At the risk of wasting bandwidth:

Michael Brown wrote:
>...I do a little birding with my fourth grade students, and its a challenge
>to say "Bushtit" without hearing a lot of snickering.

As the only birder in my office I can confirm that adults react the same
or worse to bird names. I had to bring in a guidebook to prove to my
co-workers that I wasn't making up "Bushtit". A co-worker once went birding
with me on a business trip in So. Cal. He still tells everyone about the
"Plain Titmouse" to their amusement.

>I explained that I wasn't sure if it was a Hairy or Downy woodpecker and I
>was trying to get a better look. As they disappeared down the trail I heard
>a few guffaws.

My anti-birding daughter (2 others like birding in small doses) was trying
to be nice to dad. Looking at the backyard feeder, she knew enough about
black and white woodpeckers to know that this was an I.D. problem. "Daddy",
she said "is that a Hairy or a Fuzzy?".

>It was a Hairy woodpecker.
>mbeb1215 at delphi.com
>Puyallup, WA

Her's was too.

Charles Vaughan
Woodinville, WA

P.S. On the subject of misleading common names and taxonomy, my favorite is
the "Evening Grosbeak" that is not really a grosbeak.