Great birds with bad names

Most bird names make perfect sense. The Acorn Woodpecker really does love acorns. The Red-winged Blackbird is literally a red-winged black bird. And the California Towhee resides almost exclusively in its namesake state (plus Baja California in Mexico).

Some bird names, however, stand out for their sheer inanity. Whether inaccurate, misleading, vaguely vulgar, or just plain goofy, they beg the question: “What were people thinking when they named these birds?”

“There’s nothing sillier than real bird names,” says British birder Patrick Baglee, “the irony being that any bird name someone makes up off the cuff (very often along the lines of ‘lesser spotted babbler’) is rarely as silly as some of the actual names we use day in and day out.”

Here are 10 of the lousiest North American bird names, as selected by a panel of experts, including BirdWatching columnists.

1. Ring-necked Duck

Birders who score a close-up view of a male in ideal light — and squint intensely — might notice a cinnamon band around the neck of this diving duck. That said, this unremarkable little collar