Birding comes complete with its own language, a language often modified by various individuals and circles of friends. In America, birders chase rarities. In Britain, rarities are twitched. One may be classified as a lister, a twitcher, a birder, or a birdwatcher (what is the difference between the last two anyway?). When we carry binoculars, we carry bins. Then there are the various aliases assigned to certain species of birds. For example, our fast food feeding friend, the House Sparrow, is known to many as the Burger Kinglet. If you thought only two North American species belonged to the genus Regulus, think again. Regulus whopperii has joined their ranks. And when birders catch a fleeting glimpse of some drab bird, it quickly gets dubbed a LBJ…or Little Brown Job. In all likelihood, it’s another House Wren.
House Wren, Photo courtesy of Evan Barrientos
There are also nicknames less widely known, ones we make up with our friends and don’t utter outside the realm of local birding because they would not make sense to anyone else. Last summer I birded the Pawnee Grasslands with a friend from Florida. We quickly decided Horned Larks were the least intelligent birds on the grassland, as they had a tendency to flush from the car and continue flying directly in front of it. We weren’t too surprised to come across a few road killed larks. We now call them “ding-dongs” (like the Hostess treat).
Such birderisms are rampant. What goofy nicknames or convenient abbreviations have you added to your birding lingo?
Hmm, I have a few.
Gashawk: jet plane
Pinkie: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Squeaker or Squeaky: Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher
Clown-pecker: Acorn Woodpecker
There are more, but my brain is shot right now. Had some clients this morning. 6 hours of nonstop birding. Woohoo!
Commoners-a collective term for Robin American Crow, Blue Jay, Chipping Sparrow, Cardinal, N. Mockingbird, Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Mourning Dove, and other outragiosly abundant birds in my neighborhood.
Common Yellowthroat-Bandit Bird
Actually, Northern Shrike (or Loggerhead, but usually Northern) is the Bandit bird or Butcher bird.
Squirt: Warbling Vireo
I’ll think of more later. I’m beat……..
Embarrassed Warbler: Red-faced Warbler.
😀
Western Tanager = Wasted Teenager
Marbled Godwit = Garbled Modwit
Black-and-white Warbler = Referee Bird
Plumbeous Vireo = Question-and-Answer Bird
Acorn Woodpecker – Wacka- Wacka
Merganser Chicks = Merglets
Slack Birding = Chasing birds that others have found