There are more than 11,000 species of birds in the world, so it isn’t entirely surprising that their names are a rich heritage, many of them left behind by long-forgotten explorers living in very different times to ours.
Inevitably, some names are weird, some are products of verbosity and some shine down the generations as being perfect. Here, for nothing more than a touch of entertainment, are ten of the more “interesting” bird names.
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Silliest bird names
Snoring rail
Aramidopsis plateni
It’s a life-affirming fact that the Snoring Rail does indeed exist; it’s an obscure bird found on Sulawesi, in the Indonesian archipelago. And yes, it does make a snoring sound, of real comedic value. Even more wonderfully, in Babung, there is a special Snoring Rail hide where you go to see this bird.
The birds also make another call. I quote directly from the Birds of the World (Cornell University) website. Apparently, it makes a “brief, quiet, deep sigh “hmmmm”.” Well, don’t we all at times?
On the same subject, it’s also marvellous that there’s an amphibian known as a Snoring Puddle Frog (Phyrnobatrachus natalensis). And in Norfolk there are two villages known as Great Snoring and Little Snoring; needless to say, Little Snoring is larger than Great Snoring. Apologies for the digression.
Tinkling cisticola
Cisticola rufilatus
This is a small, dull, warbler-type of bird found in southern Africa that makes a sound vaguely like the tinkling of a bell - but there is a wider story.
The Cisticolas (the word comes from cista, a basket, referring to the shape of the nest) are a group of 50 or so skulking birds that are hard to see, but very noisy. They would languish in complete obscurity if it hadn’t been for a man called Hubert Lynes, who organised three expeditions to Africa in 1920s with the sole aim of collecting Cisticolas and sorting out which species occurred where.
He also managed to work out which species made which noises. As a result, we have a cornucopia of wonderful names, not just Tinkling Cisticola, but also Singing, Winding, Chirruping, Croaking, Bubbling, Rattling, Whistling and even Zitting Cisticola.
Bearded tit
Panurus biarmicus
This is the ultimate inaccurate name! These days this attractive reed-haunting bird is officially called the bearded reedling. However, everyone calls it the bearded tit, which trips off the tongue better. The only problem with this name is that it is neither a tit, nor does it happen to have a beard. The males have a handsome black moustache, but it is just a marking of the feathers; there’s nothing hirsute about it.
And as for the “tit” part, that’s comes from its resemblance, especially in ebullience, sociability and acrobatics to those common birds we love, such as blue tit and great tit, but it’s not a close relative – bizarrely, it’s closest relatives are larks! Interestingly, it is one of only two birds in Britain that are the only species in their family (Panuridae). The other is the wallcreeper.
IIWI (pronounced 'ee-EE-vee'
Drepanis coccinea
When European settlers colonised Hawaii from the late 18th century onwards, they adopted many of the original Polynesian names of the birds, and the habit has stuck to this day. Hence, several species have the sorts of mixes of letter to make scrabble players salivate (although they sadly aren’t official Scrabble words). The Iiwi, or strictly ‘I’iwi (pronounced I-i-vi) is named after its call. There are several other marvellous names: take the Ou, the Akiapolaau, the Nukupuu, the Oo, the Akikiki and the Alauahio. Tragically, some of these birds are now extinct.
Checker-throated stipplethroat
Epinecrophylla fulviventris
This bird used to be called the Checker-throated Antwren and was thought to be one of many similar species of Antwren, a group of skulking birds found in Central and South American rainforests. Recent DNA analysis shows that it is different from most other Antwrens and belongs in a small group of 7 other birds. Somebody came up with the delightfully arty name of “Stipplethroat” for them – stippling being to mark with dots – but what we have is a horrible and unnecessary repetition of the word “throat.” In fact, you could say that this bird has the same name repeated. And spare a thought for the local guides that have to point this bird out in the wild.
Isabelline wheatear
Oenanthe isabellina
There is a fabulous origin story for this bird name, which lacks for nothing except veracity. The tale refers to no less than Princess Isabella Clara Eugenia, daughter of King Philip II of Spain.
She married Archduke Albert of Austria in 1599 and the two of them ruled the Netherlands, a far-flung part of the Spanish empire. Soon the British and Dutch attacked Ostend, and it became Albert’s task to retake it. In an act of bizarre devotion and false hope, Queen Isabella apparently vowed not to change her undergarments until Ostend was back in Spanish hands.
Isabella was a famously stubborn person, and when the siege dragged on, she point-blank refused to break her vow. She wasn’t to know it would last three years. By the time she finally changed, the undergarments had faded and fermented into a peculiar greyish-brown colour – a colour subsequently dubbed “isabelline”!
Cinderella waxbill
Glaucestrilda thomensis
Talking of fairy tales, there are few more famous than that of Cinderella, the servant girl who overcame poverty with the help of a lost slipper. I would love to tell you that this is a bird that loses its footwear or is abused by its stepsisters, but the truth is that the name Cinderella is the same word that gives rise to cinder, meaning “little ashes”, and it simply refers to the greyish, ashy colour of this bird.
For those that love the Disney fairytales, you’ll be pleased to know that there is also a bird called the Ariel Toucan.
Happy wren
Pheugopedius felix
This Wren of western Mexico certainly has a bright and breezy song, and you could aptly describe it as “happy”. But the same applies to at least another few thousand species of birds with pleasant songs. Still, you cannot see and hear this bird without a smile on your face, and the name isn’t the only fanciful one among this famously vocal bird family.
You’ll be pleased to know there is also a musician wren (the song sounds like a child practising a musical instrument), a flutist wren (not very fluty, but incredible), a song wren (more of a gurgle or a quack) and a nightingale wren (not a very good tribute act, to be honest).
Fluffy-backed tit-babbler
Macronous ptilosus
Well, it’s hard to read out this name without a harmless chuckle, isn’t it? I’ve had the good fortune to see the fluffy-backed tit-babbler in the wild, and you can’t wipe the smile off your face. It’s another species that is related to birds that do vaguely resemble tits, and the babblers are a group of several families of forest and scrub birds found mainly in Asia – the family was named after species that more or less make babbling noises.
This species does most certainly have fluffy plumage on the back, for reasons unknown. In the same place that I saw this bird in Borneo, there was a spectacular butterfly with a long silky “tail” flying along the glades. This sprite is Zeltus amasa, known in English, I kid you not, as the Fluffy Tit.
Shining sunbeam
Aglaeactis cupripennis
Hummingbirds are fantastic, there is no doubt about that, so it’s hardly surprising that when they were first discovered and named by Westerners, everybody went a bit over the top.
Thus, we have been bequeathed a veritable plethora of overwrought names in worship of these microcosmic delights. Apart from one of the loveliest epithets, shining sunbeam, we also have the likes of hyacinth visorbearer, tourmaline sunangel, peacock coquette, golden starfrontlet, magenta-throated woodstar and marvellous spatuletail.
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