What's in a Name?

Eastern Phoebe- April 10, 2024

I biked through the nearby nature area last week and saw several spring arrivals including this very vocal Eastern Phoebe. It says its name in a loud, buzzy call making it easy to locate even though its plumage is modest and the bird blends in with the tree branches. Phoebes are flycatchers and I see them most frequently at the edge of a pond or creek. They like to build nests under bridges or eaves. This bird is one of the few I remember from my inattentive birding outings with Grandma D.  

As a girl, I fancied being called Phoebe. Mom picked out the name Priscilla for her next girl and told me she would call her Prisca. The name seemed fancier than my own single-syllable name. The four babies Mom had after me were all boys so the name was never used. I could still pretend I was Phoebe (with jet-black hair) with my little sister Prisca. 

I have a collection of name tags in my top drawer including one labelled Phoebe. I volunteered at a girls' club for several years and had to choose a name other than mine. I became Phoebe to the girls in my group and enjoyed my fantasy name every Wednesday evening. 

My old name tags take me through my career, courses taken, trips travelled and events attended. When I started working in 1975, my name was preceded by "Mrs" which sounds outdated now. My current name badge does not have my surname as personal privacy for staff is important these days. I can choose whether or not to share my full name with patients and their families.

I saw my first warbler of the year as it flitted around the Eastern Phoebe. I got a fuzzy documental picture that shows the reason for the bird's name. The Yellow-rumped Warbler or "butter-butt" as it is nicknamed, is the most widespread warbler in North America. In 1973 the American Ornithological Society lumped the western Audobon Warbler and eastern Myrtle Warbler sub-species together and came up with the name Yellow-rumped Warbler. The same society announced plans last year to rename dozens of birds currently named after people. My friend sent me an article from The Toronto Star that listed a few of the Canadian birds that will have a name change including the
Say’s phoebe, Cooper’s hawk, Steller’s jay, Clark’s grebe, Baird’s sandpiper, Wilson’s snipe, Lincoln’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit, Clark’s nutcracker, and Lewis’s woodpecker. In the project's initial phase, 70-80 North American birds will get new names. I will have to start a new bird list!

I made other discoveries as I explored the swamp, a beaver pond, the woods and a meadow. Great Blue Herons built a nest in the swamp last year for the first time; this year there is a second nest. Herons usually nest in colonies, so there may be more in the future. Woodpeckers were very active and I saw four species including a Pileated Woodpecker, a Northern Flicker, a Red-breasted Woodpecker and a Downy Woodpecker. At least none of these birds will be renamed.

Great Blue Herons in the air and on their nest, Northern Flicker