Life on the other side of The Pond

A topic that has come up several times in conversation with fellow nature lovers in the USA are the differences in the specifics and diversity of living things in different parts of the world. This much is obvious, we don’t have hummingbirds in Europe for instance, but they’re a favourite in the USA. The Old World Flycatcher we Brits call a Robin is very different from the thrush-like Robin of North America.

European Robin – Erithacus rubeculla
American Robin – Turdus migratorius

The Common Buzzard that circles on the thermals over the UK is a hawk-type bird, whereas the colloquial term buzzard in the US generally refers to the Turkey Vulture. In the UK, we refer to Buteo species as buzzards, in the US, they’re called hawks, broadly speaking. We do nevertheless have some species we call hawks, for instance, the Goshawk and Sparrowhawk.

Common Buzzard – Buteo buteo
Turkey Vulture – Cathartes aura

Seeing a Plain Tiger butterfly in the UK would be a true mega. It’s well known in Europe, Africa, and Asia and also goes by the name of African monarch, Danaus chrysippus. But, this is not the same as the Monarch of the Americas, that’s Danaus plexippus. That said, they’re both milkweed butterflies (Danainae), a sub-family of the brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae).

Having mentioned hummingbirds, I should mention moths using that term. In Europe we have a single species known as the Hummingbird Hawk-moth. But, this is not one of the American hummingbird moths, which is a generic term for various species including the Hummingbird Clearwing .

These moths are all members of the Sphingidae family, which we Brits call the hawk-moths, because of the bird-like shape and form of the adults. Our hawk-moths are known as sphinx moths in the USA because of the way the larvae rise up and posture, resembling a Sphinx of Ancient Egypt. We have several species of clearwing in Europe too, the one that perhaps resembles the US Hummingbird Clearwing is the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum
Hummingbird Clearwing, Hemaris thysbe

Then we have the badgers, the American and the European are different in appearance, habitat and behaviour, although both related to the so-called mustelids, the weasels, otters, ferrets, and the wolverine.

European Badger, Meles meles
American Badger, Taxidea taxus

Let’s look at the Elk and the Moose. In Europe, we have Elk, this is the species Alces alces. This is the same animal that Americans call a moose, it’s a classic example of wilderness-traveller’s confusion.

European Elk, Alces alces
American Elk, Cervus canadensis

Staying with large mammals, African/Asian buffalo is very different from what Americans often call a buffalo, which is actually the American Bison. Bison bison is not related to the seemingly nonsensical sentence “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.”

African Buffalo, Syncerus caffer
American Bison, Bison bison

Back with the birds, in the UK we have two tiny little species known as the Goldcrest and the Firecrest, they’re joint holders of the title of teeniest tiniest British birds. They’re Regulus species, a term that derives from Latin meaning little king. In the Americas, there are related species known as kinglets, which also means little king.

How about the tits and chickadees? European and American birders might see a marked similarity between what here in the UK we call the Marsh Tit and the Willow Tit and the likes of the Black-capped Chickadee. Both groups belong to the same bird family, Paridae.

Willow Tit, Poecile montanus
Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus

Blackbirds are very different. The Common Blackbird of the UK, looks remarkably like the American Robin,  but lacks the orange bib. The American Blackbirds are icterid species.

Common Blackbird, Turdus merula
American Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus or Quiscalus quiscula

European Goldfinch is mostly buff with a red face and some lovely, golden yellow bands on its wings. The American Goldfinch is mostly yellow with a black cap and black on its wings, looks more like another type of finch, the Eurasian Siskin, than the European Goldfinch.

European Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis
American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis

In the plant world there are bluebells. The English Bluebell and the Virginia Bluebell are not even remotely related, the English is a woodland bulb, the Virginian, a borage.

English Bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta
Virginia Bluebell, Mertensia virginica

Among the trees, we have sycamores. In the UK the word refers to non-native maple type species, introduced to Britain by the Romans from Europe. The sycamore of the USA is a type of “plane” tree, not a maple. It’s more akin to the hybrid British species the London Plane (Platanus × hispanica).

European Sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus
American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis

As a Brit, I’d assumed naively that the laurel of Laurel Canyon, which nestles in the Hollywood Hills, was the same laurel as we have here forming hedges. The Cherry Laurel. It’s not, it’s the California Bay Laurel, which is the only species in the genus Umbellularia, a member of the family of true laurels. Our Cherry Laurel, isn’t even a laurel, its a Prunus.

Common, or Cherry, Laurel, Prunus laurocerasus
California Bay Laurel, Umbellularia californica

In the UK, you don’t have to worry about Poison Ivy, but do try to avoid Giant Hogweed. Similarly, acorns from English Oak are probably not something anything but pigs should be fed, but American Poison Oak is definitely best left untouched. A Hemlock Forest in the US is fine, but don’t touch European Hemlock plants, this is the hemlock of Socrates fame. See also, American Nightshade vs. Deadly Nightshade, one is bitter and nasty, the other lethal, the clue’s in the name. Then, there are Foxgloves in Europe which are poisonous, foxgloves in the USA usually means relatively non-toxic Mullein plants.

The sheer variety of the world’s living things is spectacular. But as this transatlantic menagerie of buzzards, robins, sycamores, and more illustrates, relying on a common name can easily lead us down a path of confusion, whichever side of The Pond you’re on. If we want to truly share and understand what the other person is looking at, whether it’s the tiny European Robin or its thrush-sized American counterpart, it turns out that the language of science, the scientific binomial, has to be the way forward as I’ve mentioned several times before.