Ishtar bird, by David Revoy, via Wiki Commons.
On a recent field trip to Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge, near New York City, I picked up a newly published checklist of birds for the sanctuary—a good reference. A quick glance at this new checklist got me excited. It included a species I had never seen! A new life bird! In fact, it was a species I had never even heard of: a double-chested cormorant.
My friends tried to temper my enthusiasm by explaining that this was more likely to be a typo than a new species. Someone typed an “h” instead of “r”. “Crest” became “chest.” Even a spell checker would not catch this substitution. And, with hundreds of words to review, a proof-reader’s eyes could easily gloss over and miss it. Apparently, that’s what happened. A park ranger confirmed that it was their error.
Too bad. A double-chested cormorant sounds like an interesting bird.
This incident made me wonder how many other unusual species have been created due to typos, spoonerism and malapropos. I created the following list of new species that could add to my life list. I’d like to see them all.
- shallow-tailed kite
- purple pinch
- coat-tailed grackle
- sharp-chinned hawk
- mink parakeet
- brown trasher
- ring-necked peasant
- Canada moose
- turkey culture
- cinnamon seal
- red-jellied woodpecker
- march wren
- American woodsock
- wooden duck
- good duck
- loyal tern
- mild turkey
- black-and-right warbler
- sharp-nailed sparrow
- white-laced ibis
- spouse grouse
- American advocate
- kermit thrush
- turfbird
- mellow warbler
- common loan
- bone-tailed hawk
- self owl
- snooty shearwater
- mouse sparrow
- moot swan
- little stunt
- greater prayer chicken
- cork-tailed flycatcher
- yield sparrow
- red-beaded woodpecker
- bread-billed sandpiper
- gay jay
- melted kingfisher
- greater yellow pegs
How many of them have you seen? Have you encountered other typo birds? Use the comments to share!
About the AuthorHank Weber is a retired business executive who has nothing to do all day except relax, watch birds, and enjoy life in the Hudson River Valley, just 20 miles north of New York City. Some call him an unemployed bum. Others mostly ignore him.