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Explanation for naming of the "Regent"

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Subject: Explanation for naming of the "Regent"
From: brian fleming <>
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:26:16 +1000
In flight Regent Parrots are very strikingly marked in black and gold,
as I well remember from Hattah National Park in northwest Victoria.  But
in Western Australia I was surprised to find that they were much more
green than yellow. Whether the bird ever had a different common name in
WA I don't know, but Regent is certainly suitable for the eastern form.

Anthea Fleming

Russ Lamb wrote:
Patrick,
My posting was in response to the question "why are black and gold birds called "Regent"". I think that if an Australian bird is black and gold then giving it the common name of "Regent" was an obvious though not prescriptive option for those responsible for naming birds in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (a period when the issue of regency was current and meaningful). I have absolutely no idea how people naming individual species actually decided what common name to give, or why. Only that that colour combination had an association with the word regent and thus became a (non-prescriptive) option. It helps us understand why a naming decision may have been taken for a black and gold species, but doesn't answer the question of what factors determined the naming of the Regent Parrot (it may have had nothing at all to do with colour).

Isn't there a book somewhere which gives possible reasons for the common names of Aussie birds?

Russ Lamb, Maleny,SEQ



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