Book Review - The Bird Name Book - Princeton University Press

      It has always seemed to me that anyone interested in birds has a parallel interest in etymology, in the same way that baseball aficionados are obsessed with statistics about their game. It was with great pleasure, therefore, that I received this book for review, and I experienced a distinct sense of anticipation before even opening it to the first page.

     Having now read it from cover to cover, I owe a debt of gratitude to Susan Myers for producing this work, which I find nothing less than enchanting. 

     The Author's Note, brief though it may be, captures the spirit of our time succinctly, "But lately, bird names have been receiving more scrutiny than ever. It seems rather belatedly it's come to our attention that many of the names we take for granted have a checkered background." 

     Justice carries no expiry date and it is never too late to redress the sins, omissions and deceptions of the past. Gabriel Foley and Jordan Rutters wrote of eponyms, ".... (they) cast long, dark shadows over our beloved birds and represent colonialism, racism and inequality. It is long overdue that we acknowledge the problem of such names, and it is long overdue that we should change them.” Thick-billed Longspur reveals far more about the bird than McCown's Longspur anyway, and for those dedicated to perpetuating McCown's name it is still retained as the specific epithet.

     The naming of birds was left to early naturalists and amateur enthusiasts, many of whom lived before ornithology was recognized as a science, and Myers provides a comprehensive list of these luminaries. I was especially happy to see her reference to Alexander Skutch, that scion of Central American ornithology and a behavioural ecologist of immense talent, as "....one of the world's greatest ornithologists," a sentiment I share.

     One cannot have even a passing acquaintance of ornithology without knowing of John Gould, a contemporary of Charles Darwin; his influence continues to this day.

     The photographs in the book are superb, but they are surpassed by the high quality reproductions of bird art through the ages, from the flat and lifeless to the animated portraits produced by Gould, Audubon and others. 

     Gould's work is represented more than other artists and for good reason. His output was unmatched and he had the good sense to employ talented artists like Edward Lear, possibly the finest bird illustrator of all time.

     The number of images tracing the development of ornithological art is comprehensive and they add such an excellent dimension to the book it is hard to overstate their worth.

     The meaning of bird names is listed alphabetically from Accentor to Zeldonia, with excellent accompanying notes. From cover to cover it is packed with information. In short order you can learn the origins of the names of birds you always wondered about.

     This is an exceptionally fine book and one that I imagine every bird lover will will wish to have.

The Bird Name Book: A History of English Bird Names

Susan Myers

Hardcover - US$39.95 - ISBN 9780691235691

416 pages - 6.125 x 9.25 inches (15.31 x 23.125 cm)

200 colour photos

Publication date: 25 October, 2022