Subject: Re: country bird names
Date: Jan 18 15:53:09 1995
From: "Gates, Bryan" - BGATES at assessment.env.gov.bc.ca



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FORWARDED FROM: Gates, Bryan
FROM: Gates, Bryan
DATE: 18/01/95 14:17
TO: tweeters at u.washington.edu

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SUBJECT: Re: country bird names
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Ellen Blackstone raises an interesting question about our common names for
birds, and perhaps some inconsistencies in our North American checklist. She
asks, in effect: when we have an American Wigeon and a Bohemian Waxwing,
why a Canada Goose rather than a Canadian Goose?

I'm not sure I know the answer but, as a 7th generation Canadian, I often
feel uneasy when Americans I meet complain about the flocks of
"Canadian Geese" polluting their parks and golf courses...almost inferring
that we send them there each winter to cause trouble. I sheepishly point out
that "...we in Victoria and Vancouver suffer the same fate, with many of our
resident geese and migrants from Alaska now remaining at our parks and
beaches for the winter...and, by the way, the bird is officialy known
as the Canada Goose".

The noun "Canada" may have been chosen to avoid this inference of ownership.
The species is as much American (i.e. USA) as it is Canadian. Perhaps
"Canada" was used because, historically at least, the majority of the birds
nested in Canada, at the potholes and lakes of the vast northern prairies.
But, under no circumstances could it then (or now) be considered strictly a
Canadian product.

"American", on the other hand, has a different connotation: I interpret it to
mean "of the Americas", including Canada, USA, Mexico, and the Carribean,
Central and South American countries (eg. American Redstart, American Golden
Plover). Thus, an adjective is used appropriately to form the compound name
of a species that crosses many borders, or to differentiate from a European
sound-alike (American Robin) or counterpart (American Dipper).

Nouns are also used in many other compound bird names. Tennessee Warbler and
Virginia Rail (could it not be "Virginian" or "Virginia's" Rail). Cliff,
Barn, Tree and Bank are nouns used to chartacterize the nesting preference of
swallow species. I suppose a Hermit Thrush, by its behaviour, could be
appropriately named a Hermit-like Thrush, but a Rocky Ptarmigan may be
too heavy to get off the ground, and a Willowy Ptarmigan too weak. And who
would go out of the way to see a Swampy Sparrow?

Come to think of it, though, any ornithologist writing about the Foxy Sparrow
may be able to publish in Playboy.

And then there are the inconsistencies; We have a Snow Bunting and a
Snow Goose, but a Snowy Owl and Snowy Egret. And when was the last time a
Palm Warbler nested near a palm tree?

Thankyou, Ellen, for making me smile during my lunch hour.

Bryan Gates
bgates at assessment.env.gov.bc.ca.
Victoria,
BC