Birds That Say Their Own Names

BirdNote^® 
Birds That Say Their Own Names 
Written by Frances Wood

This is BirdNote.

          [Call of the Common Poorwill]

Ever wonder how birds were named? Some, such as the Wilson’s Snipe, were named for people; others for a distinguishing physical characteristic — like the Spotted Towhee; and some for geographic locations, like the California Quail. In a few cases, the bird’s song or vocalization is incorporated into its name. Let’s listen to a few birds that call their names.

          [Black-capped Chickadee call]

Do you recognize this “chick-a-dee, dee, dee” call?

          [Black-capped Chickadee call]

That’s the Black-capped Chickadee. How about the “bobwhite?” 

           [Northern Bobwhite call] 

The Northern Bobwhite. Listen again. 

          [Repeat call.]

And this bird? 

          [Killdeer call]

The Killdeer is a common shorebird that often uses this alarm call when predators approach its nest. 

          [Killdeer call.]

And finally, a bird you might hear in the open, arid areas of the West and Midwest. 

          [Common Poorwill call]

It’s the Common Poorwill, a nocturnal hunter of insects. The easiest way to locate this species is to listen for its call.

          [Common Poorwill call.]

To listen to these calls more closely, begin at our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Mary McCann.

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Calls of the birds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Black-capped Chickadee recorded by R.S. Little; Killdeer and Common Poorwill by G.A. Keller; Bobwhite by P.P. Kellogg.
© 2014 Tune In to Nature.org     July 2016 / 2020 / 2025 & June 2022  
Narrator: Mary McCann

ID# names-01b-2020-7-10       names-01b