Occasionally something picks at my brain for a while and it sometimes gets to the point where I have to reach out and try to find the answer. I've come up empty with internet searches.
Why are there apparently no common names of North American birds that include the word "southern" in the name?
I've found 22 species that include the word "northern" (Northern Harrier for example), 10 that include the word "eastern" (Eastern Kingbird for example) and 9 that include the word "western" (Western Tanager for example) but not even one that includes "southern" in the name, though I did find the South Polar Skua (south, not southern).
I've thought of possible answers relating to migration and the fact that we're talking about North American birds (I suspect there are birds in the southern hemisphere with the word "southern" in their common names) but none of those explanations seem satisfactory to me. I'm really not losing any sleep over this little enigma but I am very curious.
I don't know the answer, but will not be surprised if you find that it is because of migration or none migrating birds. For instance the blue birds. As far as I know they are not found, normally in their oposite region. Western in the East and Eastern in the west. It will be interesting to learn if those birds that have "northern in their name actually migrate. For birds that do migrate north in summer and south in winter, it would be confusing to name them for a specific region.
Hope you find an answer and post it, Ron.
Charlie
Posted by Richard Ditch on July 27, 2011 at 10:07 PM
From my old copy of the AOU list: List Of The 2,023 Bird Species (with Scientific And English Names)
Known From The A.O.U. Check-list Area:
Southern Lapwing
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Southern Bentbill
Southern Martin
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
The "directional" modifiers used in bird names usually distinguish a species from a related species whose range tends in the opposite direction, if that makes sense. Since we are in North America we get see species that tend to be farther north than similar species, so you need to go farther south in the Americas to run into the Southern related species.
Another reason could be the timing of how species were discovered. "Northern" could have been added to a newly discovered species to distinguish it from an already named similar species: Northern Shrike to distinguish it from the already known Loggerhead Shrike. Recall that this country expanded from east to west so the "western" modifier got added in the same way.
Discussion
5 repliesWhy are there apparently no common names of North American birds that include the word "southern" in the name?
I've found 22 species that include the word "northern" (Northern Harrier for example), 10 that include the word "eastern" (Eastern Kingbird for example) and 9 that include the word "western" (Western Tanager for example) but not even one that includes "southern" in the name, though I did find the South Polar Skua (south, not southern).
I've thought of possible answers relating to migration and the fact that we're talking about North American birds (I suspect there are birds in the southern hemisphere with the word "southern" in their common names) but none of those explanations seem satisfactory to me. I'm really not losing any sleep over this little enigma but I am very curious.
Any ideas that might explain this?
Hope you find an answer and post it, Ron.
Charlie
Known From The A.O.U. Check-list Area:
Southern Lapwing
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Southern Bentbill
Southern Martin
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
The "directional" modifiers used in bird names usually distinguish a species from a related species whose range tends in the opposite direction, if that makes sense. Since we are in North America we get see species that tend to be farther north than similar species, so you need to go farther south in the Americas to run into the Southern related species.
Another reason could be the timing of how species were discovered. "Northern" could have been added to a newly discovered species to distinguish it from an already named similar species: Northern Shrike to distinguish it from the already known Loggerhead Shrike. Recall that this country expanded from east to west so the "western" modifier got added in the same way.
I got a very similar response from a longtime birder I know. . . looks like you guys think a like
Sandy