The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe
In the kitchen record books of the L'Estrange family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there are references to a bird, widely shot on the Norfolk coast, called a Spowe. On the basis of the similarity to the Icelandic name, J. H. Gurney (sen.) and Fisher (in their "An account of b...
Published in: | Archives of Natural History |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Edinburgh University Press
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/115826/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/115826/7/SPOWE_FINAL.pdf https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2017.0419 |
id |
ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:115826 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:115826 2023-05-15T17:47:20+02:00 The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe Cooke, F. Birkhead, T.R. 2017-04 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/115826/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/115826/7/SPOWE_FINAL.pdf https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2017.0419 en eng Edinburgh University Press https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/115826/7/SPOWE_FINAL.pdf Cooke, F. and Birkhead, T.R. (2017) The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe. Archives of Natural History, 44 (1). pp. 118-121. ISSN 0260-9541 Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftleedsuniv https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2017.0419 2023-01-30T21:54:24Z In the kitchen record books of the L'Estrange family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there are references to a bird, widely shot on the Norfolk coast, called a Spowe. On the basis of the similarity to the Icelandic name, J. H. Gurney (sen.) and Fisher (in their "An account of birds found in Norfolk" published in 1846) assumed this to be the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) as have all ornithological texts ever since. Internal evidence from the kitchen records strongly suggest that the Spowe was a winter visitor, not a passage migrant, thus throwing considerable doubt on Gurney and Fisher's ascription. We suggest that it is much more likely that the Spowe was the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica). Article in Journal/Newspaper Numenius phaeopus Whimbrel White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) Archives of Natural History 44 1 118 121 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
op_collection_id |
ftleedsuniv |
language |
English |
description |
In the kitchen record books of the L'Estrange family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there are references to a bird, widely shot on the Norfolk coast, called a Spowe. On the basis of the similarity to the Icelandic name, J. H. Gurney (sen.) and Fisher (in their "An account of birds found in Norfolk" published in 1846) assumed this to be the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) as have all ornithological texts ever since. Internal evidence from the kitchen records strongly suggest that the Spowe was a winter visitor, not a passage migrant, thus throwing considerable doubt on Gurney and Fisher's ascription. We suggest that it is much more likely that the Spowe was the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cooke, F. Birkhead, T.R. |
spellingShingle |
Cooke, F. Birkhead, T.R. The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe |
author_facet |
Cooke, F. Birkhead, T.R. |
author_sort |
Cooke, F. |
title |
The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe |
title_short |
The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe |
title_full |
The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe |
title_fullStr |
The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe |
title_full_unstemmed |
The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe |
title_sort |
identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century norfolk, united kingdom, as the spowe |
publisher |
Edinburgh University Press |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/115826/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/115826/7/SPOWE_FINAL.pdf https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2017.0419 |
genre |
Numenius phaeopus Whimbrel |
genre_facet |
Numenius phaeopus Whimbrel |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/115826/7/SPOWE_FINAL.pdf Cooke, F. and Birkhead, T.R. (2017) The identity of the bird known locally in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Norfolk, United Kingdom, as the Spowe. Archives of Natural History, 44 (1). pp. 118-121. ISSN 0260-9541 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2017.0419 |
container_title |
Archives of Natural History |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
118 |
op_container_end_page |
121 |
_version_ |
1766151724900286464 |