Ornithologists should hang out with astronomers. They do the same naming scheme with telescopes. They've named some classics like the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST).
I WOULD say that Lemmy jokes are on point today, but all the ones I've saved and sent to my family group chat are from the same Picard Maneuver lol
You got a good taste in jokes!
Field biology professor at my alma matter did a study on red-winged blackbirds where they put black paint over the red spots. The females didn't really care, but the other males would beat the shit out of the test birds.
The benefit is that strong red patches scare off other males, small patches get you clobbered, and no one is mating with the bird that just got his shit rocked.
Brighter colors indicate health like their ability to successfully gather food which builds up the pigmentation, as well as fitness in avoiding predators. If you see bright bird it is very likely its a male, the stronger the signals, the more attractive they are as a potential mate
My favourite example of a straight-to-the-point animal name:
There's a species of turtles. Goofy looking fellas with big heads. So what are they called? Big-headed turtles. OK, but surely the Latin name is sensible? No, it's megacephalum. Totally a band name.
Yeah I usually whip out Wikipedia and try to narrow down the family and genus by looking at the photos.
It's kinda fun if you're ever in the mood to spend 10-20 minutes researching different birds, lol.
56 Comments
SonicBlue03@sh.itjust.works · 80 pts · 1y
Purple-headed purplebird...
BudgetBandit@sh.itjust.works · 32 pts · 1y
White-bellied purple tit
ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works · 29 pts · 1y
You mean white breasted purple tit.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 1y
White titted purple booby
LogicalDrivel@sopuli.xyz · 10 pts · 1y
I hate that either of these names could be right.
zqwzzle@lemmy.ca · 20 pts · 1y
I had to check and FFS
violet backed starling
LGTM@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 1y
You know, this ain't so bad
0ops@lemm.ee · 10 pts · 1y
Fr though that's a cool bird
rockerface@lemm.ee · 76 pts · 1y
Bird names are either this or "yellow-boobied titcock" and there's no in-between
MIDItheKID@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y
My favorite is probably the Drab breasted bamboo tyrant
SonicBlue03@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
What about the Buff-Breasted Tody Tyrant? Buff breasts are admired by many.
teft@lemmy.world · 58 pts · 1y
Ornithologists should hang out with astronomers. They do the same naming scheme with telescopes. They've named some classics like the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST).
Edit: a word
Gork@lemm.ee · 29 pts · 1y
Don't forget the Very Large Telescope, the Extremely Large Telescope, and the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope.
Klear@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y
Relevant xkcd
ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 1y
H+M = A?
phdepressed@sh.itjust.works · 18 pts · 1y
Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope to be technical.
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y
It's the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope; the person you're replying to left out "Aperture" by mistake.
ulterno@programming.dev · 7 pts · 1y
Where does the 'A' come from?
The phonetic "faiv"?
BlueLou@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
slazer2au@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Can't beat rapid unscheduled disassembly. Aka, a thing exploded
PiJiNWiNg@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1y
Honytawk@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1y
Spooky action at a distance is how Einstein called quantum entanglement. That is the official name.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 1y
TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works · 33 pts · 1y
I WOULD say that Lemmy jokes are on point today, but all the ones I've saved and sent to my family group chat are from the same Picard Maneuver lol
You got a good taste in jokes!
The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 1y
Happy to help! Lol
prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 1y
We’re actually all just alts of The_Picard_Maneuver
shalafi@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 1y
Saw this kickass bird at the lake one day. Went home and looked it up.
red-winged blackbird
C'mon!
BakerBagel@midwest.social · 10 pts · 1y
Field biology professor at my alma matter did a study on red-winged blackbirds where they put black paint over the red spots. The females didn't really care, but the other males would beat the shit out of the test birds.
Animal behavior is funny
jaybone@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
I wonder how that benefits them in terms of evolution.
BakerBagel@midwest.social · 3 pts · 1y
The benefit is that strong red patches scare off other males, small patches get you clobbered, and no one is mating with the bird that just got his shit rocked.
Zanudous@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Brighter colors indicate health like their ability to successfully gather food which builds up the pigmentation, as well as fitness in avoiding predators. If you see bright bird it is very likely its a male, the stronger the signals, the more attractive they are as a potential mate
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 16 pts · 1y
Petition to rename this the black-bodied yellowbird
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 1y
I believe you mean "Black-Breasted Yellow Tit"
MrJameGumb@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 1y
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 1y
Ursus Arctos Arctos
Oni_eyes@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
Orcinus orca
massive_bereavement@fedia.io · 3 pts · 1y
Pica pica
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
Chuuuuuuuuu!
lengau@midwest.social · 13 pts · 1y
Wanna guess?
baguettefish@discuss.tchncs.de · 21 pts · 1y
bubblegum ice cream flavored bird
AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 1y
Pink breasted bluey chirp
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 1y
It looks like a jerk, so green-tailed twat or something
Robust_Mirror@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 1y
Lilac breasted roller
Honytawk@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1y
Most likely something like Big Titted Sloppy Blowjob Tramp, knowing how perverted some bird watchers are.
TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 1y
Cotton Candy Cum Stain
fluxion@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1y
I prefer a more scientific name like Birridious Amadeus Maximus, Master of the Armies of the North, Loyal Servant to the One True Emporer.
PlexSheep@infosec.pub · 8 pts · 1y
This isn't everywhere. In German, many birds have pretty unique names: Amsel, Spatz, Kuckuck, Uhu, Eule and so on.
VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 10 pts · 1y
Those are blackbird, sparrow, cuckoo, eagle owl, owl. The one in the meme is a Gelbkopf-Schwarzstärling ("yellowhead blackstärling")
So, not that different, I'd say.
PlexSheep@infosec.pub · 1 pts · 1y
You do have a point. Seems like there are quite a few "new" names in each language and then some weirdly descriptive ones for specific birds.
Zementid@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 1y
In Germany we have lots of names that are the descriptions. Stirnlappenbasilisk ist quite descriptive...
perviouslyiner@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
"What are we going to call this railway line? It goes from Hammersmith to the City"
don@lemm.ee · 8 pts · 1y
“… we’ll call it the Gliecksbaden Line, that should clear up any confusion.”
umbraroze@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y
My favourite example of a straight-to-the-point animal name:
There's a species of turtles. Goofy looking fellas with big heads. So what are they called? Big-headed turtles. OK, but surely the Latin name is sensible? No, it's megacephalum. Totally a band name.
Ummdustry@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1y
"Hey, this turtle looks kinda like it's got a snake for a neck, what should we call it"
phlegmy@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 1y
Gotta shout out birdle for all the bird-loving wordle fans out there.
Dave@lemmy.nz · 2 pts · 1y
That's really cool! But those hints don't help when I have no idea what order a bird is in 😆
dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 1y
Right. I felt uninformed and fighting the urge to go learn all about birds
phlegmy@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1y
Yeah I usually whip out Wikipedia and try to narrow down the family and genus by looking at the photos.
It's kinda fun if you're ever in the mood to spend 10-20 minutes researching different birds, lol.
NakariLexfortaine@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 1y
Black vultures, for me.
We have some that hunt through the dumpsters at work when deli does toss-out. I felt rather dumb assuming they had a fancier name.
Pretty neat birds to watch, though. I lost some time while they strutted about, pretty much ignoring my existence once I had tossed all our old bread.