloured bird, and Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) mentions anthus, both maybe referring to the yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava).

In Greek mythology, Anthos, son of Antinous and Hippodamia, was trampled to pieces by his father’s horses. The gods transformed him into a bird, which would imitate the neighing of a horse, but always fled from the sight of horses. Perhaps Aristotle had noticed wagtails taking off because of horses.

 

The taxonomy of this species is complex. Some of the presently 6 recognized subspecies were formerly treated as subspecies of the Australasian pipit (A. novaeseelandiae), and some authorities regard it as a subspecies of Richard’s pipit (A. richardi).

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘reddish’ or ‘rufous’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin saxum (‘rock’) and incola (‘dwelling among’), alluding to the preferred habitat of the type species, the common stonechat (S. torquatus), which has since been divided into 5 species.

 

It is sexually dimorphic, males being largely black, with white lower belly, rump, and undertail coverts, and a white wing patch, whereas females are mainly reddish-brown, with white throat and undertail coverts, and a black tail.

According to French naturalist Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1723-1806), in his work Traquet de l’isle de Luçon, from 1760, Maria-capra was the name given to the pied bushchat by the inhabitants of Luzon, Philippines – indeed an odd name, meaning ‘the she-goat of Virgin Mary’. He may have misunderstood, as other sources maintain that it is the Luzon name of the pied fantail (Rhipidura javanica).

 

 

 

 

 

With their downward-curved bills, these colourful birds are adapted to feed on nectar (hence the name of the family), but they also eat fruit, insects, and spiders. Although they resemble the hummingbirds of the Americas, these two groups are entirely unrelated, the resemblance being an example of convergent evolution.

Africa holds a bewildering array of sunbirds, and a large number of species are also found from the Middle East across the Indian Subcontinent to Indochina, southern China, Indonesia, New Guinea, and northern Australia.

 

The generic name alludes to a small bird, mentioned by Greek grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria (5th or 6th Century A.D.) in his work Lexicon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later studies found that parrotbills were not at all related to tits, and, together with the bearded reedling (Panurus biarmicus), they were moved to a separate family, Paradoxornithidae (‘paradoxical birds’), which was placed near the timalids (Timaliidae). The bearded reedling has since been moved to a family of its own, Panuridae.

Recent genetic research has had the effect that a number of birds, which were previously placed in Timaliidae, have been moved to Paradoxornithidae, including Chrysomma (below). Today, the family contains about 16 genera with c. 37 species of small to medium-sized birds.

 

The generic name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘golden-eyed’, derived from khrysos (‘gold’) and omma (‘eye’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘from China’.

 

 

 

 

 

Despite their name, snowfinches of the genera Montifringilla, Onychostruthus, and Pyrgilauda are not finches, but members of the sparrow family.

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘yellowish’, alluding to the yellowish cheeks and underparts of the male. The name Pegu refers to a city in southern Myanmar, which was the capital of a united Burma in the 16th Century.

 

 

 

 

 

Sub-Saharan members of the family, called greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills, are mainly forest birds, whereas the majority of Asian species, and some African species, live in open areas.

Several species are described on the pages Animals – Birds: Birds in Taiwan, and Birds in the Himalaya.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pyknos (‘thick’ or ‘compact’) and notos (‘-backed’), applied in 1826 by German zoologist and lawyer Friedrich Boie (1789-1870), who described many new species and several new genera of birds. He and his brother Heinrich also described about 50 new species of reptiles. Presumably, Boie found that these birds were quite compact.

 

The specific name was given in honour of English geologist and zoologist William Thomas Blanford (1832-1905), who collected birds in Abyssinia, Persia, and India.

The name streak-eared bulbul is now used for birds with the Latin name P. conradi, having a wider distribution in Indochina.

 

 

 

 

 

In a zoological context, the specific name merely means ‘of South Africa’. It was applied due to a misunderstanding. When the bird was described in 1760 by French naturalist Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1723-1806) in his Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés, he obviously thought that the type specimen was collected at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.

Strictly speaking, the word cafer originates from the Arabic kafir (‘unbeliever’ or ‘infidel’), implying people who did not ‘admit’ (to the blessings of God), i.e. non-Muslims. Later, the term was mainly used for Christians, but in East Africa also for pagan black Africans. In the 1700s, English missionaries in South Africa adopted the word as an equivalent of ‘heathen’, referring to non-Christian black Africans. In the 1900s, it changed meaning, becoming a derogatory term for black Africans in general. (Source: etymonline.com/word/kaffir)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to Brahma, one of the three supreme deities in Hinduism, the others being Vishnu and Shiva.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many species have been introduced elsewhere, including North America, Hawaii, and New Zealand. They often compete with native birds, and many are regarded as invasive species, in North America especially the common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), which is described on the pages Nature: Invasive species, and Birds in the United States and Canada.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek akridos (‘locust’) and theras (‘hunter’). When locusts or grasshoppers are abundant, starlings and mynas gorge themselves on these insects. An example is described on the page People: Pehr Forsskål – brilliant Swedish scientist.

 

Previously, it was placed in the genus Sturnus, and some authorities still regard it as belonging to that genus.

 

 

 

 

 

The common myna was originally a woodland bird, but has adapted very well to agricultural as well as urban environments.

Escaped cage birds have established populations in numerous other countries, including South Africa, Madagascar, several Arabian states, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. In many places, it has become a pest, which expels native birds, especially in Australia, where it has been called “a most important problem”. The IUCN Species Survival Commission has declared it one of the world’s most invasive species and a threat to “biodiversity, agriculture, and human interests”.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘sad’ or ‘gloomy’, presumably referring to the dull plumage of this bird.