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Nov 25, 2020

Birds with grandiloquent names...

 

Elegant Sunbird photo by Limchiu at en.wikipedia

My new All the Birds of the World book lists 140 types of Sunbirds with all sorts of interesting names.   10 of those Sunbirds, in alphabetical order, are:

                 BEAUTIFUL SUNBIRD
          ELEGANT SUNBIRD
   GORGEOUS SUNBIRD
              HANDSOME SUNBIRD 
          LOVELY SUNBIRD
             MAGNIFICENT SUNBIRD
             REGAL SUNBIRD
             SHINING SUNBIRD
             SPLENDID SUNBIRD
             SUPERB SUNBIRD

Nine of these birds look similar, with the Magnificent Sunbird standing out among the rest.   Which one is the grandest? Who can say?   One can pity the Plain Sunbird or the Mouse-coloured Sunbird for their plain names.   What will happen when the number of bird species in the world doubles, as is predicted?   This issue occurs with many other species of birds.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder  
   


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