http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/07/16/rough-wings/ A Bird Blog with Kate St. John Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:51:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/07/16/rough-wings/comment-page-1/#comment-1947 Anthony H. Bledsoe Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:26:40 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/?p=530#comment-1947 The scientific name for Northern Rough-winged Swallow is Stelgidopteryx serripennis. The first word derives from the Greek “stelgido” meaning scraper, and “ptery”, meaning wing. The second word derives from the Latin “serri”, meaning saw, and “penni”, meaning feather. The coiner of both the scientific and common names of the species was obviously impressed by the serrated primary feather on the wing, and yet we still don’t know it’s function! Audubon is given priority for the scientific name, although he used a different genus name than we do now.

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