When birds introduce themselves

ˈt͡ʃɪf.t͡ʃæf, ˈpɔṭʃɛʃʧ̑, and other birds with onomatopoeic names

It’s not only cats in Egypt and pokemon in Nintendo games who tried to make humans call them by their names. Personally, I think this is the greatest, even if complicated, way to name an animal — from the sound they usually make.

With time, some bird names aren’t similar to the sound they make anymore, at least not in written form. But here are three examples of birds, who really try to make us remember their name.

ˈt͡ʃɪf.t͡ʃæf

A chiffchaff is one of the small birds that are easier to distinguish by sound than by looks. Small warbler, one of the many with brown back and light stomach.

ˈkʊkuː

The most popular example is present in an onomatopoeic form in multiple languages. Even if June is a moment when they tend to change the usual cuckoo into other calls, ˈkʊkuː stuck around.

ˈpɔṭʃɛʃʧ̑

This one is a tough call — I like the Polish name enough to add it to the list, even though the English one doesn’t have the onomatopoeic feature. ʃʧ̑ʃʧ̑ʃʧ̑ sound often used to describe the melody of old doors being opened or wind blowing through the reed, is used in the name of the corn bunting, with the literal translation being close to crackle. With corn bunting, their song is weird and complicated, but I still find it quite pleasant.

Some of the names are only onomatopoeic in one of the languages, and I really appreciate when the name stuck around long enough for us to still link it to the bird song.

I think that this is the cutest way to name a bird.

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