A long time ago, I was delighted to notice—by accident—that the
Yellow-Footed Green Pigeon Treron phoenicopterus has, as its
specific name, the same name given to the genus of Flamingos. And what
a name it is! Phoenicopterus, meaning "crimson-wing", from the Greek
φοίνικ- (phoenic-, for "blood red", the
root of Phoenix and
Phoenician; itself
derived from φόνος, fonos, for "slaughter") and
pteron (for wing).
This weekend, armed with a not-terribly-recent checklist of birds and a
little spare time, I wrote a small Perl script to look for other names
given to both a genus and a different species (that is to say, I
ignored the relatively better-known examples of one bird having the same
generic and specific name, such as Coccothraustes coccothraustes
and Pica pica). Here are some of the most interesting results.
The Farsi word
Satrap (derived from
an Old Persian word meaning "protector of the province", and related to
Kshatriya in Sanskrit) features in the astonishingly similar names of
the Yellow-Browed Tyrant Satrapa icterophrys and Golden-Crowned
Kinglet Regulus satrapa. The genus Regulus includes the Goldcrest
Regulus regulus, Flamecrest R. goodfellowi, and Firecrest
R. ignicapilla; besides which, the specific name regulus
is shared by a Honeyguide and a Manakin. The genus Satrapa is monotypic,
as befits a Tyrant.
The well-known African Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus shares a
name with the equally famous European Robin Erithacus rubecula.
But the two other members of the genus Erithacus suffer from even more
interesting nomenclature. The Japanese Robin Erithacus akahige
has as its specific name the common name, in Japanese, of the Ryukyu
Robin Erithacus komadori! And of course the word "Akahige", which
means "Red Beard", is familiar to anyone who has watched Kurosawa's
unforgettable film.
No fewer than ten unrelated black-eared species including the
Swee Waxbill Estrilda melanotis share the name melanotis
with a genus of Mockingbirds that does not include the familiar
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos; but the gap is spanned by
the San Cristobal Mockingbird Mimus melanotis!
Other interesting shared names include:
- The White-Tipped Sicklebill Eutoxeres aquila, a small
Hummingbird, shares its name with the true Eagles, including the
Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos
- The Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis shares its name with a
small genus of Hummingbirds including the Bumblebee Hummingbird
Atthis heloisa
- Three unrelated species, the Cardinal Lory Chalcopsitta
cardinalis, the Cardinal Myzomela Myzomela cardinalis, and
the Cardinal Quelea Quelea cardinalis share their specific names
(and part of their common English names) with the true Cardinals
- The Macaroni Penguin Eudyptes chrysolophus shares its name
with a genus of little-known but stunningly beautiful Pheasants from
western China
- The Common Tern Sterna hirundo shares its name with the
Swallows and, because one good Tern deserves another, the Arctic Tern
Sterna paradisaea shares its name with the Birds of Paradise
- The Rough-Legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus shares its name with
the genus of Ptarmigans, which does not stop it from eating them
- The widespread genus of Rock-Thrushes shares the name Monticola with
a Barbet, a Honeyeater, a Wheatear, a Wren, a Munia, and the Long-Billed
Thrush Zoothera monticola
- The unfortunately-named Monotonous Lark Mirafra passerina
shares its name with a genus that includes the Indigo, Lazuli, and
Painted Buntings
- The Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope shares its name with the
South American genus of Guans
- The White-Breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus shares its
name with a genus of Redstarts
- The Chestnut-Bellied Cuckoo Hyetornis pluvialis shares its
name with the genus of Golden Plovers
- Eight unrelated grey-headed species share the name
poliocephalus with two Grebes, one of which is named
Poliocephalus poliocephalus
- The (hot-headed) Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
shares a name with the Fiery-Capped Manakin Machaeropterus
pyrocephalus
- The Foxy Cisticola Cisticola troglodytes and the Pygmy
Swiftlet Collocalia troglodytes share their names with the genus
of Wrens, including the Winter Wren Troglodytes troglodytes
- The Black Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus tyrannus shares its name with
the genus of Kingbirds that includes the Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus
tyrannus
But the most magnificent example of this phenomenon is the pair of names
given in 1758 by Linnaeus himself to the Short-Eared Owl and the Eastern
Screech-Owl: Asio otus and Otus asio respectively. (Alas,
the latter species has been reassigned to the genus Megascops.)
An entirely different kind of "dual use" name: Boa constrictor is
the scientific name of the Boa constrictor.