As a naturalist who documents and records across all taxonomic groups, my journey into nature observation began with birdwatching. In my view, birding is the most accessible activity for bringing observers together and fostering a dedicated community. Driven by the gathering of enthusiasts, birdwatching circles in different regions often develop their own unique subcultures, and various cities are no exception. Here in China, there is one particular bird species that has been wildly popular for less than five years, yet its level of mainstream breakout far surpasses that of any other native bird species in the country. The Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is one of the most common herons in China. Except for the relatively arid western regions like Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, and Tibet, it is widely found in freshwater wetlands, rivers, and coastal mudflats. Interestingly, these are also the most densely populated areas of the country. As the most urba n-adaptable waterbird, it frequently appears in bustling places like canals and park ponds. This high visibility has given it a huge reputation in China’s birdwatching community. Yet, having these advantages isn’t enough; to truly capture the public’s attention, the Black-crowned Night Heron still needs a catalyst. Actually, this meme didn’t originate in China, but in Japan. In 2019, at the Heiwa Zoo Penguin House in Kagoshima City, a waterbird with its neck tucked in was caught trying to blend in with the penguins just to score some free fish. Even after being spotted by the zookeeper, it refused to leave and basically treated the zoo as its personal cafeteria. Its sneaky, comical behavior went viral, making it an overnight sensation. Because of its pale grayish-white belly and dark blue-gray back, people mistook it for a fake penguin. Around the exact same time, Chinese netizens using AI bird-identification apps kept getting their Black-crowned Night Herons misidentified as penguins. This only fueled the joke of calling the night heron a “penguin.” As the nickname spread, it eventually evolved into the ultimate meme: the “Chinese Rural Penguin” (or “Chinese Native Penguin”). [640-1781718252521] Being jokingly called a “penguin” was just the beginning of the Black-crowned Night Heron’s internet fame. As China’s birdwatching community continues to grow, a wave of fresh blood is entering the hobby. Beginners are usually drawn to waterbirds because they are relatively easy to photograph, and night herons frequently end up in their lenses. Because they are so common, they are always around—even when birders have no other rare species to show for their trip. This high visibility also means people get to observe their daily habits more closely. For instance, night herons have a funny habit of “mimicking” other species. People soon realized there was a lot of meme potential here. Aside from the “penguin” look, night herons also grow two long, white breeding feathers that stand straight up on the back of their heads, resembling cockroach antennae. And just like that, the “Blue-backed Cockroach” meme was born. These are the two most famous “mimicry” memes associated with the night heron. [MEITU_20260618_025158687] [MEITU_20260618_031809832] [MEITU_20260618_034110056] Beyond the two famous memes, there are also some rather gross jokes. People have enthusiastically made memes about the night heron’s defecation habits. Since waterbird droppings are typically a thick, white liquid, the night heron’s poop is often jokingly referred to as “hand sanitizer”… Because of this wide variety of memes, the night heron has spawned a massive subculture within the birdwatching community. As the very source and creator of this subculture, we respectfully refer to the night heron as “Master Night” (or “Night Master”). “Master Night” is undoubtedly the biggest superstar in China’s birdwatching community. However, I’ve always been well aware that its range is not limited to Asia; it is also found in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and even as far south as the Falkland Islands. I’m curious, what are people’s impressions of this bird in your neck of the woods? Does your local birding community have any similar memes or subcultures?

[image] pandahead_hoimoon: The Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is one of the most common herons in China [image] pandahead_hoimoon: This high visibility has given it a huge reputation in China’s birdwatching community [image] pandahead_hoimoon: Does your local birding community have any similar memes or subcultures? I’m not a bearder, but there is an entire subreddit dedicated to this species. It’s called Always A Night Heron. So love for the Night Heron might be a global phenomenon!

I have to admit, some of those made me laugh out loud- and having seen N. nycticorax myself (not in China, Pennsylvania), I can attest to the fact that they look like penguins sometimes. The most common Parulid warbler along the east coast, Yellow-rumped Warbler, is often called the ‘butterbutt’. Sometimes I think of the species as ‘butterbutt’ more often then ‘yellow-rumped warbler’. edit: also LBJ (little brown job). Not sure how regional that is though.

After seeing all these names I’m never going to look at a black capped night heron as I once used to ever again :joy: I suppose its not far too common where I live, and it still remains a lifer, but I will keep this newfound meme in my mind when I see it. There is this Bollywood actor in India, called Shah Rukh Khan, and he apparently has this pose where he just stands with his arms wide open. The local birding community that I’m a part of has therefore given his name to the cormorants! I’ll attach a comic for context. [greenhumour] The actor is also nicknamed SRK for short, and so is the cormorant whenever it strikes the basking pose. As for insider jargon, I can’t quite think of anything apart from the usual short forms - IEO (Indian Eagle Owl), CSE (Crested Serpent Eagle), RBFC (Red breasted flycatcher).. there’s a short form for almost every bird seen, and at times I have to rack my brains in figuring what it could stand for :)

my favorite one is the american woodcock. it makes a beeping noise that people write as “peent” and bobs up and down while it walks. there are a ton of videos set to them dancing to music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEISiCmjwH8 https://youtu.be/mKM0P9gWx7k and the babies dance too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF3-LvmHM4E

Here we usually call the Woodcock “Meep” , name after its call.

[image] reclassifier: edit: also LBJ (little brown job). Not sure how regional that is though. We also have LBJ in Russia, but it’s “little grey bird”. And we have variation of a “welcome to… we have” meme with some of them. [изображение_2026-06-19_141554401]

Also lots of jokes about two male bullfinches on many Russian postcards despite official state homophobia. Many people really don’t know how a female bullfinch looks like. Purposely misdiagnosing birds in a layman manner. Swifts are “falcon chicks”, gulls are cormorants and so on. It’s more common among bird rescuers, not exactly birdwatchers. Some nicknames and abbreviations. “Long-tail” (with diminutive suffix) is long-tailed tit, but “long-tail” (with suffix that means big) is Ural owl. БПД for big spotted woodpecker and so on. I guess there are such things for every language. Me and my friends often call corncrake by its latin name Crex crex, because Russian name is longer than that and less funny.

We’ve got a similar meme over here: the “warbler meme.” Warblers are incredibly abundant in China and notoriously hyperactive, darting around in the canopy. Getting a sharp photo of them is a nightmare, so identifying them is an absolute grind. Because of this, plenty of birders just throw their hands up and call any unfamiliar warbler “some kind of warbler.” [1781874725782] “I am exhausted from creeping on you. Could you please have the decency to strike a pose? Can you just hold still so I can get focus? Could you drop a feather for me, at least? When are you planning to fly? How do you even meet other little birds? Why aren’t you mating with them? Why do you insist on hiding behind the leaves? Can you just tell me? Why won’t you come to me on your own? Who was that bird calling at you just now? Why are you still ignoring me? Do you have any idea how agonizing it is for me to stare through a camera lens waiting for you every day? Why won’t you come to me? Is it because they’re better-looking than me? Are you bored of me? Or do you think I have a bad personality? That my words are too harsh? Or that I’m just too annoying? Why are you distancing yourself from me? What do they have that I don’t? I’m going to shoot you to death! Shoot you to death! Shoot you to death! Shoot you to death! Shoot you to death! Shoot you to death! Shoot you to death! Shoot you to death! Shoot you to death! :eye::eye::eye::eye::eye::eye::eye::eye:”

I’ve held back posting for a while whilst I made a mental note of some of the bird names me and my mates have used. Some of these I know are in common parlance, others might just be what we call them. There’s nothing as funny as your Penguin/Night Heron though. Some are just shortened versions of their regular names, in much the same way as a footballer might get a nickname (shorten the name and add an ‘ee’ sound at the end): Bluey – Blue Tit Curly or Curly Curlew – Curlew Marshy – Marsh Harrier Nutty or Nutty Nuthatch- Nuthatch Shorty – Short-eared Owl Spoony - Spoonbill Tufty - Tufted Duck Waggy - Wagtail Woody - usually a Wood Pigeon but could also refer to an undetermined Woodpecker Some are previous terms for birds that are now officially known by other names. I would say that old habits die hard, but that’s not quite true in our case as I think the names would have changed before we got seriously into birding. Perhaps there’s something more romantic about the old names or perhaps we’re trying to get some unearned kudos just because we know the old lingo. Bearded Tit – Bearded Reedling Dabchick – Little Grebe Peewit – Lapwing Some are old fashioned nicknames. Spadger is in very common usage generally, the others not so much. Spadger – Sparrow Windf**k – Kestrel, because its hovering motion looks like it’s having its way with the air. We learned this from the book Mrs Moreau’s Warbler, which is a brilliant read on the origins of bird names. Arsefoot – Little Grebe. A recent addition to our lexicon courtesy of Chris Packham on Springwatch. Some are time saving contractions, shortenings or abbreviations: Barwit - Bar-tailed Godwit Blackwit - Black-tailed Godwit Cetti – Cetti’s Warbler Mute – Mute Swan LBBG – Lesser Black-backed Gull BHG – Black Headed Gull Some don’t fit any overall pattern other than perhaps being a bit rude or suggestive or harping back to other things. Thank You Doctor – A pair of Great Tits (A parody of the Terri Garr/Mel Brookes ‘What Knockers’ gag from the film The Young Frankenstein) Exotic Tits - any unusual Tit, which could be any other than Blue Tits or Great Tits which are very common in our area Wobbler - any warbler Turds - a collection of mixed thrushes, also Richard III in remembrance of the old Two Ronnie’s sketch Long-Billed Whimbrel – Curlew (Curlews are more common in our area than Whimbrels, so it makes it sound a bit more exciting) Weirdy Beardy – Bearded Reedling Special One – Jay (From a game some friends of mine played counting Magpies to pass long journeys. Jay’s or ‘Special Ones’ counted double because of the stylish blue flash). Finally, any small, brown undetermined bird is known as an LBJ, short for Little Brown Job. This morphs into a Lyndon or even ‘The late president’.

Do birding communities around the world have their own unique memes and insider jargon?

Nature Talk

AdamWargon June 17, 2026, 8:17pm 2

I’m not a bearder, but there is an entire subreddit dedicated to this species. It’s called Always A Night Heron. So love for the Night Heron might be a global phenomenon!

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Do birding communities around the world have their own unique memes and insider jargon?

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