Birds' names: where do they come from?
Hello to everyone! This is my first article about animals and their names. Why do I write an article on animals if I am a translator? Of course because I love animals, I have a big passion for nature and all animals that exist in the world, so I think it is right to raise awareness about the importance of their existence and their conservation by sharing my knowledge and writing funny articles about their names that I translate daily. Let’s start with some bird.
The rufous hornero (Furnarius rufus), also known as the red ovenbird, are insectivores which get their name from the elaborate, vaguely "oven-like" clay nests they build. The Spanish word horno (oven) gives the hornero their name. The Spanish word hornero means “baker” and also in Italian they are known as fornaio rossiccio (red baker).
The Latin name Furnarius derives from the word furnus, meaning "oven". Its specific epithet (rufus) comes from the Latin rufum, meaning "red" or "reddish" due to the colour of their plumage.
The kingfisher, also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is called Alcedo atthis in Latin. This binomial name derives from the Latin alcedo, which means "kingfisher" and derives from the Greek word ἀλκυών, halcyon which refers to the myth of Alcyone. The young daughter of Aeolus transformed in a kingfisher by divinities together with her husband. Atthis is the Latin name of a beautiful young woman of Lesbos that was the favourite of Sappho.
Their common name, kingfisher, derives from their great fishing skills. Kingfishers only eat small fishes that they catch entering the water for a maximum of 25 centimetres.
The African fish eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) or the African sea eagle takes its name from its feeding habit. It feeds mainly on fish caught in lakes or in the sea. But the peculiarity of this eagle is its Latin name. The scientific name derives from Haliaeetus (sea eagle), that derives from the Greek word haliaetos, and vocifer that derives from its original genus name chosen by the French naturalist François Levaillant, who called it the vociferous eagle. Why is it called vociferous? Because of the its distinctive cry that can be considered evocative of the spirit or essence of Africa. In Italian this bird is known as aquila urlatrice (howling eagle).
Did you like this article? Do you know other bird with particular names? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
