While we won’t tell you how to name your new pet bird, we can tell you how wild birds get the bird names they’re known by. Here’s everything you need to know about bird names.

Scientifically speaking

Before anyone else gets to give a bird a nickname, before you even have a chance to name your own bird, scientists do it for you. The animal classification system is a very intricate system. Birds are first separated into a genus based on some general characteristics that they share. Birds then have a second name, which is referred to as the species. The species is often named after the person who found or discovered the bird. The species name often undergoes quite a bird of controversy before it becomes part of bird names.

As far as the species goes, scientists tend to debate as to whether the new bird is actually a new species or will fit into a species that has already been formed. Two things can happen when this debate arises over bird names. One, the bird can get its own species, two; it can be grouped in with a species that has already been named.

Common names

Common bird names are much different than their scientific counterparts. In fact, most every wild bird name you’re familiar with is a common, not scientific name. Birds in the wild get their bird names based on their coloring, what they look like, how they sound or their habitat. A Blue Jay, for example, is named after its blue coloring. However, if people would take a closer look at the Blue Jay, they would see that the bird actually isn’t blue. It’s actually got an iridescent color that looks blue when it interacts with the bird’s pigment and light.

Naming your bird

When you get your pet bird home, you can pick your bird name from a variety of bird names. When you pick your own bird names, all other names are completely insignificant because the bird will answer to the name you give it, not the name it’s known by scientifically.

There’s no right or wrong way to name your pet bird. Bird names are completely up to the owner. The only time you can’t choose your bird’s name, is if you’re getting the bird from someone else and it’s already been named. However, birds are smart and if your bird is young enough, you can get rid of the old name and exchange it for a bird name of your own. Bird names can be fun, serious or nonsensical, but coming up with one can be entertaining.