I heard one of my favourite bird songs in Coquitlam last night (kʷikʷəƛ̓əm territory), a loopy upward spiral song belonging to the Swainson’s Thrush.
They were singing in a tree in a friend’s yard where my kiddo had been picking salmonberries.
Just like this:
I realized I hadn’t thought about the Swainson’s Thrush since I learned about the idea of using bird names for birds so I went looking for non-eponym common names.
Some Wikipedia editor loves that bird song as much as I do, because after Olive-Backed Thrush they listed Reverbius Maximus Harmonius.
I realized even harder, that since the last time I heard Swainson’s Thrushes singing I had read the excellent book Held By The Land, by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh herbalist Leigh Joseph.
She mentions a story about the thrushes singing to make the salmonberries ripen, and I remember that reading that made me yelp in delight because even I, who have picked salmonberries maybe three times, associate those bird songs and those berries.
I re-read that page of Held By The Land just now, and she gives another name for the Swainson’s Thrush: Salmonberry Birds. I think I’ll go with that for my #BirdNamesForBirds.