Lapwings, Loons and Lousy Jacks: the How and Why of Bird Names

There have been interesting books looking at bird names in the past. Two that I really like are All the Birds of the Air by Francesca Greenoak, which looks at British bird names from a regional and literature use, and A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names, which looks at the origin and meaning of genus and specific scientific names. The former is a ‘good read’, while the latter is an excellent reference book.

This new book by Ray Reedman is a delightful addition to this subject, combining Ray’s love of birds, language and history. He starts by looking broadly at the historical aspect of naming birds and the current system. The bulk of the book then looks at birds by family. It is not intended to be a comprehensive reference book. Far from it. Within each family, he looks at interesting cases of common and scientific bird names. Every chapter is filled with a fascinating range of examples.

For example, House Martin’s scientific name is Delichon urbicum. The genus name was coined as an anagram from the name Chelidon for Swallow. With time, the latter name was replaced with Hirundo, leaving the artificially created Delichon!

The genus of Little Grebe is Tachybaptus, which means ‘to sink fast’, which doesn’t quite relate to the Little Grebe. However, a closely related Australian species does just sink if disturbed, almost without leaving a ripple.

This is definitely a book to dive into, to find some fascinating stories of the origin of bird names. It is illustrated with numerous photos, but only black-and-white, and of questionable quality. But it is the text that is the important part.

Book reviewed by Derek Toomer