Birds in the United States and Canada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 specific name is Latin, meaning ‘lined’, alluding to the white horizontal stripes on the rufous breast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘royal’, derived from regis, genitive of rex (‘king’). The common name means ‘rust-coloured’, borrowed from Latin ferrugineus, which is derived from ferrugo (‘rust’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours English naturalist and artist William Swainson (1789-1855), who brought back to England a huge collection from Brazil and other places, including over 20,000 insects, 1,200 species of plants, drawings of 120 species of fish, and about 760 bird skins.

While he was generally regarded as having some expertise in zoology, his botanical career turned out to be disastrous. William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), the first director of the famous Kew Botanical Gardens, wrote about him: “In my life I think I never read such a series of trash and nonsense. There is a man who left this country with the character of a first rate naturalist (though with many eccentricities), and of a very first-rate natural history artist, and he goes to Australia and takes up the subject of botany, of which he is as ignorant as a goose.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek eremos (‘desert’) and phileo (‘to love’), alluding to the preferred habitat of Temminck’s lark (E. bilopha), which was described in 1823 by Dutch zoologist and museum director Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858). Initially, it was placed in the genus Alauda, but both horned larks were moved to Eremophila in 1828 by German zoologist and lawyer Friedrich Boie (1789-1870).

 

No less than about 42 subspecies of this bird have been described, distributed across most of the Northern Hemisphere, along the Arctic coasts from Scandinavia eastwards to Alaska and north-eastern Canada, southwards to Mexico, with an isolated population in Columbia. It is also found in the major part of Central Asia, southwards to the Himalaya, westwards to Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Balkans, with an isolated population in the Atlas Mountains of north-western Africa. Arctic populations are migratory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The winter months are spent in the southern half of North America, in Central America and the Caribbean, in the major part of Europe and the Middle East, in northern and eastern Africa, and in the Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, Taiwan, and the northern Philippines.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘sharp-pointed’, alluding to the pointed tail.

 

 

 

 

 

It is a close relative of the widespread mallard (A. platyrhynchos), and the two species often interbreed, which can make identification of pure black ducks difficult.

The specific name is derived from the Latin ruber (‘ruddy’) and pes (‘foot’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The white-fronted goose is divided into five subspecies, breeding along the entire northern Siberian coastal areas, in Alaska and northern Canada, and western Greenland. The wintering areas include northern Ireland, northern Scotland, Holland, northern Germany, Hungary, the northern Black Sea coast, Iraq, the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, Japan, Korea, south-eastern China, southern United States, and northern Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

The snow goose is mainly a bird of the New World, breeding in northern Canada and Alaska, with small populations in Greenland and north-eastern Siberia. It spends the winter along the Pacific coast, from southern British Columbia southwards, and also in southern United States and Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was named in honour of Bernard R. Ross (1827-1874), who worked for the Hudson Bay Company in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek aithyia, an unidentified seabird, mentioned by Greek grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria (5th or 6th Century A.D.), and also by Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘necked’, derived from collum (‘neck’), in this case referring to a narrow cinnamon-coloured ring around the neck of the male, although this is often very hard to see.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of brandgás (‘burnt goose’), the Old Norse name of the brent goose (Branta bernicla), referring to the mainly black plumage of this species. In English, ‘burnt’ became ‘brent’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek bous (‘bull’) and kephale (‘head’), alluding to the odd head shape of these birds.

 

The specific name is a diminutive of the Latin albus (‘white’), thus ‘small white’ (duck). The common name refers to the head shape, a combination of ‘buffalo’ and ‘head’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of the Greek kyknos (‘swan’).

 

Some authorities regard the two subspecies as separate species. They differ in bill colour, Bewick’s swan having a large patch of yellow skin at the base of the bill, wheareas the whistling swan has dark skin with only a small yellow spot at the base.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from a Brazilian-Portuguese word, marréco, meaning ‘small duck’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘noisy’ – a strange name for this bird, which is not very noisy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latin word, used by Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) as the name of an unspecified waterbird.

Previously, two other ducks were included in the genus, the hooded merganser, now called Lophodytes cucullatus, and the smew, today named Mergellus albellus. Research has shown that they are not closely related to mergansers.

 

The specific name is a concoction of the generic name and the Latin anser (‘goose’).

 

 

 

 

 

Breeding males are a rich chestnut brown, females and non-breeding males brownish.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek oxys (‘sharp’) and oura (‘tail’).

 

It has been introduced to several places in Europe, where it is regarded as an invasive species that competes with local ducks. In southern Europe, it interbreeds with the rare white-headed duck (O. leucocephala), polluting the gene pool. Efforts have been made to eradicate the ruddy duck from Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the Latin word for ‘spoon’ or ‘spatula’, alluding to the spatulate bill of shovelers.

 

The winter months are spent in the southern half of North America, in Central America and the Caribbean, in the major part of Europe and the Middle East, in northern and eastern Africa, and in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, southern China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the northern Philippines.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘shield-bearing’, alluding to the broad and flat bill.

 

 

 

 

 

One or three species are found in the Old World. If only one species is acknowledged, it is called A. melanogaster. Most authorities, however, recognize three full species: Oriental (A. melanogaster), African (A. rufa), and Australasian (A. novaehollandiae).

The generic name means ‘little head’ in the Tupi language of Brazil, referring to an evil spirit of the forests, the devil bird. (Source: G. Marcgrave 1648. Historiae rerum naturalium Brasiliae. Liber V)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its diet consists of molluscs, mainly apple snails (Pomacea).

The generic name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek aramos, a type of heron mentioned by Greek grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria (5th or 6th Century A.D.). The specific name is from the Tupi language of Brazil, referring to some marshbird. The common name stems from the gait of the bird, looking as if it limps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many members of the family are presented on the pages Fishing, and Animals – Birds: Birds in Taiwan.

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek erodios, the classical name of herons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Middle English botor (‘bittern’), and Ancient Greek oides (‘resembling’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘greenish’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Provençal French aigrette, a diminutive of aigron (‘heron’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘blue’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘reddish’, derived from rufus (‘red’).

 

 

 

 

 

In 1782, the specific name was mistakenly applied to this bird by Chilean Jesuit priest and naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina (1740-1829), who didn’t realize that in fact thula was the local Mapuduncun name for the black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bird, which was banded in Virginia in 1958, was shot in the Bahamas in 1976, thus reaching the ripe age of almost 18 years.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘having three colours’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is in fact a misnomer. French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot (1748-1830) attempted to name the bird ‘silktail’ in Latin, translating the German name Seidenschwanz. He analyzed motacilla, the Latin name of the white wagtail (M. alba), as mota (‘move’) and cilla, which he thought meant ‘tail’. The word is actually derived from motare (‘to move’ or ‘to shake’), and the diminutive suffix illa, thus ‘the little shaker’, alluding to the tail of the white wagtail always bobbing up and down. However, some time during the Middle Ages the belief arose that cilla meant ‘tail’. Vieillot then combined cilla with Ancient Greek bombyx (‘silk’).

The common name alludes to the bright red tips of the secondary feathers on the wings of the Bohemian waxwing, which look like drops of sealing wax.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of cedars’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic and common names allude to the brilliant red plumage of the northern cardinal (below), which resembles the red robes of cardinals. Originally, cardinalis is Latin, meaning ‘principal’ or ‘chief’, short for cardinalis ecclesiae Romanae, that is ‘presbyters of the cardinal (chief) churches of Rome’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘golden’, presumably alluding to the sometimes yellowish head of the two other members of the genus. Once upon a time, they were probably all regarded as a single species. The head of the turkey vulture is always red, similar to the colour of the head of the male turkey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek korax (‘raven’) and gyps (‘vulture’), the former alluding to the raven-black plumage of this bird. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘clothed in mourning’, derived from ater (‘black’). Very black indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since 1992, immature birds have been released at various places in south-western United States, and it has also been re-introduced to Baja California in north-western Mexico. In the beginning, the re-introduction faced many problems. The birds were too accustomed to being near people, some even flying inside houses, and also inside the visitors’ centre at Grand Canyon. The largest problem, however, was lead poisoning. The carcasses that the condors were eating were often shot using lead pellets, and if the birds swallowed too many of these pellets they died from lead poisoning. Some birds also died due to collision with electric wires.

Therefore, the condors were being fed with carcasses without pellets, and the population slowly began to increase. Today, the species is thriving at several locations in California, Arizona, and Utah, and also in Baja California, where a small populations is found. In 2020, the total number of birds living in the wild was around 335, and about 200 lived in captivity.

The Californian condor is the only member of the genus. The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek gymnos (‘naked’) and gyps (‘vulture’), the first part alluding to its naked head. The common name condor is derived from kundur, the Quechua name of the Andes condor (Vultur gryphus).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the Latin word for a yellowish bird, mentioned in Biblia Vulgata, a Latin translation of the Bible from the late 4th Century. The word was derived from Ancient Greek kharadrios, a bird found in river valleys, from kharadra (‘ravine’).

 

It is threatened by development and increased traffic on the shores, and there are probably less than 10,000 individuals altogether.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘melodious’, alluding to its call.

 

 

 

 

 

The common name is an imitation of its call. The specific name also refers to the call, derived from the Latin vox (‘cry’) and ferre (‘to bear’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The word stork originates in Ancient Germanic sturkoz.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek mykterizo (‘to turn up the nose’), from mykter (‘snout’). Presumably, it refers to the large bill of these birds, causing them to raise their ‘nose’.

 

It is widely distributed in the Caribbean, and Central and South America, southwards to northern Argentina. There are also small populations in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. These northern populations are partly migratory, and in winter it may be encountered around the Gulf of Mexico, and also along the Mexican Pacific coasts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘dove-like’, derived from columba (‘dove’).

 

The specific name is a misnomer, as this species does not occur in lands of the former Inca Empire. Presumably, French naturalist René Primevère Lesson (1794-1849), who named the bird in 1847, thought that the specimen originated in South America.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek patageo (‘to clatter’) and oinas (‘pigeon’). Presumably, the name alludes to the wing-clapping of several pigeons when taking off.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘banded’, like the common name alluding to a dark band across the centre of the tail, dividing it into a dark grey base and a pale grey outher half.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was introduced in 1838 by French ornithologist Charles Bonaparte (1803-1857), 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano, in honour of his wife Zénaïde (1801-1854).

 

Despite its specific name asiatica, meaning ‘from Asia’, this dove is a New World bird, distributed in south-western United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Presumably, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), who named this bird Columba asiatica in 1758, was told that the type specimen originated in Asia.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek makros (‘long’) and oura (‘tail’), referring to the long tail of this bird. The common name refers to its call, which sounds rather mournful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A large number of species are described on the page Animals – Birds: Corvids.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek apheles (‘naïve’, but in this connection translated as ‘simple’) and kome (‘well-tended hair’), given in allusion to the lack of stripes or bands on these birds, compared to other jays.

 

This bird was once lumped with 3 other species, collectively simply called the scrub jay. Then two populations were split to form separate species, the Florida scrub jay (A. coerulescens), which lives in Florida, and the island scrub jay (A. insularis), which is confined to Santa Cruz island off the Californian coast. The remaining populations were now called western scrub jay. Later, the inland populations were split to form a new species, Woodhouse’s scrub jay (A. woodhouseii), whereas the coastal populations were named California scrub jay.

 

 

 

 

 

The Mexican jay is distributed from eastern Arizona and western New Mexico southwards along the Sierra Madre Occidental, almost to Mexico City, and thence northwards along the Sierra Madre Oriental to the Chisos Mountains in southern Texas.

The specific name honours a German traveller, named Wollweber, who collected birds in Mexico in the 1840s for the Darmstadt Museum in Germany. Apart from that we know nothing about him, as the archives of the Darmstadt Museum were destroyed during World War II.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin name of the common raven (C. corax).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is a Latinized form of the Greek korax, meaning ‘raven’ or ‘crow’. The English name derives from Old Norse hrafn, ultimately from Proto-Germanic khrabanas.

Due to its intelligent behaviour, the raven appears in numerous mythologies. In Norse mythology, the ravens Hugin (‘thought’) and Munin (‘memory’) were the servants of the supreme god Odin, bringing news to him from all over the world. The raven figured on banners of Norse kings like Cnut the Great and Harald Hardrada.

The raven was also an important bird to the Celts. According to Irish mythology, the goddess Morrígan alighted on the hero Cú Chulainn’s shoulder in the form of a raven after his death. In Welsh mythology, the name of the god Bran Fendigaid (in English called ‘Bran the Blessed’) means ‘raven’, and the bird was his symbol.

Among a number of peoples in Siberia, north-eastern Asia, and North America, the raven was regarded as a creator god. To the Tlingit and Haida peoples of Pacific North America, it was also a trickster.

Genesis 8: 6-7 says, “So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark, which he had made. Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro, until the waters had dried up from the earth.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kyanos (‘dark blue’) and kitta (‘jay’), alluding to their predominant colour.

 

The specific and common names commemorate German naturalist and explorer Georg Wilhelm Steller (1709-1746), born Stöhler, who participated in the Russian Great Northern Expedition (1733-1743), also known as the Second Kamchatka Expedition, led by Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681-1741). Steller is considered a pioneer of Alaskan natural history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most important food item for these birds are seeds of various pines (Pinus), which they break open with their powerful bill. This fact is reflected by the generic name, which is derived from the Latin nuci (‘nut’) and frango (‘to break’).

When pine nuts are abundant, they make caches of surplus seeds, storing as many as 30,000 in a single season. They are able to remember the location of as many as about 70% of their stash, even when buried in snow. They often store the nuts far away from where they were collected, and are thus important in re-establishing forests in logged or burned areas. (Source: D.F. Tomback 2016, in Why birds matter: avian ecological function and ecosystem services, edited by Sekercioglu, Wenny & Whelan, University of Chicago Press)

In regions without pine trees, seeds of spruce (Picea) and hazelnuts (Corylus) form an important part of the diet.

 

This bird was described by Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) during the Lewis and Clark expedition 1803-1806. The first observation was done by Captain William Clark (1770-1838) in 1805 along the banks of the Salmon River, a tributary of the Columbia River – hence the specific name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bird is known by several popular names, including whisky jack, which is a corruption of Wisakedjak, a benevolent trickster and cultural hero in Cree, Algonquin, and Menominee mythologies. Among the Tlingit people of north-western North America it is known as kooyéix or taatl’eeshdéi, meaning ‘camp robber’, alluding to its tameness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genetic research has shown that these birds are not closely related to raptors of the family Accipitridae. Their similar feeding habits are an example of convergent evolution.

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin falx, or falcis (‘sickle’), referring to the talons.

 

The specific name is the Latin word for sparrowhawk. In 1731, the bird was named ‘little hawk’ by English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749), who studied flora and fauna in the New World.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek haima (‘blood’) and orrhos (‘rump’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘thorn’. Originally, the word was applied by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), as Carduelis spinus, to the Eurasian siskin, presumably due to its very fine and pointed bill, an adaptation to eat the small seeds of alders (Alnus).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘sad’ or ‘gloomy’. Why this name was applied to this beautiful bird, is incomprehensible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the Latin word for some unidentified seabird.

 

In winter, American birds are found along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, ranging as far south as central Mexico on the Pacific side, and Texas on the Atlantic side. North Atlantic birds spend the winter around Iceland and along coasts of northern and western Europe, as far south as Portugal.

The specific name is the Norwegian name for the common loon. It is perhaps originally a Norse word, as the Icelandic name of the bird is himbrimi (‘surf roarer’). Icelandic names are often much closer to the original Norse words than the Scandinavian names.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Greek mythology, Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus.

 

Today, five subspecies are recognized: canadensis, which breeds in eastern Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada. It is the most abundant of the subspecies, comprising about 500,000 birds; tabida, which breeds in southern Canada, and northern and western U.S.; pratensis, which is found in Florida and the southernmost part of Georgia; pulla, which is restricted to the south-eastern corner of the state of Mississippi; and, finally, nesiotes, which is only found on Cuba. A sixth subspecies, rowani, is no longer accepted, and some authorities only acknowledge two subspecies, canadensis and tabida. The populations in Mississippi and on Cuba are very small and threatened with extinction.

Northern populations, including the Siberian breeding birds, spend the winter in south-western U.S. and Mexico, whereas the southern populations are resident.

The sandhill crane has spread considerably in Siberia in later years and is now a threat to many bird species by eating their eggs and young. This issue is described on the page Animals – Birds: Sandhill cranes – a threat to breeding birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1954, the last remaining breeding place of the whooping crane was found in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, and an intensive research program began. An egg was taken from nests with two eggs. (This could be done without hesitation, as only one young survives from each nest.) The collected eggs were incubated artificially, and the young were kept for a breeding program. The only known wintering area, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, was already protected. The population of cranes slowly increased, and in 1969 there were 68 birds.

Between 1975 and 1988, 380 whooping crane eggs were placed in nests of sandhill cranes in Idaho. But although 38 young made it to adulthood, they were behaving like sandhill cranes, and no young were produced in the flock. The experiment was stopped.

Since 1993, several hundred birds raised in captivity have been released in Florida, with the hope of creating a local population of resident birds. By 2003, 95 had survived, and since 2000 a few young have made it to adulthood. The problem is that bobcats (Lynx rufus) and other carnivores eat the young. In 2018, the wild population here was 14 individuals, while 163 were kept in captivity.

In 2001 and 2002, altogether 21 young whooping cranes, reared in Wisconsin, were trained to follow an ultralight plane, and in the autumn they followed the plane to Florida. This population, numbering 90 in 2007, now migrate on their own between Wisconsin and Florida. Since 2006, this flock has produced a few young, which migrate with the adults to Florida.

In 2011, a new population was established in south-western Louisiana from 10 young birds, reared in captivity. In 2018, this flock counted 54 birds.

Overall, the effort has been a succes. In 2008, the total population of whooping cranes was 270 birds, increasing to 849 in 2018.

This magnificent bird was saved in the nick of time, but it is still the rarest crane species in the world, threatened by inbreeding, draining programs, and collisions with high-voltage wires. In Aransas, the most important wintering area, a new road has stopped the inflow of water from the rivers. This has caused the population of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), which constitutes the most important food item for the cranes, to decline. Oil drilling is taking place in the vicinity, and a few times petro-chemical products from trucks have been seeping into the area, polluting it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four subspecies are migratory, spending the winter as far south as South Africa, northern Australia, and Argentina. The birds may be seen year-round in southern Mexico, southern Iberian Peninsula, Egypt, the Himalaya, southern China, and Taiwan.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘rural’, derived from ruris (‘countryside’). In his Historiæ animalium, Liber III, published in 1555, Swiss physician and naturalist Konrad Gessner (1516-1565) calls the bird Hirundo domestica, from the Latin domus (‘house’). The barn swallow mostly builds its nest on or inside buildings, very often in stables or barns – hence its common name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek petros (‘rock’) and khelidon (‘swallow’), alluding to a type of swallow building its nest on rocks.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek pyrrhos (‘flame-coloured’) and notos (‘-backed’), but the bird was originally described as golondrina rabadilla acanelada (‘swallow with cinnamon-coloured rump’) by Félix de Azara (1746-1821), who was a member of a delegation that was sent to the Río de la Plata region in 1777 to negotiate the border dispute between the Portuguese and Spanish colonies. de Azara ended up spending about 20 years in the area, until 1801. He drew an accurate map of the region, and also began studying birds and mammals, of which he described many new species.

 

 

 

 

 

Like the generic name, derived from Ancient Greek stelgis (‘scraper’) and pteryx (‘wing’), the common name refers to the serrated edge of the wing feathers of these birds.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin serra (‘saw’) and penna (‘feather’), thus roughly the same meaning as the generic name.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek takhys (‘fast’) and kineto (‘movement’).

 

It nests in holes, and was formerly restricted to forested areas, but since the introduction of nest boxes it is also found in open habitats.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘with two colours’.

 

 

 

 

 

Despite the names blackbird and oriole, these birds are not closely related to the Old World blackbird (Turdus merula) or the Old World orioles (Oriolus). These two groups were named by early settlers due to their resemblance to the Old World birds.

 

The generic name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek agelaios, meaning ‘gregarious’.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek phoinikeos (‘crimson’), referring to the red tuft on the wing of the male.

The tricolored blackbird (A. tricolor), which is distributed from northern California southwards to northern Baja California, is very similar, but has a white, not yellow wingpatch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek eu (‘good’) and phagos (‘eating’). What it refers to is not known.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek kyanos (‘dark-blue’) and kephale (‘head’). The male has a purplish-blue head. The common name honours American naturalist Thomas Mayo Brewer (1814-1880).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek ikteros (‘jaundice-yellow’), originally the name of a yellow bird, perhaps the golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus), the sight of which was said to cure jaundice.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin cucullus (‘hood’), presumably alluding to the yellow crown and nape.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was taken from the specific name of Gracula quiscula, applied in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) to the common grackle, today called Quiscalus quiscula. It may be a Carib word, Quisqueya (‘the mother of all lands’), alluding to the island of Hispaniola, or it may stem from the Castilian quisquilla, which means ‘a trifling dispute’, referring to the noisy behaviour of these birds.

The common name stems from the old English word gracule, which can be traced back to 1772. It is an Anglizised form of the Latin word graculus, the name of an unidentified bird, which later authors identified as the jackdaw (Coloeus monedula). To me, grackles do not at all resemble the jackdaw!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A picture, depicting the female, is shown on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in Costa Rica and Guatemala.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a diminutive of the Latin Sturnus (‘starling’), thus ‘little starling’. They do resemble starlings a bit, but are not closely related to them. The ‘lark’ part of their name alludes to their melodious song.

Previously, South American meadowlarks were included in this genus, but have since been moved to the genus Leistes.

 

In south-eastern Canada and central United States, its range overlaps with that of the very similar eastern meadowlark (S. magna), but hybrids between them are rare.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ignored’ or ‘neglected’. The famous painter John James Audubon (1785-1851) explained that although the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806 mentioned yellow larks, they had never been formally described.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic and specific names are derived from Ancient Greek xanthos (’yellow’) and kephale (’head’).

 

 

 

 

 

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 derived from the Latin ludovicius (‘Louis’ or ‘Louisiana’) and the suffix ianus (‘pertaining to’, ‘of’). The type specimen came from the state of Louisiana. The common name alludes to the disproportionally large head of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khroizo (‘to colour’) and kephale (‘head’), alluding to the dark head of many of the species in the breeding season.

 

The common name honours French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857), 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano, who spent four years in the United States, updating Alexander Wilson’s Ornithology or History of the Birds of the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Greek, meaning ‘water-swallow’, alluding to the graceful flight of most terns. However, I must say that the name is not very well chosen for the Caspian tern, which is probably the least swallow-like among terns!

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized version of the Greek laros, the classical name for a kind of seabird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to the Delaware River. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek glaukos (‘blue-grey’), alluding to the wing colour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours explorer and naturalist Adolphus Lewis Heermann (1821-1865), who travelled throughout the United States, collecting birds, fishes, reptiles, and plants.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘marine’, derived from mare (‘sea’).

 

 

 

 

 

It is a large bird, to 68 cm long and weighing up to 1.4 kg. It is divided into two subspecies. The northern nominate race, found from central California northwards, has paler wing colour and darker eye colour than the southern subspecies wymani. In central and northern California, you may encounter both subspecies.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘western’, derived from occidens (‘west’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours English chemist and mineralogist James Smithson (c. 1765-1829), who was born in France as the illegitimate child of Elizabeth Macie and Hugh Percy, the 1st Duke of Northumberland. He was named Jacques-Louis Macie, but his mother brought him to Britain, where his name was changed to James Louis Macie. Following his mother’s death in 1800, he adopted his father’s original surname of Smithson. As he had no children, he wrote in his will that his estate be used “to found in Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” Thus he became the patron of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., although he had never visited the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and phaios (‘dusky’), alluding to the dark plumage of most species, and to the white crescent above and below the eyes.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin atra (‘black’) and cilla (‘tail’). This is puzzling, as the laughing gull has a white tail (see flight picture below). According to the Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), when naming the bird, may have intended to write atricapilla (‘black-haired’), alluding to its black head in the breeding plumage.

The common name refers to its call.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The three species are widely separated geographically, the black skimmer (below), which lives in the New World, the African skimmer (R. flavirostris), which is found in central and southern parts of Africa, and the Indian skimmer (R. albicollis), which is distributed in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent and in Myanmar.

Incidentally, the correct spelling of the generic name is Rhynchops, derived from the Greek rhynkhos (‘bill’) and ops (‘face’). However, when the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) described the black skimmer in 1755, he misspelt the name as Rynchops. According to the nomenclatoric rules, the first published name is the valid one.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘black’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Old English stearn, which appears in the poem The Seafarer, from the 10th Century. A similar word was used for these birds by the Frisians, whereas the Scandinavians used, and still use, the word terne (Danish and Norwegian) or tärna (Swedish).

 

In America, it breeds from central Canada and north-central United States and the Great Lakes area eastwards to Newfoundland, and thence along the coast southwards to Texas, the Bahamas, and Cuba.

It spends the winter along coasts from about 20^o northern latitude southwards to southern South America, Africa, and Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, it was considered conspecific with the little tern (S. albifrons) of the Old World.

The specific name refers to the Antilles, another name for the Caribbean islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘to mimic’, applied due to the ability of these birds to mimic a wide variety of bird calls and other sounds.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek polys (‘many’) and glossa (‘tongue’), alluding to its great ability to mimic sounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek oros (‘mountain’) and skoptes (‘one who mocks’). The common name is explained below.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek toxon (‘arch’) and stoma (‘mouth’), alluding to the curved bill of these birds.

The common name alludes to the feeding behaviour of these birds, which use their long bill to ‘thrash’ through dirt or dead leaves.

 

It has a varied and distinctive song, which has given it the Mexican folk name cuicacoche (‘songbird’).

The specific name is derived from the Latin curvus (‘curved’) and rostrum (‘bill’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘reinstated’ or ‘renovated’. What it refers to is not clear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kallos (‘beauty’) and peplos (‘robe’), alluding to the ornate plumage of these birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is found in dry areas, from eastern California, southern Nevada, Utah, and Colorado southwards to the western tip of Texas and northern Mexico, as far south as the state of Sinaloa.

The specific name was given in honour of American naturalist William Gambel, born Gamble (1823-1849), from Philadelphia. As a young man, he worked closely together with the renowned naturalist Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859). At the age of 18, he traveled overland to California, becoming the first botanist to collect specimens in several areas in the Southwest. However, he soon ran out of money, and for three years he worked as a clerk on several navy ships, visiting Mexico, Hawaii, Tahiti, the Marquesas Islands, Peru, and Chile. He returned to Philadelphia in 1845, where he received a medical degree in 1848. However, he had difficulty in establishing a medical practice in Philadelphia, so he decided to go to California. He joined an ox-train, working as a doctor on the way. In December 1849, while treating miners with typhoid at the Yuba River, he contracted the disease himself and died.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name refers to Pandion, a mythical king of Athens. However, there were two kings with that name in Athens. They were frequently confused by later authors, but neither was ever metamorphosed into a bird of prey. Pandion II had four children, one of whom, Nisus of Megara, was transformed into a hawk. This metamorphosis, which is related in detail under Micronisus gabar (on the page Birds in Africa), was probably what French naturalist Marie Jules César Lelorgne de Savigny (1777-1851) had in mind, when he moved the osprey to a separate genus in 1809.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek hals (‘sea’) and aetos (‘eagle’).

The name osprey was first recorded around 1460, a corruption of the Latin avis praedae (‘bird of prey’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The name titmouse can be traced back to the 14th Century, composed of the words tit, which denotes something small, and the Old English name for these birds, mase, from Proto-Germanic maison, which is also the source of the German name Meise, the Danish and Norwegian mejse, and the Swedish mes.

The word chickadee refers to the alarm call of the black-capped chickadee (below), a distinctive chick-a-dee-dee-dee.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek baios (‘small’) and lophοs (‘crest’), thus ‘with a small crest’.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘with two colours’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from poikilis, the Ancient Greek name of an unknown small bird.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin ater (‘black’) and capillus (‘hair of the head’), like the common name referring to the black cap of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The family name stems from the original name of the northern parula, Parus americanus, applied in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), as he regarded it as a kind of tit (genus Parus). Later, the genus name was changed to Parulus, and then to Parula, from which the family name was taken.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek ses (‘moth’) and phagein (‘to eat’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘blackish’, derived from nigrescere (‘to become black’), originally from niger (‘black’).

 

 

 

 

 

It has two subspecies, which are quite different and may be two distinct species. In breeding plumage, the eastern subspecies hypochrysea, known as yellow palm warbler, has yellow underparts with rufous streaking, and brownish-olive upperparts, whereas the nominate subspecies, called brown palm warbler or western palm warbler, is much less yellow below, with less streaking, and greyish-brown upperparts. They are both less colourful in winter plumage.

Most birds migrate south to spend the winter in southeastern United States, the Caribbean, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Central America, but a few may winter along the Atlantic coast, as far north as southern Nova Scotia, and some birds are also seen along the Pacific coast, from Washington southwards to California.

 

 

 

 

 

For many years, they were placed with the Old World buntings in the family Emberizidae, but genetic research has shown that they form a monophyletic group of uncertain relationship with the buntings, and the family Passerellidae has been erected, originally established in 1851 as a subfamily, Passerellinae, by German ornithologist Jean Louis Cabanis (1816-1906).

New World sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, comprising about 138 species in 30 genera, including some genera, which were formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae).

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek aimos (‘thicket’) and philos (‘fond of’).

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin rufus (‘reddish-brown’) and ceps, originally cipes, from Proto-Italic kaputis (‘-headed’), originally from Proto-Indo-European kaput (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

It is distributed from southern Washington and souther Idaho southwards to Baja California and central Mexico. Most populations in the United States are migratory.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek amphi (‘around’) and spiza (‘finch’), alluding to its similarity to finches. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘double-striped’, referring to the two white stripes on the side of the head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khondros (‘coarse grain’) and edo (‘to eat’). The specific name, which should be spelled grammicus, is Latin, meaning ‘lined’, referring to the many stripes on this bird, either in the head or on the back.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Spanish, derived from the Latin iuncus, meaning ‘reed’ or ‘rush’. Originally, junco was the name of the reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus). Why it was applied to these birds is not clear.

 

The specific name is a form of the Latin hiemalis (‘of the winter’). Originally, in 1731, English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749), who studied flora and fauna in the New World, called this species ‘snow-bird’, naming it Passer nivalis (‘snow-sparrow’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek melos (‘song’) and spiza (‘finch’).

 

It lives in a variety of habitats, but tends to favour marshes.

The specific name is Greek, meaning ‘singing’. All its names refer to its varied and melodious song.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and zone (‘belt’). It may refer to the black stripe on the cheek of Prevost’s ground sparrow (M. biarcuata).

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin crissum (‘vent’), alluding to the reddish-brown vent of this otherwise brown bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘to chirp’. The common name is an imitation of the call of the eastern towhee (P. erythrophthalmus).

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek khloros (‘green’) and oura (‘tail’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘spotted’, alluding to the white spots on the back.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a diminutive of Ancient Greek spiza (‘finch’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘sparrow-like’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek zone (‘band’) and thrix (‘hair’), alluding to the boldly streaked crown of most of the species.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and ophrys (‘eyebrow’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the United States, house sparrows were introduced several times between 1851 and 1875, as it was thought that they would be able to control populations of harmful insects in cereal crops. However, they only catch insects when feeding their young, whereas the rest of the year they eat the very crops they were supposed to protect. It spread rapidly and is today considered a serious crop raider in large parts of North America. It also competes with local species at bird feeders etc.

Other pictures, depicting this bird, may be seen on the pages Animals: Urban animal life, and Nature: Invasive species.

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly, it was presumed that the gular sac was a means to store food for several days, but this is not the case. This belief was the cause of a funny limerick, written in 1910 by American poet Dixon Lanier Merritt (1879-1972):

 

 

However, recent DNA research has revealed that the 5 Old World species (great white, Dalmatian, pink-backed, spot-billed, and Australian) form one lineage, whereas the American white, the brown, and the Peruvian form another. The great white was the first to diverge from the common ancestor, which suggests that pelicans evolved in the Old World and later spread into the Americas.

Traditionally, pelicans were thought to be related to cormorants, darters, gannets, frigatebirds, and tropicbirds, but genetic research has shown that they form an order, Pelecaniformes, together with herons, the hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), and the shoebill (Balaeniceps rex).

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek erythros (‘red’) and rhynkhos (‘bill’). The bill of most birds is yellow, but may occasionally have a reddish tinge, as seen in some individuals in the pictures below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘western’, derived from occidens (‘west’).

Other pictures, depicting this bird, are shown on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in Costa Rica and Guatemala.

 

 

 

 

 

Numerous cormorant species are presented on the pages Fishing, and Silhouettes.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek nannos (‘dwarf’) and pteron (‘wing’), referring to the flightless cormorant (N. harrisi) of the Galapagos Islands, which has tiny wings. Genetic research has shown that the neotropical cormorant (N. brasilianum) and the double-crested cormorant (below) are close relatives of the flightless cormorant, and they have been moved to this genus, although their flight capability is normal.

 

The specific name means ‘eared’ in Latin, which, like the common name double-crested, refers to its twin crests during the breeding season, one on each side of the head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These birds were previously included in the genus Phalacrocorax.

The generic name is adapted from the Russian common name for the red-faced cormorant (Urile urile).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘with brush-like tufts’. In the breeding plumage, this bird has white ear-tufts.

The common name commemorates Prussian zoologist Johann Friedrich von Brandt (1802-1879), who worked in the Russian service, and also explored Siberia. He described this cormorant in 1838, based on a skin in the collection of the Zoological Museum at St. Petersburg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek alektoris (‘chicken’).

 

The specific and popular names refer to the bird’s call, a far-reaching chuck-chuck-chukar-chukar.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a combination of the original genus name for grouse, Canace, introduced in 1852 by German botanist and ornithologist Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (1793-1879), derived from Ancient Greek kanacheo (‘to make noise’), and –ites, an adjective-forming suffix, thus ‘of grouse’ or ‘resembling a grouse’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Greek word for the helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris). In his book The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names (2010), James Jobling writes: “The names Turkeycock and Turkeyhen were used for guineafowl in the 16th and early 17th Centuries, because they were brought from Africa to Europe through the Ottoman or Turkish dominions, and by this confusion Linnaeus used the generic term Meleagris for the American turkey (M. gallopavo), which was unknown to the ancients. When the guineafowl and turkey were subsequently distinguished as separate species, turkey was erroneously retained for the American bird.”

 

Since reintroduction programs were initiated, the species has bounced back, and a loose estimate puts its present number at 7 million individuals. Today, it even occurs in areas of Canada, where it was not found previously.

The specific name is derived from the Latin gallus (‘domestic hen’) and pavo (‘peacock’), applied in 1555 by Swiss physician, naturalist, and philologist Conrad Gessner (1516-1565), because the overall appearance of the turkey is that of a fowl, but in its size and bright tail it resembles a peacock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek drys (‘tree’), and bates (‘walker’), from baino (‘to tread’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ladder’. Like the common name it refers to the scaly pattern on the upperside of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek drys (‘tree’) and kopos (‘beating’), thus ‘the one that beats trees’.

 

The specific name refers to the prominent red crest of this bird, from the Latin pilleus (‘cap’) and atus (‘resembling’), thus ‘with a cap-like (crest)’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was introduced in 1832 by English ornithologist William John Swainson (1789-1855) for the red-headed woodpecker (below). It is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and herpo (‘to creep’).

 

The specific name refers to the Carolinas. Presumably, English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749), who described the bird in 1731, collected the type specimen there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek erythros (‘red’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

Despite its preference for acorns, the specific name of this bird means ‘ant-eater’ in the Latin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek ouropygion (‘tail feathers’). It is not clear what it refers to. The common name alludes to the Gila River Basin in Arizona and New Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek aikhme (‘spear’) and phero (‘to carry’), alluding to the long, sharp bill of these birds.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘western’, derived from occidens (‘west’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin podicis (‘vent’) and pes (‘foot’), referring to the legs being placed at the rear end of the body of these birds.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin niger (‘black’) and collum (‘neck’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the Atitlan grebe (P. gigas) became extinct around 1990, it is the sole member of the genus.

The generic name is a contraction of the Latin podiceps, from podicis (‘vent’) and pes (‘foot’), referring to the legs being placed at the rear end of the body of this bird, and Ancient Greek kolymbos (‘diver’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek polios (‘grey’) and ptilon (‘plumage’), alluding to the dominant colour of the type species, the blue-grey gnatcatcher (P. caerulea).

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and oura (‘tail’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phaeinos (‘brilliant’, ‘shining’) and peplos (‘cloak’), alluding to the plumage of the male. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘shining’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for coot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin for ‘little hen’.

 

It is extremely similar to the Old World moorhen (G. chloropus), and it is a bit of a mystery to me, why it has been split from that species.

The specific name is derived from the Latin galea (‘helmet’), alluding to the shield on the forehead.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the Ancient Greek word for the European swamphen (P. porphyrio).

 

The specific name alludes to the Caribbean island Martinique. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first part of the generic name is from the Latin amentum, a leather strap, which was attached to a javelin, used in ancient Greek athletics, hunting, and warfare. This strap helped to increase the range and stability of the javelin in flight. (Source: E. Gardiner 1907. Throwing the Javelin. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 27: 249-273)

The second part of the name is from the Greek pous (‘foot’). Thus, Himantopus may be translated as ‘strap-leg’, which of course refers to the very long, thin legs of these birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin recurvus (‘curved backwards’) and rostrum (‘bill’), referring to the up-curved bill of these birds, an adaptation to ‘skim’ the surface of the water in search of tiny animals. The common name probably derives from an old Italian word, avosetta, which, allegedly, was the name of the pied avocet (R. avosetta).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It breeds in coniferous forests of Alaska and Canada and in montane areas of north-western United States, spending the winter in south-western Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek korthilos, a small, wren-like bird mentioned by Greek grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria (5th or 6th Century A.D.). The specific name may be derived from the verb caleo (‘I am warm’, or ‘glowing’), alluding to the fiery colour on the head.

 

 

 

 

 

All but the verdin (below) build elaborate bag nests, hanging from trees, usually over water. This gave rise to the common name, as penduline means ‘hanging’.

It is a mystery to me, why the verdin is placed in this family of Old World birds, especially as its nest is quite different from the nests of the other members, namely a domed structure, consisting of spiny twigs.

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin aurum (‘gold’) and the genus name Parus (tits). The specific name is also Latin, derived from flavis (‘yellow’) and ceps, originally cipes, from Proto-Italic kaputis (‘-headed’), originally from Proto-Indo-European kaput (‘head’), thus ‘yellow-headed’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin arena (‘sand’), thus ‘the one living in sand’. The English name refers to a feeding habit of these birds, flipping over sea shells and pebbles to search for small invertebrates.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘interpreter’. It is in fact a misnomer. When Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) visited the island of Gotland in 1741, he learned that the local population used the word tolk for certain species of waders. In Swedish, tolk means ‘interpreter’, so he applied the name Tringa interpres to the turnstone. However, in the local dialect the word tolk means ‘legs’, alluding to the long red legs of the redshank (Tringa totanus).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kalidris, a term used by Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) for some grey-coloured water bird.

 

It spends the winter along shores in temperate, subtropical, and tropical areas, as far south as southern South America, South Africa, and Australia.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’, referring to its white winter plumage. The popular name is derived from Old English sand-yrðling (‘sand-ploughman’), referring to its feeding habit, running along sandy shores while constantly sinking its bill into the sand in search of food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to legend, Cnut the Great, or Canute, as he was called in England, regarded a certain species of wader, suitably fattened with white bread and milk, as a delicacy. This bird was since known as knot, named after the king. Obviously, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) knew this legend, because when he described the bird in 1758, he named it Tringa canutus. Today, it is called red knot to distinguish it from the great knot (C. tenuirostris).

Divided into 6 subspecies, the red knot breeds in the far northern tundra in Alaska, north-eastern Canada, Greenland, and central and eastern Siberia. In autumn, it migrates to western Europe, Africa, Florida, Central America, southern South America, Australia, and New Zealand. A few spend the winter in the Mediterranean and in southern India.

When the birds arrive on their breeding grounds in the tundra, very little food is available, so they literally starve. They must depend on fattening up before arriving. On its north-bound migration, birds of the subspecies rufa, which breed on the Arctic Canadian islands, make a stopover in Delaware Bay, New Jersey, to feed on the nutritious eggs of the Atlantic horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), thousands of which gather here in May to lay eggs. This coincides with the arrival of up to one million waders, primarily red knots, turnstones (Arenaria interpres), semi-palmated sandpipers (Calidris pusilla), and sanderlings (Calidris alba).

It has been estimated that each spring birds and fish consume about 320 tonnes of horseshoe crab eggs on American shores. More about this fascinating animal is presented on the page Animals – Reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates: Horseshoe crabs – living fossils in peril.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It spends the winter from southern United States southwards through Mexico and the Caribbean to Peru and northern Brazil.

The specific name is derived from the Latin minutus (‘very small’), and the suffix illa, which denotes something small, thus the name may be translated as ‘very small indeed’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek limne (‘marsh’) and dromos (‘runner’). The common name is a corruption of an Iroquois word, recorded in the 1830s.

 

 

The specific name means ‘grey’ in Latin. The specimen described must have been in winter plumage.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘muddy’.

 

The specific name is alledgedly an Old English name for the godwit.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of the classical Greek name of these birds, noumenios. Both common English names are imitative, whimbrel imitating the trilling call of both whimbrels, curlew the call of the Eurasian curlew (N. arquata). The latter was first recorded by William Langland (1332-1386) in Piers Plowman, from the 1370s: “Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was applied to the green sandpiper (T. ochropus) by Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1599), who was the founder of the botanical garden of Bologna – one of the first of its kind. The name is derived from the Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, tail-bobbing wading bird, mentioned by Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).

 

Apart from the leg colour, it is very similar to the Old World greenshank (T. nebularia), which, however, has greenish legs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin semi (‘half’) and palmatus (‘like a hand’), referring to its partly webbed feet. The common name is onomatopoeic, alluding to its territorial song, a loud, piercing pill-will-willet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek sitte, a bird like a woodpecker, mentioned by Greek grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria (5th or 6th Century A.D.), and also by Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).

 

The specific name refers to the Carolinas. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 European starling (below).

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for starling.

 

In North America, it is regarded as an agricultural pest, and its presence may also have contributed to the decline of native cavity-nesting birds by usurping their nesting sites.

As opposed to the situation in North America, the starling is declining in large parts of Europe, mainly because of persecution in its wintering areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek eudokimos (‘glorious’), originally from eu (‘good’) and dokimos (‘excellent’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is probably from the Greek kalyptre (a woman’s veil or head-dress), from kalypto (‘to cover’), alluding to the glittering, purple-violet crown and elongated gorget of the male Costa’s hummingbird (below).

 

The specific name refers to Anne Debelle (1802-1887), a French courtier, who served as Grand-Maitresse (‘Mistress of the Robes’) to Empress Eugénie de Montijo (1826-1920), a Spanish noblewoman, who married the French Emperor Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (Napoleon III) (1808-1873). Anne Debelle married French ornithologist François Victor Masséna, 2nd Duke of Rivoli and 3rd Prince of Essling (1799-1863), who had accumulated a bird collection of 12,500 specimens, which later ended up in the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name alludes to French statesman, archaeologist, historian, and ornithologist Louis Marie Pantaléon Costa, Marquis of Beauregard (1806-1864). He was an avid collector, especially of hummingbirds, and this species was named in his honour by French naturalist Claude Marie Jules Bourcier (1797-1873), who was an expert on hummingbirds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kampylos (‘curved’) and rhynkhos (‘bill’).

 

The cactus wren often builds its nest among the vicious thorns of species of cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia), where it is well protected against enemies.

The specific name is derived from the Latin brunneus (‘brown’) and capillus (‘hair’), alluding to the brown cap of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from salpinktes, the Ancient Greek word for wrens, whereas the specific name is Latin, meaning ‘plain’, alluding to the lack of colours in the plumage of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The word thrush is derived from Old English throstle, from Proto-Germanic þrustlō, an ancient name for the song thrush (Turdus philomelos). In Old Saxon, þrustlō became throsla, in German Drossel. The latter name was adopted by the Danes, whereas the Swedes use the name trast for these birds, and the Norwegians trost.

A number of thrush species are dealt with on the page Animals – Birds: Thrushes.

 

The generic name is derived from the original name of the eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis), in 1758 named Motacilla sialis by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). In Ancient Greek, sialis was the name of an unidentified bird, so-called from its cry, mentioned by Greek grammarians Athenaeus of Naucratis (170-223 A.D.) and Hesychius of Alexandria (5th or 6th Century A.D.).

 

It is distributed in two geographically separate areas, from British Columbia, Washington, and Montana southwards through Oregon, California, and western Nevada to northern Baja California, and from Utah and Colorado southwards to the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Veracruz. Northern populations are migratory, spending the winter in south-western United States and northern Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The American robin is regarded as a symbol of spring. The poem The First Robin, by Canadian poet William Henry Drummond (1854-1907), is based on a Quebec superstition that whoever sees the first robin of spring will have good luck.

This bird was named robin by early settlers, as its reddish-orange breast reminded them of the European robin (Erithacus rubecula).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tyrant part of the name of these birds goes back to English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) who studied flora and fauna in the New World. He labeled the eastern kingbird (below) a tyrant due to its aggressive behaviour, and this name was adopted by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), when he classified this group of birds. He greatly acknowledged Catesby’s work, so he named the family Tyrannidae.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek muia (‘fly’) and arkos (‘ruler’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ash-coloured’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pyrrhos (‘flame-coloured’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

The male is bright vermilion-red, whereas the female is brownish.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘dark’ or ‘dusky’. This name must apply to the female!

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was given in honour of American entomologist and herpetologist Thomas Say (1787-1834), who also studied shells.

The common name refers to the song of the eastern phoebe (below), rendered as fee-bee. Some sources speculate that the name is derived from Ancient Greek phoibos (‘bright’, ‘shining’), another name for Selene, goddess of the Moon, and also for Artemis, goddess of wilderness and wild animals, hunting, childbirth, and virginity, protector of young girls, and also bringer and reliever of disease in women. The latter interpretation seems very unlikely to me, for what is bright or shining in these birds?

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘blackish’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours Thomas Say (see generic name above).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is explained above under family name. Like the common name it refers to the aggressive behaviour shown by kingbirds towards each other and also towards other species. When defending their nest they will often attack predators larger than themselves, including hawks, crows, and squirrels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘crowned’, derived from verticis (‘crown of the head’). What it refers to is not clear.