The bird names to be shared in the following posts were collated for reference purposes whilst in the process of collecting data for my book Birds in Zimbabwean Folklore. Local bird names were obtained from personal communication with contributors, as well as reference to lists contained in Cooke (1970) and Maclean (1985). Existing personal lists compiled by Ngoni Chitemamuswe (Chiweshe) and Matthew Bokash (Nambya bird names) were also consulted at the time.

As in many dialects worldwide, most Zimbabwean bird names are onomatopoeic in nature, with taxa largely being named according to their particular habits or calls. For example, the Shona name for the African Hoopoe (pictured) is ‘Mpupu’, reminiscent of its plaintive call, while the Emerald – spotted Wood-dove is named ‘Njivamutondo’ or ‘ dove of the trees’, as this species is generally a woodland bird.

Kalanga bird names were largely omitted as most are merely a ‘hybridised’ derivation of the original Ndebele or Karanga dialects, where an ‘r’ is replaced with an ‘l’. Many Venda and Northern Sotho names appear to be common to both these closely associated tribes, with a similar situation occurring with the Shangaan (see below). As Shona dialects are so diverse, I found a great deal of variation in bird names according to home area. However, as some generic names are widely recognised amongst the various Shona tribes, I often resorted to listing these under a single designation.

Some change has also occurred over the decades since the original compilation of material for the book, not least in the area of avian taxonomy and common naming conventions relating to birds. Within the Zimbabwean context, significant variation in orthography has also been prevalent, particularly with regard to correcting previous errors in capitalisation. For the sake of consistency I have kept Zimbabwean vernacular terms as per original references. It is also worth noting that some spelling errors are also bound to have crept in as many names were collected directly from people the field.

Bird names will be dealt with in alphabetical order following the English vernacular, beginning with the Apalises.

Apalises – N’walanga (Shangaan)
From my findings it appears that the only Zimbabwean tribe to differentiate Apalises from other similar taxa are the Shangaan. The Shangaan form part of a multicultural society known as the Vatsonga (Tsonga), largely separated by present day borders. Thus, their generic name for the Apalises (along with many other bird names) are shared with the neighbouring Tsonga peoples residing in northern South Africa and Mozambique.

For more information on Apalises visit:

http://www.biodiversityexplorer.info/birds/cisticolidae/apalis.htm

Additional References:

Cooke, P. (1970). Ndebele Bird Names. NADA, vol.10 (2): 67-68.

Maclean, GL. (1985). Roberts’ Birds of Southern Africa (5th ed.). John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa.

In the next post I will move on to bird names beginning with the letter ‘B’.