Birders' brevity

[Deb London]

Arctic Loon was Black-throated Loon, and the others weren't there.

Very complicated.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Deb London

Arctic Loon was Black-throated Loon, and the others weren't there.

Very complicated.

I guess that the list that you saw was based on the IOC world list, rather than the Clements world list then (these are the main two, but there are others - and I think that the IOC list is gaining the most acceptance). The absence of Common Murre is difficult to understand, as this is one that tends to feature on all internationl lists (I guess that the author of the one you saw is British or European and really doesn't like the name!).

Both of these world bird lists can easily be found with google* if you are interested (or for a list restricted to species which have been recorded in the UK, search for BOU British list - which gives IOC international names when they differ from the BOU ones).


* or an alternative internet search engine.






Edit: Of course, there are lots of other English names used for bird species, in addition to the ones that are in common usage in the UK and those that have been chosen for 'standardised' international use.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by RoyW

What about:
Arctic Loon, Common Murre, and Dovekie? Did you find those?

Americans' names for - Black-throated Diver, Guillemot and Little Auk.

Cheers,

Adam

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by Deb London

No, it's FAR worse.

Going off topic slightly, I've just found a list of "international names". Wow, I never knew about those. Quick quiz (no peeking). What birds (in English) do I mean when I say the following:
1. Parasitic Jaeger?
2. Mew Gull?
3. Lapland Longspur?

But who uses these?

1 Arctic Skua
2 Common Gull (though see Roy's comment)
3 Lapland Bunting

Cheers,

Adam

[Deb London]

Yes, full marks.