A new kind of X-Wing?

July 7, 2006 8:27 PM

Is there a bird whose name begins with X?

Tonight I heard an anecdote that involved a floor mat or poster that had animal silhouettes for each letter of the alphabet. Apparently X was some sort of bird. Do you, oh hive-mind, have any idea what bird this could be?

posted by nekton to science & nature (13 comments total)

Xenops
posted by jeremias at 8:29 PM on July 7, 2006

Are you referring to this poster?
posted by vacapinta at 8:35 PM on July 7, 2006

A quick Wikipedia search leads me to Xavier's Greenbul, Xinjiang Ground Jay, Xantus's Murrelet, amd Xantus's Hummingbird... and also to the genuses Xanthocephalus, Xenoperdix, Xenus, Xema, Xiphirhynchus, Xenicus, Xanthomyza, and Xanthotis.
posted by glibhamdreck at 8:39 PM on July 7, 2006

Okay, so the obvious challenge now is to identify all the animals in vacapinta's link...

H is for Harbor Porpoise
N is for Nycteris

Come on hive-mind!
posted by cephalopodcast at 8:49 PM on July 7, 2006

Yes. My pet parrot Xerxes. Would you like a picture?
posted by Decani at 8:58 PM on July 7, 2006

WARNING: I found the Roz Gibson poster uploaded to a furry site, and that artist seems to be big in the furry community: "roz gibson" furry 1,160 hits.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 9:14 PM on July 7, 2006

Hey dont look at me! I had seen that poster linked at this puzzle website - June 17th entry.
posted by vacapinta at 10:06 PM on July 7, 2006 [1 favorite]

The lyrebird was recently on MeFi.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:32 PM on July 7, 2006

Looking at that poster, I'm pretty sure that G is for gerbil, O is for otter, and Q is for quail. Are these animals really that obscure?
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:07 PM on July 8, 2006

I was wrong.

H is for Hourglass Dolphin
N is for Naked Bat

and X is for Xantus Hummingbird
posted by cephalopodcast at 6:42 PM on July 8, 2006

G is for Golden Mouse
O is for Otter Civet
and Q is for Quail Plover
posted by cephalopodcast at 6:48 PM on July 8, 2006

Xantus' Hummingbird
posted by shifafa at 12:54 AM on July 9, 2006

Well, then. I respectfully submit to your authority, cephalopodcast. (Awesome handle, by the way.)
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:11 AM on July 10, 2006