What's in a name?

Discussions and information on all Southern African Birds
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Flutterby
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Kori

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Bustard

Kori Bustard

English naturalist, William John Burchell, described the kori bustard in 1822. The specific epithet kori is derived from the Tswana name for this bird - Kgori.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kori_bustard


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Ludwig

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Carl Ferdinand Heinrich von Ludwig {aka Baron von Ludwig) (6 October 1784 – 27 December 1847)

Ludwig's Bustard

The son of a clerk in the ecclesiastical administration, Ludwig was a German-born pharmacist, businessman and patron of the natural sciences, noted for having started Cape Town's first botanic garden.

Ludwig served his pharmacy apprenticeship at Kirchheim near Stuttgart from where he went on to work in Amsterdam, first as apothecary and later as technician in a chemical laboratory . In 1805 he responded to an advertisement in an Amsterdam newspaper and applied for a post as pharmacy assistant to a certain Stuttgart-born Dr Liesching of Cape Town. Friedrich Ludwig Liesching was a former physician to the Württemberg regiment at the Cape. Ludwig's application was accepted and he sailed for the Cape in October 1805. His qualifications as pharmacist were approved in 1807 by a body set up to scrutinise the Cape medical and apothecary fraternities. Ludwig was regarded as a physician.

In January 1816 Ludwig married Alida Maria Burgers, widow of Carl Ferdinand Heinrich Altenstaedt. She had inherited a stately dwelling in St. George's Street, and a small but lucrative business from her husband who had been a brewer, and a tobacco and snuff merchant. The business continued to thrive and Ludwig became one of the notables of the Cape community, in 1824 helping to found the South African Literary Society. The success of the business afforded him ample leisure time, so that he could indulge in his other interest, the collection of natural history specimens. Ludwig Beil, the Cape Town organist, accompanied him on a collecting trip to Swellendam in 1826. That same year he shipped a collection of plants and insects to the Stuttgart Royal Museum, in recognition of which he was awarded a Knighthood of the Order of the Royal Crown of Württemberg, which entitled him to place the prefix 'von' in front of his surname. He took a larger collection of plants, insects, birds and mammals with him on an 1828 visit to Germany - for this he received an honorary Ph.D from the University of Tübingen.

On his return from Europe, Von Ludwig bought about 3 acres of land in Kloof Road, Cape Town, and over the next couple of years planted the groundwork of a botanic garden. Besides large numbers of trees, shrubs and bulbs from Europe, America and Australia, he also included fruit trees, vegetables and crop plants. He introduced the Jacaranda tree to South Africa. Many of the species were indigenous, some acquired from Ecklon and Zeyher. The Irish botanist, Harvey, noted his appreciation of the easy access that was provided for studying the plants. Other prominent scientists such as Charles Bunbury and Joseph Dalton Hooker visited what had become known as Ludwigsburg Garden, while Lady Jane Franklin, who explored the garden in 1836, noted that even though only 3 acres in extent, 'being well laid out with numerous divisions and paths' made it appear larger. A certain Leibold was first superintendent of the garden from 1834–37, followed by James Bowie over the period 1838-42, and Thomas Draper 1843-47 until Ludwig's death. The botanist Ludwig Pappe, later Colonial Botanist, prepared herbarium specimens from the garden plants.

Von Ludwig made few long journeys exploring the Cape. In 1834 he and his wife visited Oudtshoorn, the nearby Cango Caves and the coastal town of Knysna, staying with the enigmatic George Rex. Ludwig did however support the idea of exploring the interior and played an active role in the 'Cape of Good Hope Association for exploring Central Africa'. From Ecklon he acquired a collection of insects, from Andrew Smith he obtained rare birds, and plant specimens from Zeyher and Drège. His collections continued to be shipped to Stuttgart and Frankfurt, and he sent Cape bulbs and seeds to various organisations such as the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. In recognition of these contributions Curtis's Botanical Magazine dedicated an issue to him (Vol.62 of 1835) as was Harvey's 1838 Genera of South African Plants.

In 1836 or 1837 Von Ludwig again visited Europe and presented large collections of natural history items to various scientific organisations. Tübingen conferred an honorary M.D., Stuttgart granted freedom of the city, while the King of Württemberg elevated him to the nobility with the hereditary title of 'Freiherr' (Baron), made him a Knight Commander of the Royal Crown of Württemberg and presented him with a snuffbox 'richly set with diamonds'. While in Stuttgart he contacted Ferdinand Krauss, who had also started his career as an apothecary's apprentice, inviting him to the Cape. Since he had corresponded with him, he also visited William Jackson Hooker in Glasgow.

In February 1838 Baron von Ludwig and his daughters left Portsmouth, together with Krauss who had agreed to go to South Africa. Their boat arrived in Table Bay on 7 May 1838. Krauss stayed with Von Ludwig for seven months, preparing for his trip eastwards. The hospitality Von Ludwig displayed to passing scientists and collectors was legendary - Joseph Burke had stayed with him when he arrived at the Cape in 1840. Von Ludwig supported the cause of the Voortrekkers and on various occasions sent them boxes of vegetable seeds acquired from Germany and the Netherlands.

Von Ludwig continued with his active role in Cape affairs - he joined the committee of the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society in 1836 and that of the South African Public Library in 1843. He played a leading part in the founding of the Natal Cotton Company, the Cape of Good Hope Gaslight Company in 1845 and erecting a gasworks.

After Baron von Ludwig's death his garden was offered for sale to the Colonial Government, but the offer was declined, though a few plants were bought for the so-called official Botanic Garden which had not been developed and was in a state of neglect. Various horticulturalists, such as Thomas Draper and Carl Zeyher were employed, but either resigned or were discharged due to differences with the Botanic Garden Committee who were bent on profit.

Von Ludwig is commemorated in the plant species names Restio ludwigii, Tulbaghia ludwigiana, Hibiscus ludwigii and Hypoxis ludwigii. Among birds, Ludwig's bustard and the square-tailed drongo (Dicrurus ludwigii) carry his name.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_von_Ludwig


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Luapula

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Luapula

Luapula Cisticola

The Luapula Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces located in the northern part of the country. Luapula Province is named after the Luapula River and its capital is Mansa. As per the 2010 Zambian census, the Province had a population of 991,927, which accounted for 7.57 per cent of the total Zambian population.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luapula_Province


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Lanner

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Lanner

Lanner Falcon

The English word "lanner" is believed to come from the Old French lanier meaning "cowardly". The first recorded use of the word in English is from around 1400.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanner_falcon


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Taita

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Taita

Taita Falcon

The Taita falcon (Falco fasciinucha) is a small falcon found in central and eastern Africa. It was first described from the Taita Hills of Kenya from which it derives its name.

The Taita Hills, with others in the Eastern Arc Mountains, were formed more than one hundred million years ago. About thirty million years ago, the area was covered by extensive rainforest. During a cooler and drier period some ten million years ago, the lowland forests were converted to savanna, leaving the mountain ranges as "islands" where the tropical forests continued to flourish. The isolation of each mountain range has led to a great deal of endemism, and a very diverse flora and fauna. Some of the other mountain ranges are well-forested, but the Taita Hills retain just 6 km2 of forest. The Taita Hills rise steeply from the Tsavo West National Park.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taita_falcon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taita_Hills


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Coqui

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Coqui

Coqui Francolin

The Coqui Francolin is onomatopoeically named for its high-pitched 2-syllable co-qui, co-qui call.

Coquí is also the common name for several species of small frogs that are native to Puerto Rico. They are also onomatopoeically named for the very loud mating call which the males make at night.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coqu%C3%AD
Roberts Bird Guide


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Retz

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Anders Adolph Retzius (13 October 1796 –18 April 1860)

Retz's Helmet-shrike

Anders Retzius was a Swedish professor of anatomy and a supervisor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

He enrolled at Lund University in 1812 where he studied medicine, and alternated with studies in Copenhagen, until he in 1818 became a licensed doctor of medicine. Through his friendship with Jöns Jakob Berzelius, he as early as 1824 was appointed temporary professor of anatomy at the Karolinska Institute, an institute to which he dedicated much of his strength for many years. In 1830 he was also appointed temporary supervisor there, and in 1840 he was appointed both permanent professor and supervisor.

In 1826, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Retzius


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Squacco

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Squacco

Squacco Heron

The Squacco Heron was named by Scopoli, an Italian ornithologist, after its piercing ‘squawk’ call. The English common name squacco comes from the Italian word sguacco . The current spelling comes from John Hill in 1752.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squacco_heron
https://www.arkive.org/squacco-heron/ardeola-ralloides/


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Bradfield

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R.D. Bradfield (1882 - 1949)

Bradfield's Hornbill, Bradfield's Swift

Bradfield was a South African farmer and naturalist who lived in Namibia. He sent birds and mammals from the Waterberg Plateau and the Namib Desert to the British Museum and to Austin Roberts at Transvaal Museum. He also made extensive plant collections on his farm near Okahandja and after retiring to Benoni in South Africa. He is commemorated in several bird species, including Bradfield's Swift, Apus bradfieldi, Bradfield's Hornbill, Tockus bradfieldi, and Bradfield's Lark, Miafra naevia.

Source:
http://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/ ... m000033716


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Hadeda

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Hadeda

Hadeda Ibis

The Hadeda Ibis has an extremely loud and distinctive haa-haa-haa-de-dah call for which it is named. The call is often heard when the birds are flying or are startled, or when the birds communicate socially, for example early in the morning in residential suburbs. While roosting they produce a single loud "haaaa".

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadada_ibis


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