17303: LeGrace Re: 17282: Jay: Re: 17277: Fuller: question on "Colobri" (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: LeGrace Benson <legrace@twcny.rr.com>

"Colibri" is a name given in several languages(with differing orthographies)
as the common or popular name for any hummingbird. Peterson's Field Guide to
the Birds of the West Indies notes this common name for the Cuban Emerald
( Chloristilbon ricordii.) There are several hummers in Haiti, but this
particular one apparently does not appear frequently in Haiti.  This summer
in the region of Cap Haitien I saw the Hispaniolan Emerald (Chlorostilbon
swainsonii) called locally Wanga Negess, the Antillean Mango (Anthracothorax
dominicus) also called Wanga Neggess by the local people, and the Vervain
Hummingbird (Mellisuga minima), ALSO called Wanga Negess!  The latter, a
tiny, dark bird that has a high-pitched, interminable squeak, is also called
Suce-fleurs, but not by anyone I asked.  There are others, I am told, but
these are the ones I saw, and I did see them frequently.  They like Hibiscus
(Shublak). Two are green, as is the Cuban Emerald.   I did see fewer species
on this trip, but this may be due to the fact that it was not a migration
season when larger numbers fly over or rest in Haiti. I have no clue as to
why someone would take the common name (in at least three languages)  for
hummingbirds as a moniker.