• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Pubs given birds' names (1 Viewer)

N

naturistbird

Well-known member
Hello everyone,
I was on my way to local bird meeting last night when I came across "The Falcon" pub.That got me thinking about pubs named after birds and any that stand out in your mind. The one that comes to my mind is a very ornate pub sign called "The Blackbird", which is on the Taunton to Wellington road, near Bishop's Hull, in Somerset. The picture of the bird is raised and beautifully coloured; he is eating red berries, as I remember....altogether a really attractive sign.
Do other members have similar experiences? It would be interesting to hear about them.
Thanks, Naturistbird.
 
naturistbird said:
Hello everyone,
I was on my way to local bird meeting last night when I came across "The Falcon" pub.That got me thinking about pubs named after birds and any that stand out in your mind. The one that comes to my mind is a very ornate pub sign called "The Blackbird", which is on the Taunton to Wellington road, near Bishop's Hull, in Somerset. The picture of the bird is raised and beautifully coloured; he is eating red berries, as I remember....altogether a really attractive sign.
Do other members have similar experiences? It would be interesting to hear about them.
Thanks, Naturistbird.
Click to expand...

In Aberdeen (while I lived there) we had a Pub/Restaurant called called the 'Hen Blackie', at Wellheads, Stoneywood Drive, (near the BP offices), Dyce, that is until it changed management about a year ago. The name changed to something else.

It was what attracted us towards it, and yes, it was a good place to eat for us.

Then there is the Merlin pub, based at Morningside Road in Edinburgh.

I have seen the usual names of Falcon and Kestrel too in other places too.

To make you laugh while I was working in one of my engineering offices, all of PC servers for many systems areas, where called names after BoP's like Kestrel, Falcon, Buzzard, Magpies and all types of birds names like this. It made me smile.

Funny how bird names are seen as so important to many people.

Regards
Kathy
 
Last edited:
The Dotterel near Filey is a well-known one. I also know of a Harrier, a Robin, several Eagles (Cambridge is the best known one, plus the Eagle and Child in Oxford), the Seabirds near Flamborough, a Linnet & Lark, several Drakes, a few Kingfishers, loads of (White/Black) Swans, a Nightjar, an Oystercatcher, Pelican, and I heard somewhere that 'Seven Bells' refers to Whimbrels, but that sounds a bit far-fetched to me. Then of course there's The Cock off Oxford St.
 
Are there also any ornate pub signs - named after birds - that come to mind? ( I see that a similar thread of pubs named after birds was run last year.)
Does anyone else know the Blackbird sign just outside Taunton...it is stunning as it is brightly-coloured, shiny and very much 3D?(or was about 10 years ago!).
Thanks, Naturistbird.
 
There is a quaint old pub up in the Yorkshire Dales in a little village called Arncliffe called ' The Falcon' run by the farmer, he used to pour your pint from a barrel into a jug as he had no pumps.
 
There are lots of pubs in the UK called the Black Swan and with many of them, the illustration outside shows the birds with its wings outstretched or flying. In many of them, the picture is anatomically incorrect in that it is shown as a wholly black bird whereas in fact there should be gleaming white primaries.
 
just down the road from me is the 'canary and linnet', can anyone guess where the name comes from?
 
in Nesscliffe near me, there is the "three pigeons"... Plus the "bird in the hand" Coton Hill, Shrewsbury.

I also seem to remember a certain "swan" inn in Nos Mayo, Devon.
 
Birds Britannica has a list of all British pubs with bird names in the back
Just a few:

Albatross- Redhill-Surrey
Collared Dove- Southhampton
Sociable Plover- Cosham- Hampshire
Golden Pheasant- Plumbley- Chesire
Stormy Petrel- Market Drayton, Shropshire.

To name a few out of 100s
 
There's a pub in Leicester that used to be called The Magpie & Stump (always referred to as The Magpie & Dump - says alot about it!), it's not called that anymore (not sure what it is now), but its sign used to be a carved giant Magpie sitting on a stump (funnily enough) surrounded by a kind of arch - i always used to think that it was quite a fancy sign for kind of place it was. Eventually the Magpie got nicked, and it just became The Dump!

There's a pub near me now called The Snipe, which is also the nickname of one of the local football teams: Sutton (in Ashfield) Town(?) - The Snipes. Also a "Spread Eagle" pub in Leicester.
 
Thanks for that, Devil Bird...I have just spotted that myself!
What about hostelries from other countries eg New Zealand....do you have "The Kiwi" pub; or in USA , "The American Robin", for instance? Or what about "The Black Swan" in Australia, "The Red Kite" in Wales and "The Capercaillie" pub in Scotland?!!
 
naturistbird said:
Are there also any ornate pub signs - named after birds - that come to mind? ( I see that a similar thread of pubs named after birds was run last year.)
Does anyone else know the Blackbird sign just outside Taunton...it is stunning as it is brightly-coloured, shiny and very much 3D?(or was about 10 years ago!).
Thanks, Naturistbird.
Click to expand...

More thoughts about this

There is the 'Hen Hoose' in Aberdeen - does this count as it is not a wild bird ;). I like the name though - not sure about the rest!

The 'Falcon',and 'The Birds and the Bees' in Stirling.

All these areas I have lived at, at one stage or another over the past few years.

Regards
Kathy
 
Warning! This thread is more than 18 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

Sazzyox
Garden birds
Replies
5
Views
830
Rich_The
R
T
Hello 👋 fellow bird lovers! ❤️🕊️
Replies
5
Views
266
Lisa W
Lisa W
Björn Bergenholtz
Re. the Birds Mathews named after Campbell
Replies
2
Views
878
Björn Bergenholtz
Björn Bergenholtz
G
  • Article
Little & Often: Green Sand's January Birding Diet
Replies
0
Views
689
Green Sandpiper
G
G
  • Article
Home & Away Pt 1
Replies
0
Views
358
Green Sandpiper
G

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top