Hi Birding-Aussers from the UK,
I followed the "Jabiru" discussion with interest.
I thought Australian Jabiru seemed like a good name till remembered we had seen
the same species in Sri Lanka and India - I checked "Birds of the World" and
indeed it does have an Asian/Australasian distribution, though the populations
in Asia seem to be in deep trouble. So it doesn't just belong to you!
I notice that both the Spanish and French call it the Asian Jabiru, which seems
pretty sensible. And they even call the Saddle Bill Stork the African Jabiru.
I must say I like the idea of Aboriginal names, which could be used alongside
the "official" names, as "nicknames" if you like. After all you have lots of
nicknames for other birds - as do we - for example, Peewit for Lapwing, Hedge
Sparrow for Dunnock and Bonxie for Great Skua.
I would personally be all in favour of renaming your magpies, robins and wrens
and the like, and where they are Australian endemics then an Aboriginal name
would seem entirely suitable.
On a slightly different topic, pity the UK birder who goes to the USA and finds
that Brunnich's Guillemot is called Thick Billed Murre and Arctic Skua is a
Parasitic Jaeger! And any attempt to rationalise is met with fierce opposition
at both ends! (They want us to call our Wren the Winter Wren - how dare they!)
Rosemary Royle
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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