Zoologists have often given our fauna scientific names which are interesting, strange, amusing or even downright rude.

This blog will , over time, systematically dissect the literal meanings behind some of our British animals' scientific names.
I'll start with birds and move onto insects and other animals.

This blog began life on November 16th 2012. I will add to it regularly.

Saturday, 8 December 2012

White-tailed sea eagle

White-tailed sea eagle
Haliaeetus albicilla
[Linnaeus, 1758


The white-tailed sea eagle has one of the most  apt (if uninspiring) scientific name and that's the only reason why I've included it in this list.

Haliaeetus comes from the Greek, halos: "the sea" and aetos: "eagle".
albicilla stems from Latin, albus: "white" and (modern) Latin, cilla: "tail".

So, the white-taile sea eagle has a scientific name which means:
"Sea eagle with a white tail"

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