What do you think?
Rate this book
Latino per birdwatcher: Oltre 3.000 nomi di uccelli spiegati e raccontati
Esistono circa 10.000 specie di uccelli conosciuti, ognuna delle quali ha il suo proprio nome scientifico. Sono nomi latini che hanno un’origine prevalentemente descrittiva e identificano la specie e la famiglia a partire da diversi aspetti: il colore, il piumaggio, le dimensioni, il territorio, una parte caratteristica del loro aspetto o il nome di un ornitologo. Questo libro elenca più di 3.000 di questi nomi scientifici latini in ordine alfabetico, ne indica il corrispondente in italiano e dà una breve spiegazione dell’origine e del significato della voce latina. Alcune sezioni speciali sono dedicate alle diverse famiglie di uccelli e ai principali argomenti di “birdwatching”, come il canto degli uccelli o la migrazione. Troverete i nomi e le storie degli uomini e delle donne che li hanno osservati e studiati e scoprirete i comportamenti di varie specie. Numerose illustrazioni ricche di particolari accompagnano la lettura.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2014
9 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 20, 2022
Though far from comprehensive (covering just over 3,000 of more than 10,000 recognized species), Latin for Bird Lovers is a treasure trove of ornithological knowledge and insight. In addition to the translation of (mostly) latin taxonomy, there are numerous genus profiles, short bios on famous birders, and descriptive breakdowns of themes like camouflage, migration and foraging.
Authors Ledger and Burr have taken a potentially intimidating topic and made it accessible and fun by combining reference material with beautifully rendered illustrations and easy-to-read features . As a layperson, I never once found the text pretentious or off-putting. This will be a cherished addition to my science library for many years to come.
Authors Ledger and Burr have taken a potentially intimidating topic and made it accessible and fun by combining reference material with beautifully rendered illustrations and easy-to-read features . As a layperson, I never once found the text pretentious or off-putting. This will be a cherished addition to my science library for many years to come.
November 23, 2022
This is a handy guide, bursting with more Latin, Greek and occasional other names which are the keys to the mysterious and magical world of bird and word names. This is also peppered with plenty of historical and scientific facts, we learn that birds have better sight than humans, which means that not only can they see the visible spectrum of colours, but can also see UV light too, so they probably view each other in a totally different way to how we view them.
Now I am no Greek scholar, but even I know the difference between “Hypo” and “Hyper”. Maybe I’m missing something, but on page 108 there seems to be a run of terms which cite “Hyper” when referring to terms using “Hypo” which seems a strange oversight?...There also seems to be some minor oversights elsewhere.
The Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) has the longest migratory trip of any animal going from pole to pole and back again every year, which amounts to over 4,350 miles (70,000 kilometers). And then there are the cases where migrating birds sometimes get blown off course, the likes of the Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) which can now be found in southern Greenland, after getting blown off course.
“In temperate zones, breeding season for most birds is in spring; only in the tropics is it all year.”
Apparently parrots are difficult to study because they tend to dwell on the canopy of tall trees and when they do get caught and ringed, they have a habit prying off the bands with their strong beaks. Over 60% of captured parrots die before making it to market.
It touches on the now well-known intelligence of birds, especially crows and in particular the New Caledonia Crow (Corvus moneduloides) who are so advanced that they can make their own tools.
We also get insights to many renowned and world class ornithologists throughout history and learn of the many vital ways in which they contributed to the ever growing body of knowledge out there.
This is nicely packaged and a good addition to any bird/word loving bibliophile’s collection. The illustrations are bright and colourful, bringing the subject to life, and although it has its shortcomings this largely succeeds in what it sets out to do.
Now I am no Greek scholar, but even I know the difference between “Hypo” and “Hyper”. Maybe I’m missing something, but on page 108 there seems to be a run of terms which cite “Hyper” when referring to terms using “Hypo” which seems a strange oversight?...There also seems to be some minor oversights elsewhere.
The Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) has the longest migratory trip of any animal going from pole to pole and back again every year, which amounts to over 4,350 miles (70,000 kilometers). And then there are the cases where migrating birds sometimes get blown off course, the likes of the Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) which can now be found in southern Greenland, after getting blown off course.
“In temperate zones, breeding season for most birds is in spring; only in the tropics is it all year.”
Apparently parrots are difficult to study because they tend to dwell on the canopy of tall trees and when they do get caught and ringed, they have a habit prying off the bands with their strong beaks. Over 60% of captured parrots die before making it to market.
It touches on the now well-known intelligence of birds, especially crows and in particular the New Caledonia Crow (Corvus moneduloides) who are so advanced that they can make their own tools.
We also get insights to many renowned and world class ornithologists throughout history and learn of the many vital ways in which they contributed to the ever growing body of knowledge out there.
This is nicely packaged and a good addition to any bird/word loving bibliophile’s collection. The illustrations are bright and colourful, bringing the subject to life, and although it has its shortcomings this largely succeeds in what it sets out to do.
February 9, 2019
Beautiful illustrations!
July 27, 2021
A beautifully illustrated book that provides information as to how over 3000 birds came by their scientific names. Written in encyclopaedic fashion the book provides names from A-Z and gives the information if the name comes from a place, characteristics or a person. It turns out this is also quite a good book for learning some Latin and Greek too. Alongside the names is various short biographies of ornithologists and various bird related information.
My one main criticism that made me deduct a star is that the birds are only listed and referenced by their scientific name which means you must first Google that (if you don’t know it), to find it in the book. While I know birds common names can vary from location to location a handy reference guide at the back for common ones and their scientific names would have been extremely helpful.
My one main criticism that made me deduct a star is that the birds are only listed and referenced by their scientific name which means you must first Google that (if you don’t know it), to find it in the book. While I know birds common names can vary from location to location a handy reference guide at the back for common ones and their scientific names would have been extremely helpful.
March 17, 2014
I received a copy of this book for review via Netgalley.
This was a beautiful book. The illustrations are exquisite and the colors are very vivid. I really loved flipping through the pages to look at the illustrations. I admit I only skimmed the bird name section after reading a few pages. What I did read was very informative and interesting. This would be a wonderful reference book for the bird lover to have on hand. It is definitely not something to just sit and read through!
Each Latin name in the book gives an interesting fact about why the bird may be described that way. Sometimes they are obvious, otherwise less so, but it is always very interesting.
This was a beautiful book. The illustrations are exquisite and the colors are very vivid. I really loved flipping through the pages to look at the illustrations. I admit I only skimmed the bird name section after reading a few pages. What I did read was very informative and interesting. This would be a wonderful reference book for the bird lover to have on hand. It is definitely not something to just sit and read through!
Each Latin name in the book gives an interesting fact about why the bird may be described that way. Sometimes they are obvious, otherwise less so, but it is always very interesting.
February 7, 2016
My edition is from Allen and Unwin in Australia and is called Latin for Birdwatchers. I'm intrigued by the change in title, do we antipodean birdwatchers not want to confess to the love of birds? Regardless of the title, this is a most welcome addition to my bird book shelf. I am enjoying looking up the meanings of latin names, hoping that this might help the names stick. The latin for Fairy Prion, Pachyptila turtur, means oily feathered dove, and having recently worked with these sweet birds, I agree they are quite dove like. I also enjoyed reading the many items about scientists and bird names.
July 8, 2018
Highly informative and beautifully illustrated with vintage colour images. Largely a dictionary of scientific bird names, the book also includes profiles of renowned naturalists and articles about bird behaviour and anatomy. A great addition to the bookshelves of beginners and experienced birders alike.
May 26, 2019
Nicely illustrated and informative. Great for birders. I’ve used this book to look up the Latin words associated with the birds’ scientific names in my field guide so that I can get more details about the bird and understand why it was given that classification. Some descriptions in this book are helpful in this way; others are very short.
December 30, 2025
Excellent resource for meanings of scientific names of birds, with some occasional sidebars on, for example, beak shapes and makes that reflect those. Losses a point for no index with the common names of birds, so it’s more difficult to, say, look up a House Sparrow unless you already know its scientific name or genus.
March 14, 2022
beautiful book... reads like a dictionary- but that's essentially what it is..
a good reference book, for jumping into other research.
a good reference book, for jumping into other research.
November 7, 2015
Now that I want to learn all of my local birds not only by their common names but also their Genus species, I have been a little frustrated that the bird books and field guides from my youth don’t match up - and I'm not that old! Thus I have to turn to up-to-date sources, this being one.
This book is not meant for a black-and-white e-reader; the beautiful color illustrations by various artists add so much. Without the pictures, the names of unfamiliar birds mean little, despite the comprehensive descriptions. Most of the text is not in the traditional sense, just a short blurb that reads like a dictionary. It should be noted that each entry is listed like a proper noun, both genera and species. The more interesting of these are from the names of people or places, or a specific behavior of a bird, rather than just outward physical appearance.
Sprinkled throughout the book are longer and quite readable boxes detailing specific genera or bird biology factoids, as well as brief biographies of ornithologists. Among these are John Gould, a contemporary of Darwin, and David Lambert Lack, who further brought the evolution of “Darwin’s Finches” to light. Or Phoebe Snetsinger, one of only eight birdwatchers ever to see more than 8,000 of the ~10,000 birds worldwide (~8,400 for her), who started late in life and endured much more than strenuous travel. Many were illustrators (Louis Agassiz Fuertes) and museum curators (an instance where use of that word is acceptable), or both (Phillip Clancey). Between the individuals included, they covered most of the earth's territory in bird study. Alexander Wilson was pre-Audubon, but an interesting encounter of the two is told here. Wilson was from Scotland but pioneered American ornithology and literally wrote the book on it. Though not a quantitative scientist, Alexander F. Skutch focused on Cental America, and could recognize individual birds, studying them that way. Each added to the collective understanding of birds, whether through population studies (Margaret Morse Nice) or conservation (Christian Jouanin); even the original James Bond! Not without controversy, Konrad Lorenz appears, the Nobel laureate who studied imprinting and other animal behavior, and who was also a Nazi.
This is a reference book, so it is easier to skip over the Latin and read the descriptions. It can be fun to guess the meaning first, and check how you did. Many of the pronunciations are not what I expected, but a lot of the words are just tricky, yet can be facilitated with practice. You can even make up your own memory device: “an ostrich (Struthio camelus) is like a sparrow the size of a camel,” for example. Many misleading names are out there, and this book helps to clear things up. The title of the book is itself a little inaccurate; many of the roots are Greek or ‘Latinized’ Greek. However, the scientific names given to taxonomic groups are all kind of Latinized, to be more universal. For example, adding –ii to the end of a word implies possession by said word. The authors admit that this isn’t complete, and some names will likely be disputed forever, but this is a great book to check out. Perhaps there is a niche out there for “Latin for Fish (or Reptile, Amphibian, Mammal, etc.) Lovers,” too?
Note: this book was provided through Net Galley, and my review also appears on my blog (http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/).
This book is not meant for a black-and-white e-reader; the beautiful color illustrations by various artists add so much. Without the pictures, the names of unfamiliar birds mean little, despite the comprehensive descriptions. Most of the text is not in the traditional sense, just a short blurb that reads like a dictionary. It should be noted that each entry is listed like a proper noun, both genera and species. The more interesting of these are from the names of people or places, or a specific behavior of a bird, rather than just outward physical appearance.
Sprinkled throughout the book are longer and quite readable boxes detailing specific genera or bird biology factoids, as well as brief biographies of ornithologists. Among these are John Gould, a contemporary of Darwin, and David Lambert Lack, who further brought the evolution of “Darwin’s Finches” to light. Or Phoebe Snetsinger, one of only eight birdwatchers ever to see more than 8,000 of the ~10,000 birds worldwide (~8,400 for her), who started late in life and endured much more than strenuous travel. Many were illustrators (Louis Agassiz Fuertes) and museum curators (an instance where use of that word is acceptable), or both (Phillip Clancey). Between the individuals included, they covered most of the earth's territory in bird study. Alexander Wilson was pre-Audubon, but an interesting encounter of the two is told here. Wilson was from Scotland but pioneered American ornithology and literally wrote the book on it. Though not a quantitative scientist, Alexander F. Skutch focused on Cental America, and could recognize individual birds, studying them that way. Each added to the collective understanding of birds, whether through population studies (Margaret Morse Nice) or conservation (Christian Jouanin); even the original James Bond! Not without controversy, Konrad Lorenz appears, the Nobel laureate who studied imprinting and other animal behavior, and who was also a Nazi.
This is a reference book, so it is easier to skip over the Latin and read the descriptions. It can be fun to guess the meaning first, and check how you did. Many of the pronunciations are not what I expected, but a lot of the words are just tricky, yet can be facilitated with practice. You can even make up your own memory device: “an ostrich (Struthio camelus) is like a sparrow the size of a camel,” for example. Many misleading names are out there, and this book helps to clear things up. The title of the book is itself a little inaccurate; many of the roots are Greek or ‘Latinized’ Greek. However, the scientific names given to taxonomic groups are all kind of Latinized, to be more universal. For example, adding –ii to the end of a word implies possession by said word. The authors admit that this isn’t complete, and some names will likely be disputed forever, but this is a great book to check out. Perhaps there is a niche out there for “Latin for Fish (or Reptile, Amphibian, Mammal, etc.) Lovers,” too?
Note: this book was provided through Net Galley, and my review also appears on my blog (http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/).
March 29, 2014
received via NetGalley as a PDF. read all the informative text, but only skimmed the dictionary. beautifully illustrated throughout. seriously considering purchasing the physical book as the facts were very informative and it would be a grand reference book, plus attractive in my collection.
January 6, 2015
Not just a reference book. Essays and factoids interspersed among the binomial nomenclature. Perhaps A better title might be "Birding for Latin Lovers."
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews