Friday, January 22, 2010

Common English names of Sri Lankan Birds

Are you confused by different common names given for a single bird species? Probably yes. Different books provide different names for the same birds.

Common names of birds are often a controversial topic. Although common names have no place in scientific taxonomy there are many arguments on the use of common English names among laymen and sometimes even among scientists. However, because of the unusual interest in birds and the growing public interest in “bird watching” both internationally and locally, we felt that it would justify a comparison of the common names given in different authorities. This document compares the names given by three different authorities namely BirdLife International, Oriental Bird Club (OBC) and International Ornithological Congress (IOC), for Sri Lankan birds.

Download the document at FOGSL web site.


CE Webster said...

Thank you for the document, very interesting.

Sujeewa de Silva said...

Thanks for the post. The list is very useful because you get the chance to see the differences.