[Nhcoll-l] common English name

[Elizabeth Wommack]

Hi Gali,

I am an ornithologist like Erin, and work on birds of prey. I don't know of any common English term that refers to all nocturnal birds that may eat other organisms, but common names are a fun headache for taxonomists. There are agreed upon common names that go through specific committees, and you may want to throw your question past the American Ornithologists Society's taxonomy committee, or the IOC.

There are also cultural and regional common names that are used, and those are really interesting from a historical and cultural point of view. One of my favorite books I found in a used bookstore was North America Birds Folknames and Names by James Kedzie Sayre. Here are a couple of the names that have been used for Caprimulgiformes in North America in the past that could confuse them with entire different groups of animals.
Chordeiles minor: Pork'n'Beans, Long-winged Goatsucker, Bull-bat, Will-o'-the-Wisp, etc.
Caprimulgus carolinensis: Mosquito Hawk, Chip-fell-out-of-a-oak, The Great Bat, etc.

Good luck, and if you find a term please share it. It would be great to add more to how we understand the way we all experience and interact with birds.

cheers,
Beth

Elizabeth Wommack, PhD
Curator and Collections Manager of Vertebrates
University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY 82071
ewommack@<mailto:ewommack at berkeley.edu>uwyo.edu<http://uwyo.edu/>
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Callomon,Paul <prc44 at drexel.edu>
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To: Erin Cashion <ecashion at ohiohistory.org>; Gali Beiner <gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il>
Cc: NHCOLL-new <Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] common English name


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Big white jobs, little brown jobs and owls. Avian taxonomy made simple.



PC



Paul Callomon

Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates

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