Naming scheme help
September 21, 2023 1:29 PM Subscribe
I'm developing a naming scheme around black birds and am looking for names of birds that are black or mostly black but whose common name does not contain the word black.
IE one would generally describe the bird as "black" or "black with ...". Palm cockatoos from yesterday's post for example is perfect. Ravens or crows also good. A magpie would be on the margins and a Canada Goose wouldn't make the cut. Red winged blackbirds wouldn't make the cut either because of the black in their name.
IE one would generally describe the bird as "black" or "black with ...". Palm cockatoos from yesterday's post for example is perfect. Ravens or crows also good. A magpie would be on the margins and a Canada Goose wouldn't make the cut. Red winged blackbirds wouldn't make the cut either because of the black in their name.
Best answer: grackles --I don't know how your naming scheme works, but there are several species, if multiple species names would be helpful.
Some starlings are black, and others are blackish.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:35 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Some starlings are black, and others are blackish.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:35 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Just to get them out of the way, rooks.
Moorhens and coots. Cassowary. Ostrich I suppose. If magpies are ok, then jackdaws and starlings? Maaaybe guillemots? Phainopepla. Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise. Maybe toucan? A lot of hornbills are black.
posted by Lorc at 1:35 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Moorhens and coots. Cassowary. Ostrich I suppose. If magpies are ok, then jackdaws and starlings? Maaaybe guillemots? Phainopepla. Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise. Maybe toucan? A lot of hornbills are black.
posted by Lorc at 1:35 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: brown-headed cowbird
grackle
coot
cormorant
Is the turkey vulture too brown?
posted by carrioncomfort at 1:36 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
grackle
coot
cormorant
Is the turkey vulture too brown?
posted by carrioncomfort at 1:36 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Turkey vultures.
Oystercatchers join magpies on the borderline.
posted by penguin pie at 1:37 PM on September 21, 2023
Oystercatchers join magpies on the borderline.
posted by penguin pie at 1:37 PM on September 21, 2023
Best answer: Oh, I missed seabirds. Frigate birds and petrels are easy wins.
posted by Lorc at 1:37 PM on September 21, 2023
posted by Lorc at 1:37 PM on September 21, 2023
Best answer: Starling
Tufted duck
Anhinga
Wild turkey
Guinea fowl
Cassowary
Condor
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:43 PM on September 21, 2023
Tufted duck
Anhinga
Wild turkey
Guinea fowl
Cassowary
Condor
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:43 PM on September 21, 2023
Spread blue pigeon
(feral & domestic pigeons with blue colour gene + spread modifier look black)
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:52 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
(feral & domestic pigeons with blue colour gene + spread modifier look black)
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:52 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Here’s a list of black North American birds with pictures.
posted by oomny at 1:52 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by oomny at 1:52 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Surf scoters. Cormorants.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:54 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:54 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Many of the charmingly-named manakin family. Example
posted by Flora Poste at 2:00 PM on September 21, 2023
posted by Flora Poste at 2:00 PM on September 21, 2023
Best answer: Penguin
Phainopepla
Bobolink
Inca tern
Greater sooty owl
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:51 PM on September 21, 2023
Phainopepla
Bobolink
Inca tern
Greater sooty owl
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:51 PM on September 21, 2023
Perhaps use the genus/species name, e.g. corvus corax.
posted by abraxasaxarba at 4:17 PM on September 21, 2023
posted by abraxasaxarba at 4:17 PM on September 21, 2023
Indigo buntings (they're black; the indigo is iridescence).
posted by bricoleur at 4:32 PM on September 21, 2023
posted by bricoleur at 4:32 PM on September 21, 2023
Best answer: Myna (can also be spelled mynah.) Not all species are black, but some are.
posted by Redstart at 4:41 PM on September 21, 2023
posted by Redstart at 4:41 PM on September 21, 2023
Loons aren’t totally black but they’re pretty goth.
posted by padraigin at 4:59 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by padraigin at 4:59 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Merle : black bird
posted by hortense at 5:10 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hortense at 5:10 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Currawongs are an Australian corvid with just the smallest touch of white. They're very smart and a favourite of mine.
posted by Jilder at 6:25 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Jilder at 6:25 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Male American redstarts have quite a bit of black.
Wow also need to note that I did a "search within page' to see if anyone else had mentioned redstarts before I posted and found that no one had but there's a user named Redstart who chimed in suggesting a different bird!?!?!
posted by saladin at 6:27 PM on September 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
Wow also need to note that I did a "search within page' to see if anyone else had mentioned redstarts before I posted and found that no one had but there's a user named Redstart who chimed in suggesting a different bird!?!?!
posted by saladin at 6:27 PM on September 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm not sure I would describe a redstart as mostly black, but you're right, they do have a lot of black. When I was thinking about it, redstarts didn't even occur to me! I was going for things that are really pretty much all black.
posted by Redstart at 6:46 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Redstart at 6:46 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Dark-eyed junco
Grebe
Auklet
Puffin
Maaaaybe bufflehead (might be too much white)
posted by eirias at 7:58 PM on September 21, 2023
Grebe
Auklet
Puffin
Maaaaybe bufflehead (might be too much white)
posted by eirias at 7:58 PM on September 21, 2023
Best answer: Using the search filters on my bird app, here are 13 British birds that are prominently black (but don't shout about it). Some of these look a bit more colourful in the pictures, but if you saw them for real, you'd describe them as black.
Capercaillie
Carrion crow
Chough
Common scoter
Coot
Cormorant
Jackdaw
Moorhen
Raven
Rook
Shag
Sooty shearwater
Starling.
And another 24 for which black is considered the/a primary colour. A lot of these would look black if you saw them in flight, with white more noticeable when they're at rest.
Best candidates:
Brent goose
Guillemot
Hooded crow
House martin
Leach's petrel
Manx shearwater
Razorbill
Ring ouzel
Storm petrel
Swallow
Swift
Velvet scoter
Less good:
Barnacle goose
Great northern diver
Great spotted woodpecker
Grey plover (summer plumage only)
Lesser spotted woodpecker
Little auk
Little grebe
Magpie
Oystercatcher
Pied flycatcher
Puffin
Tufted duck
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 5:09 AM on September 22, 2023
Capercaillie
Carrion crow
Chough
Common scoter
Coot
Cormorant
Jackdaw
Moorhen
Raven
Rook
Shag
Sooty shearwater
Starling.
And another 24 for which black is considered the/a primary colour. A lot of these would look black if you saw them in flight, with white more noticeable when they're at rest.
Best candidates:
Brent goose
Guillemot
Hooded crow
House martin
Leach's petrel
Manx shearwater
Razorbill
Ring ouzel
Storm petrel
Swallow
Swift
Velvet scoter
Less good:
Barnacle goose
Great northern diver
Great spotted woodpecker
Grey plover (summer plumage only)
Lesser spotted woodpecker
Little auk
Little grebe
Magpie
Oystercatcher
Pied flycatcher
Puffin
Tufted duck
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 5:09 AM on September 22, 2023
I was going for things that are really pretty much all black.
Oh totally, to be clear that was NOT a callout, just a funny coincidence. There must be a fair degree of variation in the males' coloration because as I'm looking at pics online a lot of them have a fair amount of yellow and beige on their undercarriage but the handful that we see every year in our backyard in NE Florida tend to be much more uniformly black, with just that strip of reddish-orange on the wings.
Anyway, nice to meet you, and love the username!
posted by saladin at 5:22 AM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh totally, to be clear that was NOT a callout, just a funny coincidence. There must be a fair degree of variation in the males' coloration because as I'm looking at pics online a lot of them have a fair amount of yellow and beige on their undercarriage but the handful that we see every year in our backyard in NE Florida tend to be much more uniformly black, with just that strip of reddish-orange on the wings.
Anyway, nice to meet you, and love the username!
posted by saladin at 5:22 AM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Some treepies are mostly black.
posted by kensington314 at 8:54 PM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kensington314 at 8:54 PM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by praemunire at 1:33 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]