counting coots

Another in the series of frivolous and daft bird names courtesy of Bo Boelens' book (if I plug it enough do I get boosted up the Fatbirder ranks perhaps?).

Now most birders will have heard of Spix’s Macaw, due mainly to the fact that there are not very many of them at all. Anywhere.

Well today’s offering isn’t that. A contemporary of Spix (a naturalist that had that particular parrot particularnamed after him) also went of to study things in Brazil on the same expedition (and no doubt shot a large portion of the findings). Anyway, his name was Natterer and he was Austrian. The sensible thing would have to have given him a parrot too, as Natterer’s Parrot would have been great – or maybe an amphibian even (his Christian name was Johann, so he could possibly have been called Jack...), but no.

He got a bat - Natterer’s Bat. Fine with that. Might even have seen one.

He got a bird – Natterer’s Slaty Antshrike. Which although clumsy, tickles no funny bones.

And then someone (Temminck I reckon) gave him another bird – Natterers Vizer Bearer, which does.



Obviously I have to know what a vizer is…





1 definition found vizer - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :





Vizier \Viz"ier\, n. [Ar. wez[imac]r, waz[imac]r, properly, a bearer of burdens, a porter, from wazara to bear a burden:





A councilor of state; a high executive officer in Turkey and other Oriental countries

So this cruel, cruel, vindictive man was using these tiny little birds as his bloody porters.