We know there are a lot of birds with names that are...less than optimal. The Red-bellied Woodpecker barely has a red belly. The least evident part of the Orange-crowned Warbler is its crown. House Wren is just a flat-out boring name.
But how do you pick new names? Is Boring Greenish Warbler really any better than Orange-crowned? Who the hell do I think I am?
Maybe I'll let the current names do the work for me. Here are a bunch of new names for badly named birds (and then birds with good names just because they're fun). Thanks to the Internet Anagram Server for the heavy lifting. Enjoy.
- Red-bellied Woodpecker -- Credible Deplored Woke (topical!)
- Ring-necked Duck = Crick-kneed Dung (improvement?)
- Western Tanager = A Stranger Tween (prequel to the Netflix show)
- Hooded Warbler = Roadbed Howler (great blues musician name)
- Rock Ptarmigan = Croaking Tramp (lol)
- Whooping Crane = Powering Nacho (new Taco Bell menu item)
- Elf Owl = Fellow (aw)
- House Wren = Nowhere Us (Radiohead track)
- Dickcissel = Dick Slices (can't stop giggling)
- Spotted Towhee = Tweeted Photos (brand integration!)
- Orchard Oriole = Hairdo Recolor (hey that's a thing, right?)
- Phainopepla = Papa Pinhole (I think this was a ska band I listened to in the 90s)
- American Robin = Macaroni Brine (gross) and Airborne Manic (fits)
- Tree Swallow = Wallet Worse (I know how you feel)
- Oak Titmouse = A Muskie Toot (haha yeah that's the good stuff)
- Purple Martin = Praline Trump (topical...?) and Terrapin Lump (the UMD bench)
- Boreal Owl = Oral Below ( :-| )
- Rock Pigeon = Precooking (not funny but a single word) and Cooing Perk (accurate!)
- Sandwich Tern = Wind Snatcher (accurate...?)
- Red Knot = Dork Net (aka bird twitter)
- Osprey = Roe Spy (I mean, they're after fish)
- Least Bittern = Titan Trembles (great sci-fi novel)
- Reddish Egret = Dished Regret (badass)
- Snail Kite = Saintlike (yes)
- Spruce Grouse = Pug Resources (one-stop dog shop)
- Piping Plover = Propping Evil (diabolical!)
- Marbled Godwit = Girdled Wombat (a great bar in Melbourne)
- Lesser Nighthawk = Lengthwise Shark (science)
- Horned Grebe = Boner Hedger (haha out with a bang)
These are great, Nick. Did you know that a fair number of genus names were invented by exactly the same process? The most famous one is the kingfisher genus Dacelo, a nonsense anagram of Alcedo.
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ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t unless you have a compelling reason, such as potential difficulties at work, or potential personal conflicts.
ReplyDeleteThe only good reason for a new writer to use a pen name is to use your real name for one genre, and the pen name for a second genre. That way your readers will know what to expect from a particular name.