It’s Only a Name

Human-contrived names for birds don’t always make sense. A non-birder friend of mine was recently telling me he doesn’t understand how they get the common names for birds. I told him, the names are made up by the same people who generate names for shades of paint. Just what color is Belgian Waffle?
His problem was with the Red-bellied Woodpecker. It has way more red on its head than belly. True enough, I said, however, from the right angle, in the right light, you can see the red patch on the tummy. And besides, “Red-headed” was already taken.
The conversation, still in shades of red, moved on to the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. He agreed this bird was aptly named—most of the time. The male, with his iridescent ruby-red gorget (throat), does appear black under some lighting conditions ...
The conversation next turned to the industriousness of the hummers in their constant search for food—and defense of that food source. Then the conversation turned to watching—the best part of birding.