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Category Archives: Birds
Peregrine gender gap
How can you tell the difference between a male and a female peregrine? Continue reading
Posted in Birds
Tagged falcon, female, gender, male, peregrine, sex differences, sexual dimorphism, tiercel
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The dunnock’s many names
How did the dunnock acquire its name, and what other names has it had? Continue reading
Posted in Birds
Tagged accentor, dunnock, entomology, hedge sparrow, name, prunella, taxonomy
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Is the robin a thrush?
It used to be thought that the robin was part of the thrush family. Continue reading
Posted in Birds
Tagged chats, erithaca rubecula, european robin, robin, stonechat, taxonomy, thrush
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Birds of a feather
An exaltation of larks, a murder of crows… where do these words come from? Continue reading
Posted in Birds
Tagged Birds, collective nouns, exaltation, flock, gaggle, groups, murder
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The mysterious phoenix
How did the legend of the phoenix arise, and was it based on a real bird? Continue reading
Posted in Birds
Tagged christopher wren, flamingo, greek, phoenix, st paul's cathedral
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What you see is what you get
Our ancestors named birds after their behaviour, appearance, and habitat. Continue reading
Posted in Birds
Tagged appearance, avian, behaviour, Birds, chiffchaff, goldcrest, kingfisher, names, pheasant
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Birds we named after ourselves
This is part 2 in my series about how birds got their names. Some of our most well-known birds have human names. None more familiar than the robin – many people’s favourite bird in the UK. Its earliest title was … Continue reading
Names of our birds
Find out where the names of our most familiar birds come from. Continue reading
Confused by young birds
Our ancestors often thought juvenile birds were entirely different species Continue reading
Posted in Birds
Tagged Birds, george montagu, grebe, gulls, history, identification, immature, juvenile, tarrock, wagel
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The birds and the trees 