Archive for the 'Bird Word' Category

Irruption: when large numbers of a particular species move to an area where they are not commonly found in large numbers, often in response to drought, rainfall or other environmental changes. In Australia, some species of hawks and kites can irrupt into areas experiencing mouse plagues or locusts. Water birds irrupt into areas experiencing sudden […]

Gregarious: some birds live in groups and are said to be gregarious. One such species is the White-Winged Chough. They are usually seen in groups of from 5 to 10, though the family group that visits my garden has been up to 12 in size. I have seen larger groups than that in other places.

There […]

Hybridisation: the cross-breeding between different species.

Most species stay true to their kind. King Parrots breed with King Parrots and produce young King Parrots. Occasionally, one species will interbreed with another species. In some parts of Australia the introduced species of duck, the Mallards, will hybridise with the native Pacific Black Duck. The offspring show characteristics […]

Flight feathers: these are the well developed feathers on the wings and tail which are used in flight. The wing feathers consist of primaries, secondaries and tertiaries.

I have tried a number of times to capture the flight of various birds, generally with not much luck. In many cases the flight feathers show up brilliant colours […]

Ever wonder where bird names come from? And what they mean?
Harry over at his blog called Heraclitean Fire had fun with the dictionary recently. He discovered some interesting things about words and birds. He tells about his discoveries in a post called Birding the Dictionary.
Related articles:

Glossary of bird words - learn more about birds and […]