Dirty Birds: 12 Slightly Inappropriate Bird Names

Blue-Footed Booby

Although we might associate “booby” with some eyebrow-raising language today, when this bird was named, it wasn’t inappropriate: it was an insult. “Booby,” as applied here, derives from Spanish words for “silly” or “foolish.” The explorers who discovered the birds thought the birds lacked intelligence because they weren’t afraid of humans.

Bushtit (and Great Tit and Elegant Tit)

Stop snickering — the bird name “tit” has nothing to do with the foul-language word of the same spelling. The origins of the name aren’t quite clear, but they may date back to the 14^th century. It’s probable that those who first named the great tit (and bushtit, and elegant tit, and the whole Paridae family) used “tit” to denote the birds’ small size, rather than as a suggestive reference. In America, chickadees belong to this family.

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Dickcissel

It’s not hard to understand why the dickcissel earned its name — although the first half of it sounds a tad scandalous. If you listen to the bird’s song, it sounds similar to the bird’s name: dick-dick-see-see-see, which can then be boiled down to “dickcissel.” Although there’s conflict as to when the name “dickcissel” gained popularity over other, earlier names for the grassland bird, it seems to have been widely accepted by the end of the 19^th century.

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock

The Andean cock-of-the-rock was probably named by someone who just meant to get as much information about the bird into its name as possible and didn’t understand why anyone would giggle about it. While those of us with filthy minds tend to associate the word “cock” with… male anatomy, it does also have a cleaner meaning as another name for a rooster. The cock-of-the-rock, then, was named for its resemblance to a rooster, and for its habit of constructing nests on cliffs. It’s a cock seen on rocks in the Andes. As a fun fact, it’s also the national bird of Peru.

American Woodcock

We’re wondering if the naturalist who named the American woodcock needed glasses. While resemblance to a rooster is (sort of) apparent with the cock-of-the-rock, the American woodcock doesn’t seem to have much in common with the bird known for announcing dawn on the farm. We suppose it has a surface-level resemblance to a chicken (if you need glasses), and it is found in American woods, but… come on. Then again, it’s not as if other bird naming conventions would’ve worked better. Perhaps American woodcock is better than “American peent.”

Hairy Woodpecker

If you don’t have a dirty mind, you might not notice anything inappropriate about what naturalists decided to call this woodpecker. (For those who don’t get it, separate the name into three words. Then, feel free to giggle.) As is the case with all birds on this list, the name “hairy woodpecker” wasn’t a dirty joke. The bird is really named for the white feathers on its back, which, to naturalists, looked shaggy… or hairy.

Little Bustard

We suppose it’s better to be a little bustard than a great bustard, although the bustard family of birds probably wish the naturalist who named them had chosen something else. All of the bustards are named for their slow-moving nature. Tardus the Latin word for “slow,” translated to bustarde in French. This then became bustard, which sounds just a letter off from an insult one might yell at a driver who cuts them off on the freeway. Perhaps if the bustards had been speedier, they might not have been stuck with such a tragic moniker.

European Shag

You might just want to call this bird a cormorant. In Great Britain, though, shags were named for the tuft of feathers on their head that forms a small crest. They’re part of the same family that includes birds Americans would call cormorants (double-crested, great, etc.) However, if you can get through it without chuckling, you would be more accurate to call them shags if you’re birding internationally.

Hoary Puffleg

Again, this appears to be a case of naturalists using a descriptive term that they couldn’t imagine non-naturalists laughing at. “Hoary” actually means grayish-white. It’s been used to describe a variety of birds from the aforementioned puffleg to the redpoll (formerly, before a recent reclassification) and a grebe. Tragically for these descriptive, informative naturalists, “hoary” also sounds like a less-innocuous term. At least the hummingbird has a bit of whimsy with “puffleg,” which refers to the tufts of feathers on its legs. The grebe gets to be the hoary-headed grebe, which makes us feel bad for the poor bird.

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Turdus Bird Family

If you’re looking at it on a surface level, this scientific name sort of stinks. Why would scientists stick the Turdidae bird family, which includes the beloved American robin, wood thrush, and more, with such a foul-smelling moniker? As it turns out, the scientific name for these birds has nothing to do with “going number two.” Instead, it comes from the Latin word for thrush.

Gray Go-Away Bird

Did the naturalist who named this poor bird just want it gone? Was it trying to steal the naturalist’s food? That’s not likely — although it also doesn’t make a difference for this bird. The go-away bird wasn’t doing anything that made naturalists say “shoo!” Instead, its name is based off its call, which sounds like the bird is saying “go away.” There are other go-away birds, too, including the white-bellied and bare-faced go-away birds.

Lucifer Hummingbird

What on Earth could this angelic little hummingbird have done to earn such a devilish name? Today we have an unfavorable association with Lucifer, but for the naturalist who named this hummingbird hundreds of years ago, the name was likely meant to highlight its beautiful, light-scattering feathers. The name, then, wasn’t derived from distaste or dislike: it came from appreciation for the Lucifer hummingbird’s vibrant colors.

Sources

• Ornithology.com, “The Turdidae, True Thrushes“
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Blue-footed Booby“
• American Bird Conservancy, “Andean cock-of-the-rock” and “Hairy woodpecker“
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library, “Gray Go-away bird“
• Merriam-Webster, “10 Bird Names That Sound Like Insults (And Sometimes Are)“