Bird names in other languages?

[Khizz]

So just thought I'd start a thread because I'd love to know, what bird/animal names do you know in other languages? German has some brilliant animal names. Like "Schildkröte" means "Tortoise" and literally translates to "Shield toad".

For example:
Cockatiel - Nymphensittich (German) - literally "Nymph parakeet"

Budgie - Wellensittich (German) - Wave Parakeet

(I'm not a native German speaker so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[Zara]

In Spain the cockatiel is Ninfa (meaning Nymph).

Most birds are called by their scientific name. Agapornis xyz, Cacatua xyz, Poicephalus xyz, Amazona xyz etc. Apart from Budgies who we call Periquito (parakeet).
We also call the B&G Ara Aruana but we also call Macaws ¨Guacamayo¨.
We call Senegals, Poicephalus Senegalus, but their common name is ¨you you¨.
Cotorra Argentina or cotorrita verdigris is Monk parakeet.
Diamante mandarin is zebra finch
Jilguero is Goldfinch


(I know most animals in Spanish)


@Hawk12237 @Eloy

 

[Khizz]

In Spain the cockatiel is Ninfa (meaning Nymph).

I wonder what makes them so Nymph-like?!

we also call Macaws ¨Guacamayo"

I like this one, it sounds so cute!

(I know most animals in Spanish)

Yeah animal signs are the only ones I remember from sign language, which I learnt as a toddler. I don't remember much else.

 

[Zara]

I wonder what makes them so Nymph-like?!

That would be their scientific name: Nymphicus hollandicus

 

[Imogena]

Oh what an interesting thread. In Polish cockatiel is also nimfa which translates directly to nymph.
African Grey is żako (shako with hard SH) which has no translation. Macaw is ara. Cockatoo is kakadu. Amazon is amazonka.
Guinea pig has funny translation. We call it świnka morska which translates to Little sea pig.

 

[Zara]

Guinea pig has funny translation. We call it świnka morska which translates to Little sea pig.

How adorable!
Here it is just Cobaya... not as cute Not to be confused with Caballo (horse) or Caballa (mackerel).

In Polish cockatiel is also nimfa which translates directly to nymph.

So it seems some European languages use the same word Nypmh for cockatiels... Interesting.

 

[Khizz]

@Imogena It seems Polish and German share similar translations. Macaw is Ara, cockatoo is also Kakadu, and Guinea pig is Meerschweinchen, Little Sea Pig!

My ultimate favourite however is raccoon, which is "Waschbär", aka "Wash bear" because of the way they wash their faces

@Zara Yeah I much prefer the idea of "Nymph" for them as it is just cheekier, which fits their personalities!

 

[Imogena]

@Imogena It seems Polish and German share similar translations. Macaw is Ara, cockatoo is also Kakadu, and Guinea pig is Meerschweinchen, Little Sea Pig!

Oh, that's really funny, Polish and German belong to different groups of languages and here we have such similarities.
Even with raccoon it is somewhat similar - we call it szop pracz (shop pratch). Szop has no translation but pracz is someone whose occupation is washing clothing.

Edit: and a budgie is papuzka falista - wave parakeet!

 

[TinyFeathers]

Interesting names so far. We fostered a kitten and named it Mittens, but the new owners call her grape fruit in French. It's like pample mousse or something, it's quite cute though actually

 

[Marlienchen]

I'm german and yes, we have some pretty straight forward pet names
I also like the Indian Ringneck, "Halsbandsittich" which literally means "collar parakeet".
And the european robin is called "Rotkehlchen", which means "little red-throat" ("kehlchen" is like a cute version of "throat". The "chen" in german is like a "y/ie" in english, like "birdie" for example)

 

[Zara]

I´m so bad. I let down my team, littles, my loves!!!!!

Lovebirds here, are commonly known as Agapornis like I said before, but they are also called ¨inseparables¨ meaning unseparables

 

[Marlienchen]

@Zara that's interesting, we also call them unseparables in german: "Unzertrennliche"

 

[Imogena]

I also like the Indian Ringneck, "Halsbandsittich" which literally means "collar parakeet".

In Polish we call it Alexandretta obrożna (collar alexandrine).

¨inseparables¨ meaning unseparables

we also call them unseparables in german: "Unzertrennliche"

Same in Polish. Nierozłączki. Unseparables. I think the name cames from the belief that they have to be kept in pairs because one kept alone will die.

 

[Crazy4parrots]

Tortoise in Spanish is morrocoy and turtle is tortuga. Zara already said agapornis. GCC is perico cara sucia.

 

[Crazy4parrots]

In Polish we call it Alexandretta obrożna (collar alexandrine).


Same in Polish. Nierozłączki. Unseparables. I think the name cames from the belief that they have to be kept in pairs because one kept alone will die.

Then name needs to be changed lol cause here I got Baylee who is alone... And she is fine! XD

 

[Zara]

I think the name cames from the belief that they have to be kept in pairs because one kept alone will die.

I think it is more that they are monogamous, and so once paired they are unseparable

 

[Crazy4parrots]

@SandraK

 

[Imogena]

I think it is more that they are monogamous, and so once paired they are unseparable

Yes I agree. I've read about it. But in Poland people who do not know anything about parrots believe that they have to be in pairs. In fact before I was reading like crazy about birds I believed this myself. It is just very common superstition here.

 

[Imogena]

Tortoise in Spanish is morrocoy and turtle is tortuga. Zara

What a nice sounding word tortuga. I like it very much.

 

[rocky'smom]

Cockatiel in Danish is
Nymfeparakit
Macaw in Danish is macaw
Amazon in Danish is Amazon