It was that well-known purveyor of varnish and wood stain, Ronseal, who coined the phrase in a popular T.V advert about their product that “It does exactly what it says on the tin”. It occurred to me that some bird names seem to fall into a similar category, whilst probably more interestingly, most don’t.
After digging around for a while on the internet I was lucky enough to stumble on an article on the subject by Stephen Moss, which informs much of what follows here.
There are far too many birds names to mention, but for starters …
Ronseal birds, i.e. the simple stuff (or so you might think)
Blackbird: It’s black, and it’s a bird. Simple. But no, wait. There are other black birds such as crows, rooks and ravens. Why did the blackbird we know today prevail? Apparently it’s because back in late medieval times when the bloke, (it might have been a lady), who named birds was out and about thoughtfully stroking his / her chin, of the aforementioned black birds only the one so named today was recognised as a bird, the other, and crucially larger, black “birds” were known as fowl, and as such were never in the running. So the Blackbird had a clear field, although even then it’s only true for the male. And anyway, why isn’t there a Blackfowl?
Woodpecker: It pecks wood.
Blackcap: It wears a cap, and it’s black, (except for the female who wears it in brown).
Wagtail: It’s got a tail, and it wags it.
Spoonbill: It’s got a bill, and it looks like a great big spoon.
Kingfisher: A top fish catcher.
Who’d have thought it?
Wren: Family name Troglodytidae, derived from troglodyte, meaning "cave-dweller". Surprisingly, to me anyway, wrens get their scientific name from a tendency of some species to forage in dark crevices.
Linnet: Part of the finch family, it derives its scientific name from its fondness for hemp and flax seeds - flax being the English name for the plant from which linen is made.
Dunnock: The ending –ock is an Anglo-Saxon diminutive meaning little (e.g. hillock, paddock, tussock). Translated Dunnock means something long the lines of 'little brown one'. Despite the ancient roots of the word, the oldest references to the bird by the name Dunnock date back to the late 15th century.
Puffin: The scientific name, Fratercula arctica, dates back to the last half of the 1800's meaning "little brother of the north" in Latin. This, in turn, alludes to 'little friar' referring to the Puffin's black and white plumage which is considered reminiscent of a friar's robes.
Onomatopoeia
A bird’s song is another tool in the bird naming trade, examples including:
Cuckoo
Chiffchaff
Rook
Crow
Turtle Dove
Peewit
Language, and a smattering of history
Sometimes things are a little more complicated than naming a black bird a Blackbird, or a bird that sings (or makes a noise) “cuckoo” a Cuckoo. That takes us hurtling back in time to the Norman Conquest which, among other things, brought about change in our everyday language. Within about a century Anglo-Saxon had merged with Norman French to create a new, hybrid tongue known as Middle English – the precursor to the way we speak today. As the old language fell into disuse, some of its words no longer made any sense. By way of false etymology people made up new versions which sounded plausible, even if the original meaning had been lost. A well-known non-avian example is the name “dandelion”, which is a corruption of the French dent de lion, meaning lion’s tooth in reference to the shape of the plant’s leaves.
Something similar happened with bird names.
Yellowhammer: Derived from the Anglo-Saxon “yellow ammer”, (German for Bunting)
Redstart: Derived from “Red steort”, (meaning red tail)
Wheatear: Derived from “Wheteres”, literally white arse
Norman French also had a major influence on the names of ducks, (Mallard and Wigeon), game birds, (Pheasant and Partridge), and raptors, (Peregrine and Hobby).
So there you have it. Or a smidgen of it. Follow this link to see the full article by Stephen Moss:
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