Birdwatchers are fortunate when it comes to the naming of birds. While every living species on earth has a unique scientific name, most of them have no associated common name. Which means that if you want to discuss some obscure fish or an insect, chances are you will have to refer to them by their scientific names, all of which are in Latin.
Birds are the only animal group in which virtually all of the species are referred to more by their common names than their scientific names. This is due to the popularity of birds and birdwatching; non-scientists insist on using common names. Not only are they easier to remember but they also provide the birds with a more personable familiarity.
Plus which, common names can endow the birds with geographical significance (as is the case with the Northern Parula) or be used to honor famous bird scientists of the past (as in McCown’s Longspur).
The names given to birds are assigned by taxonomists; these are scientists who specialize in determining the relationships between species. Bird species can be closely related, like the chickadees, or more distant relatives, as is the case with ducks and sparrows. Part of a taxonomists’ role in biological science also includes assigning names to each species.
Once a taxonomist has assigned a scientific name to a species, that name is unlikely to ever change. But the common name of a species can change, as unsuitable names are discarded and more appropriate names achieve acceptance.
Here’s a sampling of some North American birds whose common name has changed over the last century (from a list compiled by Richard Banks, of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center). The first name is the currently accepted name, followed by the obsolete name for that bird.
Common Loon — Great Northern Diver
Horned Grebe — Hell-diver
Double-crested Cormorant — Farallon Cormorant, White-tufted Cormorant, Shag
American Bittern — Bog Pumper, Dunk-a-doo, Indian Hen
Greater White-fronted Goose — Specklebelly
Northern Pintail — Sprigtail
American Wigeon — Baldpate
Redhead — American Pochard
Ring-necked Duck — Blackhead
Scaups — Bluebill
White-winged Scoter — Velvet Scoter
Common Goldeneye — Cobhead, Whistler
Goldeneyes — Garrot
Bufflehead — Butterball, Spirit duck
Hooded Merganser — Cock Robin
Common Merganser — Goosander, American Sheldrake
Ruddy Duck — Sleepy Duck
Sharp-shinned Hawk — Little Blue Darter
Cooper’s Hawk — Big Blue Darter
Ferruginous Hawk — Rusty Squirrel Hawk
Merlin — Pigeon Hawk
Sage Grouse — Sage Cock
Sora — Ortolan
American Coot — Mudhen
Black-bellied Plover — Bullhead
Black-necked Stilt — Lawyer
Greater Yellowlegs — Tell-tale
Lesser Yellowlegs — Yellowshanks
Marbled Godwit — Marlin
Ruddy Turnstone — Calico-back
Red Knot — Robin Snipe
Least Sandpiper — Oxeye
Dunlin — Purre, Black-breast
Shortbilled Dowitcher — Brownback
Common Nighthawk — Bull-bat
Northern Flicker — Golden-winged Woodpecker, Yellowhammer
Pileated Woodpecker — Log-cock, Black woodcock
Bank Swallow — Sand Martin
Black-capped Chickadee — Long-tailed Chickadee, Yukon Chickadee, Western Titmouse
Mountain Chickadee — Bailey’s Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee — Brown-capped Chickadee
American Dipper — Water-ouzel
Mountain Bluebird — Arctic Bluebird
Townsend’s Solitaire — Townsend’s Ptilogonys
Bohemian Waxwing — Bohemian Chatterer
Cedar Waxwing — Cherry-bird
Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Shrike — Butcher-bird
Red-eyed Vireo — Greenlet
Orange-crowned Warbler — Lutescent Warbler
Yellow Warbler — Golden warbler, Mangrove Warbler
Spotted Towhee — Chewink, Ground Robin
Chipping Sparrow — Hairbird
Vesper Sparrow — Bay-winged Bunting
Dark-eyed Junco — Snowbird
Snow Bunting — Snowflake
Lark Bunting — White-shouldered Blackbird
Bobolink — Reedbird
Red-winged Blackbird — Bicolored blackbird, Red-and-buff-shouldered blackbird, Swamp Blackbird
Common Grackle — Bronzed Crow Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird — Cow Blackbird, Dwarf Cowbird
Common Raven — Holarctic Raven
Hoary Redpoll — Mealy Redpoll
Source: Obsolete English Names of North American Birds and Their Modern Equivalents. Compiled by Richard Banks (USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center).