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After last week’s list of highly positive bird names, one might think that ornithologists truly love all birds. The reality is quite different. Quite a few bird species received a distinct snub when they were named. Here are some examples.
- Lesser Kestrel
- Little Egret
- Least Bittern
- Plain Prinia (eBird: “A common prinia with drab gray-brown plumage)
- Common Redshank
- Pale Thrush (eBird: “One of the plainer thrushes”)
- Dull-colored Grassquit (eBird: “Well-named little bird”)
- Dull-mantled Antbird
- Drab Seedeater (eBird: “Well-named seedeater”)
- Grayish Miner (eBird: “Rather drab and plain”)
The last one seems particularly insulting – a bird so indistinct that it does not even deserve to be called properly gray? Of course, you can always use evolution as an excuse, as the HBW does in its portrait:
“Its pale grayish-brown coloration and lack of a bold pattern allow it to blend in with the sandy brown and grayish desert habitats in which it is found”.
Photo: Plain Prinia
Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 22 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well. He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.
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