birding-aus

One arm point and beyond(dampier peninsula, near Broome

To: "'Greg & Val Clancy'" <>, "'Gary Wright'" <>, "'birding aus'" <>
Subject: One arm point and beyond(dampier peninsula, near Broome
From: "Tony Russell" <>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:58 +1030
Well I like Jabiru, so there.

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Greg & Val
Clancy
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 10:48 AM
To: Gary Wright; birding aus
Subject: One arm point and beyond(dampier
peninsula,near Broome


Hi Gary,

I read you post with interest and noted that you hate using the name 
'Black-necked Stork'.  The neck is actually black, with a blue-green
sheen, 
and although probably not the most appropriate name for the species it
has 
been in use in Asia and Australia since at least the late 1880's.  The
bird 
books that I used when starting out birding many years back all called
it 
"Jabiru' and that is what I knew it as for many years.  Having recently 
completed my PhD studies on the species I am now a strong advocate for
not 
calling it "Jabiru'.  The reasons for this are: it is not a Jabiru - a 
Jabiru is a South American stork species which has only a few
similarities 
to our elegant bird; 'Jabiru' is a Tupi-Guarani name for the species
which 
means 'swollen neck', referring to its habit of inflating its bald neck 
pouch, very different to our slender necked species; the south American
bird 
has precedence over the name which is also its generic name.

When I hear or read the name 'Back-necked Stork' I visualise the
beautiful, 
elegant bird that it is I don't lament the loss of a totally
inappropriate 
name for Australia's only stork species.  However if 'Black-necked
Stork' is 
too much to bear you will be happy to know that when the New Guinea and 
Australian populations of this species are separated out from the Asian 
populations, which is likely in the future, the name 'Satin Stork' will,

hopefully, be applied to our birds.  This name received support from the

Birds Australia Common Names Committee but it will only be with
widespread 
acceptance that it will become 'set in stone.'  So far I have received a

large amount of support for the name.  I hope you will also support it.


Greg Clancy
Ecologist
Coutts Crossing
NSW



<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU