Dennis,

Just a thought or two on names (NA birds): 1 grouse and 2 ptarmigan
appear to be named for their association with a particular habitat--willow,
rock, spruce--1 ptarmigan and several grouse appear to be named for a
plumage characteristic--white-tailed, ruffed, blue, sharp-tailed. This
appears to be faily common in naming birds, and it works very well for
helping me to remember a particular name.It seems that at times you can
learn something about a bird from just knowing its name, and like you said,
they are fun.

However, I have a _lot_ of trouble with the more generic parts of bird
names, especially when they are changed regularly. American, common, and
northern give me a lot of trouble. I frequently have to look up
black-common scoter to see which is correct at a particular moment. Hawk
owl vs northern hawk owl, what _do_ they call those oystercatchers, the
new plover names have me in fits (let's see, it was lesser golden plover
I think that is now split into American golden plover and Pacific golden
plover????, but which is _fulva_ and which is _dominica_? and where did
I see which subspecies when (now two separate species, maybe???),is it
common or northern flicker? These are just some of the frustration of names.
I don't seem to have any trouble, however, with merlin vs chicken hawk,
American kestrel vs sparrow hawk, white-tailed kite vs black-shouldered
kite, northern harrier vs marsh hawk, but is it common or American
gallinule, common or northern moorhen, ???

Just some musings on Friday morning! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Rick H. Hudson
Seattle, WA