From: dieter oschadleus <doschadleus@gmail.com>
Date: 2016-02-11 17:54
Subject: Re: [KENYABIRDSNET] What's in a name? Compact Weaver
Hi Mike

The Baglafecht Weaver was collected by Bruce and he called it the "yellow Bagla finch", probably based on a native Abyssinian name. What Bagla means, I do not know.
See more detail at http://weavers.adu.org.za/sp.php?spp=476, describing the discovery of this species.

Dieter

On 11/02/2016 16:43, Mike Davidson wrote:
Hi Dieter

whilst I  was  in Kenya , I tried to find out why the Baglafecht Weaver is so called . It seemed to be traced to Ethiopia araound 100 years ago or more . Any ideas ?

Mike

On 09/02/2016 12:49, 'Don Reid' donreid@africaonline.co.ke [kenyabirdsnet] wrote:
 



Dear Dieter
 
That is amazing.  Am very impressed.  Thank you for that insight.
 
Marlene Reid (Mombasa)
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2016 10:46 PM
Subject: Re: [KENYABIRDSNET] What's in a name? Compact Weaver

 

Hi Adam and others

Interesting question.
The first English name given to this species was Buff-browed Weaver-bird (see http://weavers.adu.org.za/sp.php?spp=3830).
The first time Compact Weaver was used was, I think, Shelley 1905, after a quick search so I may have missed an early reference. Shelley 1905 gave no hint as to the reason for the name.

The genus gives the most likely clue. Pachyphantes was introduced by Shelley 1896, without description, and this name means:
Greek: pakhus, thick; huphantes, a weaver.
So when Shelly gave English names to African birds in 1905, he must have translated Pachyphantes to thick weaver, or rather Compact Weaver.

Shelley 1905 did not mention the nest of this species, so without checking all references, I suspect the nest was not known when the name Compact Weaver was introduced, again confirming that the English name is based on its genus name.

Dieter

On 08/02/2016 05:16 PM, Adam Scott Kennedy adamscottkennedy@gmail.com [kenyabirdsnet] wrote:
 
Hi All,

I wonder if someone can shed some light on the naming of Compact Weaver for me.

I consider it a fairly 'compact' bird but I would imagine that the species is so named for its compact nest, which is smooth and finely woven - unlike many other weavers.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers for now,
Adam



-- 
Dr Dieter Oschadleus	
doschadleus@gmail.com (or Dieter.Oschadleus@uct.ac.za)

Bird-ringing Coordinator, SAFRING
Animal Demography Unit      tel: (021) 650-2421
University of Cape Town	   NEW fax: (021) 650-3301 (Zoology)
Rondebosch 7701 RSA	   
SAFRING  http://safring.adu.org.za
Weavers  http://weavers.adu.org.za





-- 
Dr Dieter Oschadleus	
doschadleus@gmail.com (or Dieter.Oschadleus@uct.ac.za)

Bird-ringing Coordinator, SAFRING
Animal Demography Unit      tel: (021) 650-2421
University of Cape Town	   NEW fax: (021) 650-3301 (Zoology)
Rondebosch 7701 RSA	   
SAFRING  http://safring.adu.org.za
Weavers  http://weavers.adu.org.za