Atlantic City Bird Names

A. C. From Brig
Originally uploaded by ammodramus88

Some more old Jersey bird names from Trumbull's Names and Portraits of Birds Which Interest Gunners.... These are from Atlantic City which, given that Trumbull's book was published in 1888, looked a little different than it does today.

Big Yellow-legged Plover - Greater Yellowlegs
Black-breast - Dunlin
Blaten Duck - Gadwall
Bog Snipe - Wilson's Snipe
Brant-bird - Dunlin
Bull-head - Black-bellied Plover
Calico-back - Ruddy Turnstone
Cock-robin - Hooded Merganser
Cock-robin Duck - Hooded Merganser
Cub-head - Common Goldeneye
Granny - Long-tailed Duck
Gray-back - Short-billed Dowitcher
Hay-bird - Pectoral Sandpiper
Hollow-head - Black-bellied Plover
Horse-foot Marlin - Whimbrel
Long-neck - Northern Pintail
Mud-hen - Clapper Rail
Old Granny - Long-tailed Duck
Ring-tailed Marlin - Hudsonian Godwit
Sleepy Broad-bill - Ruddy Duck
Small Yellow-legged Plover - Lesser Yellowlegs
Spoon-bill - Northern Shoveller
Sprig-tail - Northern Pintail
Straight-billed Curlew - Marbled Godwit
Telltale - Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs
Triddler - Pectoral Sandpiper
Winter Snipe - Dunlin

Previously in this series:

Jersey Game Bird Names 1
Barnegat Bird Names
Tuckerton Bird Names
Cape May City Bird Names

Cape May City Bird Names

Dunes
Originally uploaded by ammodramus88

In honor of a Fourth of July spent unsuccessfully chasing Cape May rarities (but still having a very nice day out), here are some old Jersey bird names from Cape May City.

Black-breast - Dunlin
Black-breast Plover - Black-bellied Plover
Blue-bill - Greater Scaup
Broad-bill - Greater Scaup
Bull-head - Black-bellied Plover
Calico-bird - Ruddy Turnstone
Cob-head - Common Goldeneye
Cur - Common Goldeneye
Diver - Bufflehead
Gray-back - Short-billed Dowitcher
Hairy-head - Hooded Merganser
Hay-bird - Pectoral Sandpiper
Kill-cu - Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs
Marlin - Marbled Godwit
Mommy - Long-tailed Duck
Robin-snipe - Red Knot
Sea-pigeon - Short-billed Dowitcher
Shelduck - Red-breasted Merganser
Short-billed Curlew - Whimbrel
Spike-bill - Marbled Godwit
Spike-billed Curlew - Marbled Godwit

Tuckerton Bird Names

Dowitcher Decoy
Originally uploaded by ammodramus88

Continuing in a series of old bird names from various Jersey locations drawn from Gurdon Trumbull's Names and Portraits of Birds..., this list is of Tuckerton bird names. The decoy that illustrates this post probably would've been considered a brown-back.

Bay-coot - Surf Scoter
Big Yellow-legged Plover - Greater Yellowlegs
Black-breast - Dunlin
Black-breast Plover - Black-bellied Plover
Blaten Duck - Gadwall
Brant-snipe - Dunlin
Broad-bill - Greater Scaup
Brown-back - Short-billed Dowitcher
Bull-head - Black-bellied Plover
Cock-robin - Hooded Merganser
Cock-robin Duck - Hooded Merganser
Creek Broad-bill - Lesser Scaup
Crow-duck - American Coot
Cub-head - Common Goldeneye
Fat-bird - Pectoral Sandpiper
Field Plover - Upland Sandpiper
Fresh-water Sheldrake - Common Merganser
Gannet - Ruddy Turnstone
Long-billed Curlew - Long-billed Curlew
Marlin - Marbled Godwit
Mud-hen - Clapper Rail
Quill-tail Coot - Ruddy Duck
Robin-snipe - Red Knot
Salt-water Sheldrake - Red-breasted Merganser
Short-billed Curlew - Whimbrel
Shovel-bill - Northern Shoveller
Sleepy Broad-bill - Ruddy Duck
Small Yellow-legged Plover - Lesser Yellowlegs
Smees - Northern Pintail
Smethe - Northern Pintail
Sprig-tail - Northern Pintail
Telltale - Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs
Winter Snipe - Dunlin

Barnegat Bird Names

Harlequin Ducks
Originally uploaded by ammodramus88

A trip out the jetty at Barnegat last weekend provides an excuse to list some historic game bird names from Barnegat gunners (via Trumbull's Names and Portraits of Birds...

Big Yellow-leg - Greater Yellowlegs
Black-breast Plover - Black-bellied Plover
Blaten Duck - Gadwall
Brant-snipe - Dunlin
Broad-bill - Greater Scaup
Brown-back - Short-billed Dowitcher
Checkered-snipe - Ruddy Turnstone
Cock-robin - Hooded Merganser
Cock-robin Duck - Hooded Merganser
Crow-duck - American Coot
Cub-head - Common Goldeneye
Dowitch - Short-billed Dowitcher
Field Plover - Upland Sandpiper
Fresh-water Broad-bill - Lesser Scaup
Fresh-water Sheldrake - Common Merganser
Gray Plover - Black-belled Plover
Krieker - Pectoral Sandpiper
Large Yellow-leg - Greater Yellowlegs
Little Yellow-leg - Lesser Yellowlegs
Marlin - Marbled Godwit
Mud-hen - Clapper Rail
Ring-tailed Marlin - Hudsonian Godwit
Robin-snipe - Red Knot
Salt-water Sheldrake - Red-breasted Merganser
Sleepy Broad-bill - Ruddy Duck
Small Curlew - Whimbrel
Small Yellow-leg - Lesser Yellowlegs
Spoon-bill - Northern Shoveller
Sprig-tail - Northern Pintail
Telltale - Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs

The birds that illustrate this post, Harlequin Ducks, are generally expected by birders visiting Barnegat today, but according to Trumbull in the day, did not get much south of Salem, Massachusetts. In their accepted range, they were usually known as "lord and lady."

Jersey Game Bird Names 1

In 1888, Gurdon Trumbull wrote a book called Names and Portraits of Birds Which Interest Gunners with Descriptions in Language Understanded of the People. Harper and Brothers published it, and I found a copy of it in a Maine used bookstore years ago for $25, but now you can find it on Google Books. How times change. The photo that illustrates this post is the gilt American Woodcock that adorns the cover of my copy.

According to French (1878), Trumbull was, "The finest fish-painter of America..." This was intended as a compliment, I should add. French went on to lament, "Unfortunately for the art, Mr. Trumbull's circumstances have been such that he has never been urged beyond the dictates of his fancy to follow a profession. Few of his pictures have come before the public: indeed, he has painted but very little."

Leaving aside the question of whether Gurdon Trumbull is America's great neglected fish-painter, I instead turn to his book of game bird names. Trumbull chronicled these names up and down the eastern seaboard, down to specific towns in many cases. He also cited nomenclature in places further afield, such as the British Isles (can you beat the name of "coal-and-candlelight" for Long-tailed Duck, formerly Oldsquaw? I assume this was was another example of onomatopoeia as given in the more commonly seen rendition of these ducks' calls as "owl omelet.") Trumbull worked in an era when regional names for animals were very much the norm. Think about that the next time you look at your AOU Check-list or your ABA list. In any case, Trumbull's book of game bird names is a precious linguistic legacy.

Future posts in this series will deal with specific NJ towns. Even in such a small state, where the towns in question might not be so far distant from each other, there were frequently striking differences in nomenclature. In the meantime, here are the names that Trumbull gave for the state as a whole, and of the "Jersey coast" as a smaller subset of it:

New Jersey
Black Sea-duck - Surf Scoter
Butter-box - Bufflehead
Horse-foot Snipe - Ruddy Turnstone
Pond Broad-bill - Lesser Scaup
Pond Saw-bill - Hooded Merganser
Rail-bird - Sora
Red-back - Dunlin
Widgeon - American Wigeon

Jersey coast
Fresh-water Mud-hen - Virginia Rail
Old Wife - Long-tailed Duck
Red Goose - Snow Goose

French, Harry Willard. 1878. Art and Artists in Connecticut. Lee & Shepard, Boston, MA. Google Books link
Trumbull, Gurdon. 1888. Names and Portraits of Birds Which Interest Gunners with Descriptions in Language Understanded of the People. Harper & Brothers, New York, NY. Google Books link