Jill Dening wrote:
>
> >Hi all.
> >Confusion is likely to exist with many people as long as "Common
> Myna"
> >*sounds*, to Jo Blow, like "common miner". The latter, in this and
> many
> >other parts of Australia, equates to the indigenous Noisy Miner which
> >many bird lovers regard as a pest in itself. I'm afraid there's a
> real
> >danger that such people may declare an unofficial "open season" on
> Noisy
> >Miners if they think they are a *declared* pest species.
> >Regards,
> >Anne
>
> Anne,
>
> A very quick reply..
>
> Glad you raised this, because it has really been troubling me. I wrote
> an
> email in the same vein to a fellow birding-ausser yesterday. The
> Common
> Myna (known widely as the Indian Myna) has been named (renamed) for
> obvious
> reasons, but in this country it raises real confusion. I have
> successfully
> trained myself to call it the Common Myna, but am far from happy about
> the
> term, because I usually have to explain what bird I am talking about,
> and
> that should not have to be the case.
>
> My husband has suggested that I abandon the term Common Myna, and
> revert to
> Indian Myna, for the sake of general understanding. He said, "A name
> should
> identify a creature, not cause confusion."
>
> Jill
>
> Jill Dening
> Sunshine Coast, Qld
>
> 26º 51' 65" 152º 56' 16"
>
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Common Mynah again....
As a child, I was told it was the Indian Mynah (with an aitch and a
distinct 'ah' for last syllable) and I still call it that most of the
time, precisely to distinguish it from the Noisy Miner. Both birds after
all are common and noisy. Just because the bird is the commonest one in
India is no reason to call it Common here when we have another species
for verbal confusion, and praise be, no other mynah species from the
Subcontinent.
Common Sandpiper is another funny name in Australia. You find one or
two on a beach or a stone dam-wall, and say 'Common Sandpiper!' to your
bird class and they are puzzled a. that you consider it quite
noteworthy and b. that there's only one or two when you've just seen 500
Sharpies and 1500 Rednecked Stints.
Anthea Fleming in Melbourne - where there are far too many Mynahs.
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