For us birders, our history tends to be forgotten, overshadowed and blocked out when things happen. This topic is to preserve those rare stories and especially those interesting facts that compare us and the rest of the world. I was just reminded about the slang for sparrows LBB, from a friend of mine and I told them I used LBJ. Then I realized that LBJ also stands for Lyndon B. Johnson, and the birders must have named that after him.
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Interestingly enough, this was a case when the President and First Lady had the same initials: LBJ can also stand for Lady Bird Johnson, as she was known.
What’s cool is that he named their whole family that way! Lynda bird Johnson, Luci baines Johnson, and the family dog- Little beagle Johnson.
Ever notice how many warblers are inaccurately named? Magnolia warblers are not especially associated with magnolia trees, nor Nashville warblers with Nashville. Alexander Wilson happened to collect the type specimen of Setophaga tigrina in Cape May, and it has been known ever since as the Cape May warbler; but the species was not recorded again in Cape May for more than 100 years after Wilson’s first collection.
I think my (favorite? Least favorite? I’m not sure) factoid about birding is that, historically… people saw a bird, then shot the bird, then studied the bird. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-bird-collecting-evolved-into-bird-watching-180980506/
It makes sense but oh man I’m so glad we have digital camera nowadays
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