The 100 Best Named Birds, Ranked (opens in new tab)

Robert Francis undertook the task of ranking the greatest bird names of all time. The project involved going through the common names of more than 11,000 different bird species. A lot of birds already had notable common names long before they are studied, but you have to imagine naturalists and scientists having a hard time coming up with something both descriptive and unique. Many birds are simply named for the way they look, like shining sunbeam, mouse-colored penduline tit, bearded mountai...