Bird Names Research Articles

Prodded retrieval from a semantic category

Two hundred subjects were required to write down a specified number of names of birds. Absolute frequencies of names emitted were higher than those found by Battig and Montague (1969), but, as they also found, frequencies decreased sharply from a few high-frequency names.

Evidence for the Temporal Stability of Cree and Chipewyan Indian Animal Names

Following publication of my short paper on mammal and bird names in the Indian languages, Dr. C. Stuart Houston of Saskatoon kindly pointed out to me that a considerable number of Cree animal names are given in the Fauna Boreali Americana of Richardson and Swainson. As this publication is based on journeys made by Richardson in 1819-1821 and 1825-1827, whereas I collected Cree names in 1971, it is possible to compare names in use at two periods separated by an interval of approximately 150 years. Richardson travelled over most of the Cree country, from Hudson Bay to present day Alberta, while my informants were all from central or northern Alberta. Many differences in the two lists of names may therefore be due to regional, as opposed to temporal, differences; nevertheless a preponderant similarity between the old and the present-day names is evident on comparison. Richardson also listed a few Chipewyan animal names, so that a similar comparison, though on a small sample, can be made for this language as well. I have grouped the results of the comparison into three categories: names which are alike, and in many cases the same, allowing for the fact that there is often more than one way of writing the same sound for English readers; names which are cognate; and names which are different. Some examples, using Cree names only, are tabulated below. Of 23 mammals for which Cree names are given in the two sources compared, 18 were alike, 4 cognate and only one different. In the case of 42 bird names, 21 were alike, 7 cognate and 14 were different. For all 65 names the proportions are: 60% alike, 17% cognate and 23% different. The few Chipewyan names given in the Fauna Boreali-Americana make it possible to compare ten (six mammal and four bird) names with ones from my own material. Eight of these names are alike and two different. Irving, comparing Eskimo bird names in use in 1877 and 1960 in one locality, Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island, and thus eliminating the factor of regional differences, found that 92% were alike. Hisdata and that given above for two Indian languages indicate that animal names in these particular Amerindian languages are no less enduring in time than those used in languages which have writing.

Mammal and Bird Names in the Indian Languages of the Lake Athabasca Region

... The lists given below are, of course, not complete in the sense that a native name is given for every species for which some one, Cree, Chipewyan or metis in the Lake Athabasca area knows such a name. ... However, as the lists were collected by one with a special interest in birds and mammals (and this does not generally apply to the compilers of dictionaries), they do, in fact, contain more native names of species or species groups (generic names in the linguistic, not the zoological sense) than the dictionaries of the languages in question known to me. ... My informants for Cree names were Mr. Henry Powder, a long-time resident of Camsell Portage, Saskatchewan, originally from Lac la Biche, Alberta; Mr. Solomon Cardinal of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, and Mrs. A. Anderson of Edmonton, originally from the nearby Calahoo Indian reserve, who has edited a Plains-Cree-English dictionary. The Chipewyan names were obtained in 1972 from Fr. F. Marcel, chief of the Chipewyan band at Fort Chipewyan. I have also drawn on a list I prepared in 1949 with the help of Mr. George Norm, an elderly Chipewyan or metis who lived at the mouth of the Little Buffalo River on Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories. ...

Reduplicated Bird Names in Algonquian

Previous articleNext article No AccessReduplicated Bird Names in AlgonquianWilliam CowanWilliam Cowan Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by International Journal of American Linguistics Volume 38, Number 4Oct., 1972 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/465220 Views: 9Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:William Cowan Passing through time, Historiographia Linguistica 28, no.1-21-2 (Jun 2002): 231–250.https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.28.1.19cow

Scientific Names of Birds (in the above papers)

Scientific Names of Birds (in the above papers)

Eskimo Bird Names at Chesterfield Inlet and Baker Lake, Keewatin, Northwest Territories

The list below was compiled during a stay of about two months, 27 May to 21 July 1967, at Chesterfield Inlet and during a few days spent at Baker Lake in the course of the homeward journey. At Chesterfield Inlet my principal native informants on bird names were Krakok, a man about forty-five years old who had lived part of his earlier life at Daly Bay (about 50 miles further north) and a twelve-year-old boy Koluar, who early in his childhood had been brought from Iglulik to Chesterfield by his father and who often accompanied me on bird-watching walks. Koluar, through his father, had learnt some Iglulik versions of bird names but also knew those in use locally. The Baker Lake names were collected from a man about fifty years old, Kchlaiyuk, with one of his sons acting as interpreter. According to Boas these people belong to the tribe he called the Kinepitu or Agutit. I conceive the principal virtue of the list here given to lie in the explanations of the basic meaning of the native names for which I am indebted to the scholarship of Father E. Fafard, O.M.I. [Oblates of Mary Immaculate] From the meanings of the bird names it will be evident that in the case of many only the context in which they are used would make it clear that a bird is referred to. ...

The Proper Way to Report Birds in Print

AbstractThe improper publication of bird names in archaeological reports may lead to misunderstanding of texts. Standardized procedures for printing bird names have been in general use by ornithologists for about 100 years but are discussed here for the archaeologists. Examples are given so distortion of facts may be avoided and clarity of interpretation may be better maintained.

Let's Make Bird Names Helpful

some changes a few years ago, they changed the name of the blue-headed vireo to the solitary vireo and, the American egret to the common egret. This kind of change is not inspired. All changes should be useful and significant. A clear goal is needed. Some names of bird species help in identification the chestnut-sided warbler; other names do not the Bewick's wren. I suggest this goal: change the unhelpful to helpful names. Many people have become birdwatchers only because someone encouraged them at the start to connect a name like Bell's vireo with a tiny, dull bird which doesn't look or act like a Bell or bell. A veritable thorn-hedge of such names creates a barrier which soon discourages many who might otherwise take an interest in bird-watching. We should do all we can to assist beginners. Breaking the name barrier would be a significant step. How many school children would learn the difference between a whitetailed deer and mule deer if these species were named Leconte's deer and Lichtenstein's deer? Since we use descriptive names for most mammals, why should we perpetuate nondescriptive names for so many birds? Beginners are not the only ones who could benefit by an improvement in the names of birds. In these days of increased travel, bird-watching can become an international sport if we give each species a name which will help to identify it on an international level. The white-winged dove is a perfect example, lending its name readily to Fig. 1. Black-crowned oriole. The old name, Bullock's oriole, does not help an inexperienced bird-watcher.

Observations on the Feeding Habits of Some Woodpeckers and Woodcreepers in Costa Rica

The observations reported here were made while I attended the Tropical Entomology Course offered by the Organization for Tropical Studies in Costa Rica sponsored by the National Science Foundation. In spite of the brevity of the study, I believe that the results are a useful addition to the scant knowledge on food and feeding habits of tropical woodpeckers and woodcreepers. Observations on bird predation were made during the wet season in 1965 in three forest types (Holdridge, 1964): tropical dry forest (Playa Coco in Guanacaste), tropical moist forest (Puerto Viejo in Heredia and Palmar Sur in Puntarenas), and the subtropical wet forest life zone (Turrialba in Cartago). These locations represented four of Costa Rica's seven provinces. Visual observations of the species of woodpeckers and woodcreepers present, their feeding habits, and behavior were made at various times of the day. Specimens of 6 of the 16 species of woodpeckers and 2 of the 16 species of woodcreepers were studied and collected in the various locations. Stomach analyses were made from a total of 21 stomachs representing 8 of these species. Estimates were made on a visual examination of the entire stomach content, spread out in a petri dish; a piece of graph paper underneath provided a grid. The percentage of the identifiable portions was estimated from the area occupied on the grid. These figures seldom represent the actual volume of arthropods taken at the time of feeding because of autolysis. Although Martin (1949) claims that there is no need of preservatives if the stomachs are examined within 24 hours, Koersveld (1950) and Dillery (1965) found that digestion and autolysis of food continues for some time after death, depending on temperature and time interval between the death of the bird and examination of the stomach content. Immediate fixing of the stomach contents after killing is, therefore, desirable. Scientific names of woodpeckers of the genus Centurus follow Selander and Giller (1963); all other names of birds follow Peters' check lists (1948, 1951) and Mayr and Greenway (1960).

Comment on the bird names in Kerr's 'Animal Kingdom'

Comment on the bird names in Kerr's 'Animal Kingdom'

Some Fabulous Beasts

MOST people have heard of dragons, mermaids, phoenixes and unicorns, and probably of griffins and basilisks. What is surprising is the number of other imaginary animals that have been written about, and largely believed in, in Europe since the Dark Ages. I have a list, by no means exhaustive compiled mainly from English references and entirely omitting immediate sources outside Europe which contains about 140 names of animals, birds, reptiles and fishes which do not exist in nature, from abath to zitiron and from avanc to ypotryll. I say names, because the number of imagined beasts is only exceeded by the multiplicity of the names that have been applied to them. Frequently one finds several names for what is apparently the same creature, and nearly as often there is doubt about whether a different name denotes a slightly different idea. A monoceros, for instance, may clearly be exactly the same as a unicorn, the two words being the Greek and Latin for 'one-horned'; and a centaur is apparently very similar to a sagittary; but on the other hand all centaurs or onocentaurs are not alike: some have four legs as well as two arms whereas others, according to illustrations, have only four limbs altogether two arms and two hind legs and very much off-balance they look. The names themselves in their English forms often sound outlandish, and of course their derivations may lead one back a good part of the way towards the origins of the animals. To take one of the most familiar of all the dragon: there was a Greek word 'dracon', meaning 'a large snake', which was adopted through Latin into English and used in bestiaries and similar works in the sense of 'snake' from the thirteenth century onwards. Meanwhile the Greek and Latin words had been used, in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, to translate a Hebrew word which may have denoted, apparently, either a desert mammal such as the jackal or a large water-creature such as a whale, shark or crocodile. Perhaps this s 273

Musical Art in Early Confucian Philosophy

CONFUCIUS (551-479 B.C.) has generally been known as a moral philosopher and great teacher. But was he an artist? Did he have anything to say about art? If so, what was his attitude toward it? How was his theory of art related to his general philosophical system? Poetry and music were the two arts that were prevalent in the times of Confucius and they were frequent topics of his discourses. Confucius was not himself a poet, yet he gave the poet an important place in the ideal society which he tried to establish throughout his life (unlike the poet of Plato, who was expelled from his Republic). Whether or not, as tradition claims,' Confucius had a hand in editing the Book of Poetry (Shih Chingb), there is no question that Confucius knew the work well and esteemed it highly. It is quoted more than any other work in the Analects (Lun YiiW), and he recommended it to his disciples in these words: My children, why do you not study the Book of Poetry? Poetry serves to stimulate the mind. It may be used for the purpose of self-contemplation. It teaches the art of sociability. It shows how to regulate feelings of resentment. From it we learn the more immediate duty of serving one's father, and the remoter duty of serving one's prince. From it we become largely acquainted with names of birds, beasts, and plants.3

Naming of Birds as Part of the Intellectual Culture of Indians at Old Crow, Yukon Territory

Lists common, scientific and local native names for 103 species of birds found in this area. Recognition and naming of birds was done with great accuracy and completeness by the Kutchin Indian informant, suggesting the ability to be the result of an anciently perfected system of intellectual culture. Comparison with North Alaskan Eskimo bird names disclosed only two of 91 species with the same name, indicating the paucity of intellectual culture exchanges in contrast to the more liberal material cultural exchanges of these neighboring peoples.

Nationality Names for American Birds

THE USE OF THE NAME Of a nation as the adjectival part of a bird appellation sometimes indicates the country of origin, but much more frequently it has a different meaning. In such combinations as English sparrow, European starling, Chinese pheasant, and Hungarian partridge, at least part of the homeland of an introduced bird is designated. And where acclimatization activities were conspicuous, a bird might acquire a name that would not be thought of elsewhere, as for example, German finch for the evening grosbeak at Portland, Oregon, since this unfamiliar species, when noticed at all, was deemed one of the importations of the bird cranks. Nationality modifiers prevail also among facetious names for birds, but that is another story. More common uses are to convey approbation or to label a species obviously distinct from familiar representatives of its group. Dictionaries incline to the view that the prefix English indicates something met with in America with which the people had previously been acquainted in England. Among American bird names there is some support for, but more evidence against, this hypothesis. English duck (N.C., S.C., Ga., Fla., Ala.) specifies the mallard, a well-known bird of the Old World, as also of the New, but the term is extended to the black duck and the mottled duck, which are strictly American species. Some of the names involved are, for the black duck, black English duck (S.C., Ga., Fla.), English black duck (La.), English duck (N.C., Ga.), and English mallard (Fla.); and for the mottled duck, English duck (Fla.). The generally employed appellation English snipe, for Wilson's snipe, the American subspecies of the common snipe of Europe, gives partial corroboration of the dictionary opinion, but English snipe (Nova Scotia) for the American woodcock tends in the opposite direction. English lark (Del.) is a natural reference to a bird legitimately known as the English starling. English woodpecker (N.Y., Newfoundland) has been applied to the yellow-shafted flicker because of a fanciful resemblance of the bird to the European green woodpecker; the principle we are discussing, in this instance, leading people astray. In every other 'English' name on hand, the purpose of the prefix is recognition of the distinctness of the bird from relatives, real or assumed. For compactness they are here tabulated:

Opinion 480 Suppression under the Plenary Powers of the specific and Subspecific names of birds published in the so-Called "horniman pamphlet" dated "1940" and matters incidental thereto

Opinion 480 Suppression under the Plenary Powers of the specific and Subspecific names of birds published in the so-Called "horniman pamphlet" dated "1940" and matters incidental thereto

Important Decisions on the Names for Certain Birds Recently Adopted by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

"Important Decisions on the Names for Certain Birds Recently Adopted by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature." Emu - Austral Ornithology, 56(3), p. 162

Opinion 407 Suppression under the Plenary Powers of four specific names for birds published by Anton Heinrich Lichtenstein in 1793 (class Aves)

Opinion 407 Suppression under the Plenary Powers of four specific names for birds published by Anton Heinrich Lichtenstein in 1793 (class Aves)

Bird Names with Animal or Plant Components

OF THE ANIMAL NAMES used in forming bird appellations, bull is by far the most popular. In general, it means 'big' and in the combination bullhead is applied to various wild ducks, for most of which it is fitting. Examples at hand pertain to the greater and lesser scaups (Fla., Ala.), ring-necked duck (Fla.), common goldeneye (Md., Va., N.C.), bufflehead (Ala.), and all of the scoters (Delaware River). Bullhead is a rather generally used cognomen for the golden, and black-bellied, plovers. The former is known too as bullhead plover (Pa., D.C., Texas, Calif., Saskatchewan), as is also the blackbreast (Conn., N.Y., N.J.), while the mountain plover is called bullhead snipe in California.

Philippine Bird Names of Blasius

Philippine Bird Names of Blasius

Ecclesiastical Bird Names in Louisiana-French

Ecclesiastical Bird Names in Louisiana-French