SOME POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE VERNACULAR NAMES OF BIRDS

• Many of the current English common names for birds were original or derivatives of Indian vernacular names, e.g., shama and bulbul.

• Except for Philomachus pugnax, where the male is called Ruff and the female Reeve, all the other common names in English have the same name for both the sexes. This is not so in the case of the Indian vernacular names, where the sexes have different names for quite a few species, especially among ducks, birds of prey, minivets etc., where sexual dimorphism is prominent.

• It appears that some vernacular bird names are onomatopoeic in genesis. Examples are Kaka (Tamil and Malayalam), Kaki (Telugu), Kowwa (Hindi) for crows; Kuku (Kashmiri), Kukku (Lepcha), Phuphu (Kumaon) for the Cuckoo; Tuiya tota (Hindi), Tui suga (Nepal), Tiya or Tiya tota for the Blossomheaded Parakeet and Awak or waak for the Night Heron. Others were based on the physical characters, food habits, diet or habitat the birds frequent. Examples are Naththai kuththi narai (Snail Pecking Stork), Tamil for Openbilled Stork; Peenigala Konga (Corpse Stork), Telugu for the Adjutant Stork; Tena gadda (Telugu) and Ten parandu (Tamil), both of which mean Honey Eagle, for the Honey Buzzard; and Samp mar (Snake Killer) for the Whitebellied Fishing Eagle, which feeds largely on sea snakes.

• The cormorants and gulls have the suffix of Crow added to them in some Indian languages. The cormorants are called water crows and gulls, sea crows. In the first group, it is probably due to their black colour, and in the case of gulls, it is due to its scavenging habit, crow-like raucous calls and maritime habitat

• The name used for harriers in Tamil and Telugu translates to Cat Raptor, and is apt as the faces of the species have the composure and countenance of a cat.

• Telugu names prevalent in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh (where one of the ENVIS staff had worked earlier), such as Korra koncha (Demoiselle Crane), burrlakka (quails), ratipoluka (sandgrouse), Samba kaki (Crow Pheasant), Tikka titta (meaning mad bird due to its incessant calls both during the day and night) for Red-wattled Lapwing are unrecorded in literature. We have added these to the list of names given in the table. This shows that a lot more documentation needs to be done on vernacular bird names from the different regions of the Indian subcontinent.

• In Telugu, the flamingo is known as Samudrapu chiluka, meaning sea parrot due to its parrot-like bill.

• The vernacular names for the wagtails sound more comical when translated into English. In Malayalam and Tamil, it reads as Tail Wagger, and in Telugu, Bum Wagger !

• The wagtail group is also called Vannathi kuruvi (Dhobi Bird) in Tamil as they frequent the vicinity of washermen at rivers and lakes.

• The rustic charm in naming of birds is evident in the Sindhi name for the Blackheaded Bunting, Booree, which means deaf. The reason for this name it is said, is that no amount of scaring will chase this species from crop fields.

• The White-throated Fantail Flycatcher has the apt name of Nachan (Dancer) in Marathi, which is befitting as the movements of the bird gives the impression of a delicate dancer.

• Examples of wrong pronunciation of vernacular names by outsiders are the words Chinna (meaning small) which got corrupted to Sinna (a word that does not exist in Tamil) and Kampa (meaning thorn/scrub) into Campa in Ali & Ripley’s Handbook.

• The Little Stint is called Kosu Ullan in Tamil, which translates to Mosquito Wader. Trappers in the Great Vedaranyam Swamp, Tamil Nadu say it is named due to its small size and the large flocks it forms, which from a distance look like swarms of mosquitoes.

• The cute name Rani didao gophita (Little White Water Princess) is used for the Pheasant-tailed Jacana in Cachar district, Assam.

• In Malayalam, the Black Drongo is called as Kakka tampuratti (Queen of Crows) and the Grey Drongo, Kakka tampuran (King of Crows)! Did such names originate from Kerala’s fairy tales? Does the name of Madayan (meaning fool in Tamil) for the Pond Heron also have a fable behind it?

• Artisans’ names are given or prefixed for some bird groups in the vernacular languages, due to certain characteristics of the species. Examples are tacchan kuruvi (Malayalam) and sutaar (Marathi), meaning carpenter or carpenter bird for woodpeckers; sonar (Marathi), meaning goldsmith for orioles; tambat (Marathi), meaning coppersmit for barbets; and taiyalkaran kuruvi (Tamil), darzee (Hindi) and darji (Punjabi), meaning tailor, for tailorbirds.

• It seems fascinating that there are names for nondescript groups of birds as the warblers, e.g., for the Booted Warbler in Malayalam (see Handbook). This only proves that the early Indians did pay attention to nature and birds.  

• In Telugu, the Grey Shrike is known as Kasai pitta, meaning Butcher Bird, which is what the shrike is also called in English.

• The recorded names for all the predominantly yellow coloured orioles in Hindi is Peelak, meaning the ‘the yellow one’. The absence of different names for individual species highlights the need for standardising the vernacular names of birds so that ornithology can develop in the vernacular languages. In the absence of existing names, new names will have to be coined.

• The Telugu name for the Lesser Florican is Nela nemali, meaning Ground Peacock, probably due to the presence of peacock like plumes on the head of cock floricans.

• The names in Telugu for the Bonelli’s Eagle and Booted Hawk-Eagle are Kundeli salawa and Udatala gedda, which roughly translates to Hare Raptor and Squirrel Raptor respectively. The Handbook mentions the prey of the former as large birds and hares and the latter, as small mammals (squirrels and rats) and small birds. This shows that the locals did have a good idea of natural history of these birds.