Jargon Buster

If you’ve ever been bamboozled by the nicknames fellow birdwatchers have given to birds, then read on so you too can identify a ‘Gropper’ or ‘Grotfinch’…

- Andy Mackay

I HAVE WRITTEN PREVIOUSLY in these pages about the fact that many bird names aren’t as descriptive as you might think, and how this can be confusing if you’re tempted to take them too literally. But this isn’t the end of the story. Just as you think you’re getting the hang of it, and remembering that Green Sandpipers aren’t really green, it begins to dawn on you that many of your fellow birdwatchers seem to be speaking in a foreign language when talking about their birding exploits...

“So anyway, when we got there we found that the PG Tips was just a Gropper, and then it got taken by a Sprawk, so we went to look at the OBP and the Grotfinch as they were just round the corner.”

Hang on – what?! At first you might think that these are all extremely rare birds that you’ve never heard of, but no, unfortunately some birdwatchers do tend to use somewhat unconventional names for birds, and this can be yet another source of confusion for the beginner.

I’m sure the vast majority of people don’t do this deliberately to confuse or exclude others, but it can undoubtedly have that effect until you learn all the jargon. I don’t really know why bird names get abused like this. I am, however, frequently guilty of it, although I would never consciously do it in front of someone I didn’t know, or who might not understand what I was talking about.