100 Birds and How They Got Their Names [Hardcover]

Diana Wells (Author), Lauren Jarrett (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2001

How did cranes come to symbolize matrimonial happiness? Why were magpies the only creatures that would not go inside Noah's Ark? Birds and bird imagery are integral parts of our language and culture. With her remarkable ability to dig up curious and captivating facts, Diana Wells hatches a treat for active birders and armchair enthusiasts alike. Meet the intrepid adventurers and naturalists who risked their lives to describe and name new birds. Learn the mythical stories of the gods and goddess associated with bird names. Explore the avian emblems used by our greatest writers--from Coleridge's albatross in "The Ancient Mariner" to Poe's raven.

A sampling of the bird lore you'll find inside:

Benjamin Franklin didn't want the bald eagle on our National Seal because of its "bad moral character," (it steals from other birds); he lobbied for the turkey instead.

Chaffinches, whose Latin name means "unmarried," are called "bachelor birds" because they congregate in flocks of one gender.

Since mockingbirds mimic speech, some Native American tribes fed mockingbird hearts to their children, believing it helped them learn language.

A group of starlings is called a murmuration because they chatter so when they roost in the thousands.

Organized alphabetically, each of these bird tales is accompanied by a two-color line drawing. Dip into 100 Birds and you'll never look at a sparrow, an ostrich, or a wren in quite the same way.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this little volume, Wells (100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names) offers 100 two- to three-page essays that provide brief but satisfactory descriptions of an individual bird or bird group (e.g., sparrows, owls, and hawks). Tidbits and trivia, as well as literary, folkloric, biblical, mythical, or other references, help explain why a bird is named as it is. Wells discusses the origin of the scientific name, clarifying the meaning of the original Latin terminology, and often recounts who selected the name and why or for whom the bird was named. Each of the alphabetically arranged entries includes a black-and-white sketch. There is a satisfying mix of common birds (e.g., cardinal, crow, and goose) and more exotic species (e.g., cassowary, bird of paradise, and hoatzin). Especially well timed with the recent publication of new field guides by David Sibley and Kenn Kaufman, this volume will make a likable, but not imperative, addition to public and academic libraries with ornithological collections. (Index not seen.) Nancy Moeckel, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Edward Malin resurrects the American Indian art form of 'flat painting' that peaked on the Northwest coast more than a century ago."
--Virgil Rupp, East Oregonian, March 17, 2002

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1 edition (November 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156512281X
• ISBN-13: 978-1565122819
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diana Wells is the author of 100 flowers and How They Got Their Names and contributing editor to the journal Greenprints. Born in Jerusalem, she has lived in England and Italy and holds an honors degree in history from Oxford University. She now lives with her husband, an artist, on a farm in Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A look into the history of birds and words, May 5, 2002

By 

Elizabeth Rosenthal - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 100 Birds and How They Got Their Names (Hardcover)

Sometimes author Diana Wells gets a little too caught up in the etymology of various birds' Latin names, and then this book reads more like a dry encyclopedia than an affectionate survey of the relationship between some of the sweetest creatures on Earth and human language.

Usually, though, Ms. Wells succeeds in vividly tracing the evolution of the layperson's avian terminology. What does the word "titmouse" really mean? She'll tell you. And she takes the reader back into the farthest reaches of history and the roles that some of the most common birds have played in ancient society and even in biblical stories. For example, she explains with facility how nobility used falcons to hunt before guns were invented. She tells of how the starving Israelites, wandering in the wilderness after being freed from Egyptian slavery by Moses, came upon multitudes of quail. Thus, they feasted excessively on the birds until they became sick. The biblical interpretation of this mass indigestion was that the Israelites were punished for being so greedy, but Ms. Wells posits an intriguing secular explanation for what happened. You'll have to read the book to find out what that explanation is.

The author also helps the reader to view with tolerance what may be deemed some birds' shocking habits. The shrike impales small animals on walls and fences to eat later... not all that dissimilarly from what one might see in a butcher shop.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun with bird words, March 12, 2002

By 

Gary Sprandel (Frankfort, Kentucky) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 100 Birds and How They Got Their Names (Hardcover)

Delightfully literate look at both the origin of bird names (etymology) as well as the common usage of the names. Wells first looks at Greek, Latin, or Egyptian sources for the names. For example, I did not know that Egyptian mummified Ibis, the source of the ibis name. She also calls up stories of early biologists as Linnaeus, Mark Catsby, and Audubon to look at some of the early naming. She relays Audubon's account of wood storks scratching his legs. She also includes both obvious literary references such as Coleridge's albatross in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and more obscure ones as Hamlet not being able to tell a "hawk from a handsaw" (heron).

In a few cases her ornithological information is not precise, for example in discussing "American" prairie chicken she says they "exist further south" (than the Northeast), but further west would be a more accurate description. The illustrations are sometimes not completely accurate, as the depiction of the thick upturned bill of the avocet.

For anyone who has wondered at such names as "goatsucker" this is a good readable, source.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and informative history of bird names., April 1, 2003

By 

Daniel G. Snethen (Colome, SD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 100 Birds and How They Got Their Names (Hardcover)

There is a wealth of knowledge in this small volume. However, one must be aware of just what this book represents. It is by no means a field guide. If your interests are identifying birds in the field, this book will be of no assistance to you. If however you are the sort of person entertained by word meanings and word origins and are interested in mythological, historical, and Biblical anecdotes this is the perfect book for you as it will offer up several amusing bits of bird trivia. I use the book as an icebreaker in my biology classroom. My students enjoy listening to interesting trivia about birds and are often intrigued by how certain birds actually got their names. Sometimes the taxonomical treatment of birds is cumbersome but overall this is a very readable and entertaining book easily understood by the lay person.