This one is strictly for the birds.
Or rather, bird lovers.
Of course, many Webb readers already feel that these word-columns do indeed qualify for that opening bird-idiom — which means “worthless, stupid or completely undesirable” (thefreedictionary.com).
But many of us sometimes geek out over vocab, semantics and even etymology. And if, like me, you also happen to obsess about birds, you may be interested in such odd-sounding species as the hoatzin, oxpecker or phainopepla — among many others.
So: Since Central PA’s splendid spring is in full bloom — with lots of hiking, biking and birds everywhere — Weird Words herewith presents a flock of unusual bird-words. To keep it local — and to prevent overkill on region, appearance and other details — I’ve picked out just eight types seen around PA, with the rest simply tacked on as a list.
Bobolink (BOB-uh-link) – Lovely blackbird with a cream-colored nape and white patches on the body. Six to eight inches tall, it tends to flash black-and-white in flight. According to Cornell’s All About Birds webpage, it annually migrates 12,500 miles (to South America and back) — a distance equaling half the earth’s circumference. In these extensive travels, the bobolink uses stars to navigate — as well as iron-oxide bristles in its nose, which enable orientation with the earth’s magnetic field.
Bufflehead (BUFF-uhl-head) – While it sounds like someone dumb or dim-witted (cf. many other comical words ending in -head), this is actually “a small North American diving duck having black and white plumage and a densely feathered, rounded head” (American Heritage Dictionary).
Buteo (BYOO-tee-oh) – This is not an individual species but rather a genus-name for many hawks and buzzards — including the locally common red-tailed hawk. On any long highway drive, you’re likely to spot half a dozen (with their notable cream breast) perched at roadside, waiting for loud passing cars to flush out rodents. (They sometimes use train-tracks to the same effect.)
Dickcissel (dik-SISS-uhl) – “A bunting of the eastern and central U.S., having a brownish back streaked with black and a yellowish breast”; males also have a black patch on the throat (Dictionary.com).
Gadwall (GAD-wall) – Another type of duck, easy to confuse with the more familiar mallard. The handsome males have a dense, almost woven-fabric pattern on the breast, with larger patches of brown, black and white farther back. All About Birds tells us that unlike most ducks, the gadwall habitually steals food from other diving species — particularly the comically named coot (also a water bird that can be seen locally in migration).
Passerine (PASS-uh-rine — last syllable like mine) – Again, not an individual species but rather a massive order that includes half of all living birds — sparrows, jays, finches, robins, crows, starlings and many others. With some help from both “A-I Overview” and Wikipedia, we learn that these are all perching birds — a skill enabled by their unique toe arrangement: three facing forward, and one toward the rear. This pattern is known by yet another oddball vocab term: anisodactyl (dactyl being a Latin & Greek base for “finger”).
Titmouse (TIT-mouse) – A small passerine “having soft, thick plumage and a short, stout, conical bill” (Random House College Dictionary). There are many types of “titmice” (yes — that’s the plural!), including the lovely and locally common tufted titmouse, which does indeed have a crest-like tuft atop its head. (On a walk just after I’d finished drafting this piece, my handy Merlin app — also from Cornell — swiftly identified its lovely call nearby.)
Wikipedia lists over 60 other “tits” — some with particularly striking names: blue tit, yellow tit, ashy tit, grey tit, ground tit, great tit, elegant tit, fire-capped tit, white-shouldered black tit and the seemingly redundant stripe-breasted tit.
No one is sure why this three-letter word was adapted for the bird — though the term may be imitative of its call, or perhaps suggestive of the tapping noise made by its beak. It has, in any case, nothing to do with female anatomy!
Widgeon (WIDGE-un) – Sometimes spelled wigeon, this is a duck whose American species is compact and medium-sized, “with a short bill and a round head. They tend to sit on the water with their heads pulled down, giving them a no-necked look” (All About Birds).
And here are several more far-flung types that you can look up on your own: barbet, booby, brant, bustard, budgerigar (a popular pet), cockchafer, dovekie, frogmouth, gallinule, godwit, grassquit, honeycreeper, jacana, kakapo, kookaburra, limpkin, lorikeet, lory, motmot, oropendola, peewit, phalarope, pochard, shag, sicklebill, sora, troupial and whimbrel.
My thanks to local birder Dan Brauning for helping me pick out which on my list might be found in this area. I’m no bird expert, and any errors here are mine, not his. I’d welcome feedback and corrections at: robbwhitefan@gmail.com.
Happy birding!
