This morning I was shooting photos of a Tricolored Heron out on a mud flat during low tide, as I was editing the photo I kept going back to a memory: This bird used to be called a Louisiana Heron. What’s the difference, I asked myself, from this bird and the one I used to know as a Louisiana Heron. Turns out it is nothing.
Tricolored Herons are also known as Lady of the Waters, Silver-grey Heron and of course Louisiana Herons. Most folks call them Tricolored Herons nowadays, but it used to be that they were mostly known as Louisiana Herons. That got me thinking about bird names. If Tricolored Herons were known as something else, what about other birds? What I learned is that almost every bird has a nickname and some are just plain funny.
Take the Great Blue Heron: He’s known by some as a Blue Crane, but his nicknames are Big Cranky, Poor Joe and Long John. My wife once referred to me as Cranky Pants, so I know that’s not such a nice nickname. Of all the birds with not-so-nice nicknames, the Wood Stork has to have the most unflattering of them all. Who would want to be known as Flint Head, gourd head, hammerhead, ironhead or even Spanish Buzzard? The Wood Stork has been called it all. His nicest monikers are preacher and American Jabiru.
I get why the Blue Jay gets his nicknames — Blue Coat, Corn Thief, Nest Robber and Jay-Bird — I’ve watched their behavior as they fight the squirrels for the peanuts at my bird feeders. But what did the Wood Stork ever do to deserve those names. My wife thinks they are actually kind of cute and definitely don’t deserve to be called gourd heads.
It’s easy to see where other birds get their nicknames. Black Skimmer nicknames are all quite descriptive. They have been called Cut-Water, Knife Bill, Scissorbill and Shearwater. I totally get those names from watching their behavior and the shape of their bills. But who came up with Storm Gull and Sea Dog for them?
The Osprey and the Roseate Spoonbill probably have the simplest and most descriptive nicknames. The Osprey are also known as Fishing Eagle, Fish Hawk and Sea Hawk. As for the Roseate, it’s simply
Pink Curlew and Rosy Spoonbill. Shakespeare, who famously wrote, the line “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet” must have had these beloved birds in mind.
Please share the nick names and alternative names you know for birds, along with their commonly known names in comments below.
Osprey are also known as Fishing Eagle, Fish Hawk and Sea Hawk.
The Wood Stork has to have the most unflattering of nicknames. Who would want to be known as Flint Head, gourd head, hammerhead, ironhead or even Spanish Buzzard? The Wood Stork has been called it all. His nicest monikers are preacher and American Jabiru.
The Blue Jay, also known as a Blue Coat, Corn Thief, Nest Robber and Jay-Bird.
The Great Blue Heron are known by some as a Blue Crane, but his nicknames are Big Cranky, Poor Joe and Long John.
Rosy Spoonbill
A Tricolored Heron also called a Louisiana Heron, Lady of the Waters, Silver-grey Heron
Black Skimmer nicknames are all quite descriptive. They have been called Cut-Water, Knife Bill, Scissorbill and Shearwater. I totally get those names from watching their behavior and the shape of their bills. But who came up with Storm Gull and Sea Dog for them?