Dolphin Gull (1 Viewer)

[Bowerbirder]

What is the origin of the Dolphin Gull's English name? (Leucophaeus scoresbii)

 

[Jacana]

Presumably it was first seen feasting on dead cetaceans. They're big carrion eaters.

 

[Bowerbirder]

Quite plausible. Thanks, Jacana.

 

[PScofield]

Not sure that is evident from the literature. The earliest record I find is from 1904:

Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society

books.google.co.nz

Leucophaeus scoresbii , "The Dolphin"

It appears to be a Falkland Island/ Isla Malvinas local name. Early inhabitants of these islands are of Huguenot descent. Daulphin has a different meaning in French culture.

 

[Bowerbirder]

Not sure that is evident from the literature. The earliest record I find is from 1904:

Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society

books.google.co.nz

Leucophaeus scoresbii , "The Dolphin"

It appears to be a Falkland Island/ Isla Malvinas local name. Early inhabitants of these islands are of Huguenot descent. Daulphin has a different meaning in French culture.

Very interesting, PS. The question remains, however; why was this gull called "The Dolphin"?

 

[PScofield]

Why? That's in the realm of the unknowable unfortunately I suspect, much like why Guigues IV, Count of Vienne, had a dolphin on his coat of arms and was nicknamed le Dauphin.

I can say the Arms of the Dauphin of France, depict a sea creature with red extremities much like L. scoresbii.

 

[DMW]

French settlement of the Falkland Islands was brief and limited, and lacks continuity with British settlement. It seems unlikely that the English name should be derived from the French Dauphin.

If the name isn't derived from a habit of feeding on dolphin carcasses, an alternative explanation is that it might be named after HMS Dolphin:

"Between June 1764 and May 1766 Dolphin completed the circumnavigation of the globe. This was the first such circumnavigation of less than two years.[3] During this voyage, in 1765, Byron took possession of the Falkland Islands on behalf of Britain on the grounds of prior discovery, and in so doing was nearly the cause of a war between Great Britain and Spain, both countries having armed fleets ready to contest the sovereignty of the barren islands."

 

[Jacana]

French settlement of the Falkland Islands was brief and limited, and lacks continuity with British settlement. It seems unlikely that the English name should be derived from the French Dauphin.

If the name isn't derived from a habit of feeding on dolphin carcasses, an alternative explanation is that it might be named after HMS Dolphin:

"Between June 1764 and May 1766 Dolphin completed the circumnavigation of the globe. This was the first such circumnavigation of less than two years.[3] During this voyage, in 1765, Byron took possession of the Falkland Islands on behalf of Britain on the grounds of prior discovery, and in so doing was nearly the cause of a war between Great Britain and Spain, both countries having armed fleets ready to contest the sovereignty of the barren islands."

I must say, that I find this a more compelling reason than my suggestion.

 

[Bowerbirder]

I must say, that I find this a more compelling reason than my suggestion.

Thanks to all three commentators. Personally, I find DMW's suggestion the most likely to explain the name's origin.