What is a currawong? a gonolek, a boubou, a tchagra, a brubru? a sitella, a minivet? a drongo? a common koel? Do you think that I've invented these words? Heck no. Each one is absolutely genuine and furthermore, far beyond my powers of invention. And from the same large family come the zitting cisticola, the bulbul, the cacique, the oropedola, the po'o-uli, and the 'o'u. Not to mention the rhabdornis, the oxpecker. the rockjumper, the babbler, the treecreeper, the tapaculo, the cotinga, the manakin, the pitta, the assity, the yellow rifleman, and the logrunner.
You've probably figured it out by now. They're all passerines.
These great and new-to-me words come from The Bird (New York, 2008), a whimsical, idiosyncratic survey, by the appropriately--named ornithologist Colin Tudge. "What's that on that branch over there? Is it a grinning tudge?"
I am rather fond of the common name of the group of birds known as "goatsuckers." Names like this abound in the bird world: honeycreepers, honey guides, bee eaters, etc. Sounds like a fun book!
Posted by: Jim Hermanson | January 05, 2012 at 11:44 PM