Re: Coding bird names

Doug Couchman (atakdoug@csonline.net)
Mon, 12 Apr 1999 14:15:16 -0400


Ellen Paul's explanation of the default rules for coding bird names 
missed one minor point.  If the bird's name has three words, then:

(1) if the name consists of two descriptive words and one generic
word, use the first letter of each of the first two (descriptive)
words and the first two letters of the generic word, a la BBMA for
Black-billed Magpie (Ellen's example);

(2) if the name consists of one descriptive word and a two-word
generic phrase, usually hyphenated, use the first two letters of the
first word and the first letter of each of the last two words, as in
EASO for Eastern Screech-Owl.  (How I abhor that hyphen!)


Otherwise, it's as Ellen described it.  Remember that where two
species would have the same abbreviation, there's really no way to
tell which gets what, which can be a problem if the birds are
unrelated and you therefore don't notice the overlap (Trumpeter Swan
and Tree Swallow, for example).  Also, for mostly foreign birds, the
codes are often three letters and bear no obvious resemblance to the
English-language names; for example, should be lucky enough to find a
Whiskered Tern at Assateague some day, you are forgiven if you don't
remember that the code for the species is KRY.


As for the little quiz on how you could come up with CACA using Latin
names, two came right to mind, three are seen in the eastern US, and I
found four that are seen in North America.  My guess is Ellen meant
NOCA.



Doug Couchman
atakdoug@csonline.net
Cooperstown, PA