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Thursday, January 19, 2023

Birbs, Borbs, Barbs and Floofs

The sun has turned the corner and the evenings are noticeably brighter.  After a few mild days we experienced cold, windy, dreary and rainy weather, but no significant snow. The deer must all be bedding down in the valleys where there are evergreen trees and shelter from the wind. Still hoping for some winter finches to arrive, but we have not seen a single Purple Finch so far this year.

Before I was a "Birder" (then called "Bird Watcher") I obtained my limited knowledge of birds' names from my parents and grandparents. The circling bird I later came to know as a Turkey Vulture was simply a "Buzzard," and my grandfather called any soaring raptor a "Chicken Hawk." Grandma fed bread crumbs to the "Chippies," which my first bird book identified as English Sparrows. Any long-necked wader was a "Crane." 

When I was given my little Reed  bird guide I had serious problems with  pronunciation of names, as I had no friends who knew anything more about the birds. My lexicon expanded without a tutor, so I pronounced the name of the big accipter as "Gosh-Hawk" and that of the large falcon as "Peg-ereen Falcon," the even bigger one a "Gyro-falcon" and the beautiful exotic-looking yellow warbler as "Pro-to-nary Warbler." 

After I joined a bird club I noticed that fellow members did not agree whether they saw a "Pill" or a "Pile"-eated  Woodpecker, an " Ée"-gret or E-"Grét."  With sophistication came slang names-- Sharpie, Butter-butt, TV (for Sharp-shinned Hawk, Yello-rumped Warbler and Turkey Vulture respectively). Then came banding codes-- trying to remmeber that the code for Louisiana starts with LO, not LA and whether a Tennessee Warbler abbreviation was TEWA or TNWA and that of the Tricolored Heron warrants a TCHE or TRHE. 

Pop Culture has produced further expansion of slang terms. "I got out early this morning and saw nothing but a few Birbs." I assumed this referred to small birds, but the linguistic conventions have become more refined. (See the references in my end note*).  

The only "new" (Birb*) visitor this past week has been a single Song Sparrow, photographed through the front door windows, fluffed up against the cold (a Floof*):

Numerous Mourning Doves (Barbs*) are regular patrons, this one after a dusting of snow...

...and others competing for a place on the platform feeder, stocked with Safflower seed:


A male Red-bellied Woodpecker (another Barb*) added some color as he fed on a suet cake:


Dark-eyed Juncos (Borbs*) were ever-present:


A brownish female junco blended in with the granite rock face:

Only two White-throated Sparrows (also Borbs*) have appeared. At this time last year they were abundant:


More Birbs-- House Finches were rather scarce:

The male Northern Cardinal provided accent color:

A White-breasted Nuthatch explored the nooks and crannies around the slate garden steps:


Although MaryLou and I braved the cold and usually took our mid-day walks through the neighborhood, we were bundled up and missing Florida. The morning of January 12 dawned bright and clear without any wind. Several Canada Geese and Mallards disturbed the calm face of the lake. The next morning we found ice advancing along the shoreline:

Sunset cast an amber glow, as  viewed through our front door:


*When Is a Bird a ‘Birb’? An Extremely Important Guide*

"The term is seemingly designed for the internet: one syllable, beginning and ending with “b,” connoting a pleasant roundness, a warm mouth-feel. What a good birb, you might say, or I’m so glad we went birb-watching, or I love Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birbs... All birds are birbs, a chunky bird is a borb, and a fluffed-up bird is a floof...  [I have added that a bird with a pointy tail is a Barb]

"...Rule 1: Birbs are often (though not conclusively) small; Rule 2: Birbs are often (though not always) round; Rule 3: Birbs appear cute"

 = = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to:



Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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34 comments:

  1. I wish I could go birbing today, but since I can't reading your birbing tale is the next best! (I am always looking for more help with birds ... at my terribly advanced age, I am afraid I am at the level you were as a child (or perhaps not even as advanced). But I love them -- floofs, birbs, and chicken hawks (the last one I really do know is incorrect). PS: I just finished reading a book called "H is for Hawk" about a birder in England and her time training a Goshawk. She writes about how knowing the hawk changed her life, almost kind of saved it. ....I really don't believe training birds of prey is a good thing but the book was fascinating.

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  2. What a great collection of bird images! Beautiful petite living beings on your camera captures

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  3. Great sharp photos you get through the windows. And a spectacular sky shot and some great reflections.
    Have a great weekend.

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  4. I love your birbs today - all cute everyone, but I am in love with that final photo of an amazing sunset!

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  5. Beautiful collection as well and thanks for the mention of birb

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  6. ...I have one question for you, do you rent out seats on your patio for sunset?

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  7. Interesting and funny how these slang terms start getting used and sometimes stick. That's a stunning sunset!

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  8. I really do like your bird pictures!

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  9. Love seeing your bird photos. You have many of the same birds we see in the winter with a couple exceptions. Just arrived in San Antonio and spotted a Black Vulture, and a Egyptian Geese, both new to me.

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  10. Beautiful sunset! You were able to get some great birds in that cold weather up there. I've only seen juncos in Atlanta.

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  11. Doves were in our yard till this year we saw less numbers. I wonder where they have gone. I did spot a bunny recently. It didn't move even though I put garbage in the cans near it. When I came back out with the recycle the bunny was gone. I so enjoy seeing the images of birds you post. Enjoyed the article about punctuation and pop culture's introduction of slang words. What a marvelous sunset view from your backyard. Save me a chair! I'll bring my own coffee.

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  12. Hello Ken,
    The bird slang terms are kind of funny. I have never heard the word birb, it is new to me. I did enjoy all your birbs today, they are all beautifully captured. Gorgeous sky shot, you have a beautiful view. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

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  13. Oh my! I have a terrible time knowing the correct terms and now I have 'lingo' to learn! I think it would be fun though so I'll write them down in my journal today and see if I can work them into regular conversation today! Take care and stay warm! Hugs from Florida, Diane

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  14. Nice shots! I still think of it as bird watching. I've only recently discovered the terms "birder", "birbs" and "Avian Snob Syndrome". :-)

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  15. A really enjoyable post, Ken!
    You have some beautiful winter birds to show off. No matter what they're called!

    Bundle up and rest assured that spring is just (hopefully) around the corner!

    Gotta go to bed, now. Early start to look for a "Marsh Hawk".

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  16. Lovely shots as always. Love the sky image too. The slangs and short names confuse me. Once a fellow birder asked me if I saw a "short toad". Actually he meant Short-toed Snake Eagle.

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  17. Loved reading your past learning experiences...gosh hawk made me giggle.
    Excellent birbs in photos today!!
    Enjoy your week ahead and thank you for linking in at IRBB.

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  18. Your description of your childhood efforts to learn about birds is vivid and I enjoyed reading your memories. I have not heard all those neologisms for birds, but the tours we go on have a high-seriousness about them!

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  19. That last sunset is fabulous! thanks for joining #Allseasons

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  20. I enjoyed your photos lovely colurs too, we rarely see sparrows in the UK these days which is sad really :-(

    Have a sunsettastic week 👍

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  21. Great photos, all of them!
    Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2023/01/play-time.html. I look forward to your posts each week!

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  22. I really like those Sparrows. The White-throated one is especially lovely.

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  23. A most enjoyable post. Thank you very much.
    https://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2023/01/palace.html?m=0

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  24. You really are in the depths of a cold winter, to be embraced reluctantly. I grew up much your way, with birds not always identified with true names. Most ducks were just ducks, most hawks just hawks, but we all knew the Robin and Mallard.. Beautiful photos of all your visitors.

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  25. Hello :=) Plenty of different birds to admire and all beautifully photographed. Those house sparrows with the yellow eyebrows are rather special. I have difficulty remembering names of birds, as I'm still very much a novice, so as I'm still learning,I think I'll keep to their real names, but it's fun to know what real birders call them.

    Many thanks for your well wishes Ken, they are very much appreciated. I hope you are doing OK.
    My best wishes.

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  26. Nice to see so many familiar birds er "birbs". :-) So interesting, I had not seen the birb term used yet. Learn something new every day!

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  27. I have my own nicknames having nothing to do with birders - I call waders "water birds" which means to me they have long legs. Lots of water birds in Florida and I love them all - fun post today

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  28. That last sunset is a ripper!! Spectacular! #GardenAffair

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  29. I'm so glad you mentioned this post in a comment on my blog! I like the term "barb" because it defines quite a few of the birds I photograph too!

    Excellent post!

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  30. The journey of your passion towards birds is amazing. I didn't know about the existence of Pop culture in Birds world. Its always been a pleasure to visit your post. Thanks for sharing with Garden Affair.

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