In the May BB there are many other interesting articles as well as the important paper on Peak District raptors (or lack of them) mentioned earlier.
What was the origin of the term ‘jizz’? Apparently the explanations that have often circulated are simply nonsense! What fun! This is an interesting article by the Greenwood brothers, Julian and Jeremy.
There is a review of Mary Colwell’s book Curlew Moon (also reviewed here earlier).
And an interesting paper discusses the causes of white feathers in black birds – but it’s not albinism.
And the BB eye is in praise of gulls by Viola Ross-Smith and raises, I’m sure correctly, the possibility that post-Brexit (will it happen?) protection for gulls will be downgraded by future UK administrations. And then the raptors!
Also, there is a very kind review of Behind More Binoculars by the very nice Adrian Pitches!
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I really enjoyed this edition. The paper on Raptor Persecution is outstanding and should be the “go to” authority on the subject.
And Mark Thomas did a very good defence of it on Radio4’s Today yesterday morning up against the Moorland Association and John Humphrys
Well they certainly got to Wiktionary quickly. It says: These [previously set out] theories were debunked by Greenwood and Greenwood in 2018.[1]
and (1) Greenwood, Jeremy J.D.; Greenwood, Julian G. (May 2018). “The Origin of the Birdwatching Term “Jizz””. British Birds. 111 (5): 292-294.
The origin of the word ‘jizz’ is one of the few topics not covered in the forthcoming ‘A Tabloid History of Birdwatching’. Thank God.