Gàidhlig / English
Amadan Bealltainn

Amadan Bealltainn

Posted by Edit on Thursday 26th May

Spring (or maybe it is even the beginning of summer?) has definitely arrived this week and we hope that you are enjoying the sun and warmth!

In addition to the barbeques and people with their “taps aff” that have suddenly started to appear in the parks, many interesting things take place in nature when the weather becomes warmer – for example, birds that have migrated to countries further south during the winter return to Scotland.

Amadan Bealltainn (‘may fool’) or eun Bealltainn (‘may bird’) – whimbrel or may-fowl in English – is one of these birds. This bird mainly breeds in Northern Europe and America but according to the information in Dwelly’s dictionary, a great number of them take up temporary residence in the Western Isles during the first fortnight of May during their migration further north.

The whimbrel is a small bird with a long beak – it is closely related to the curlew, who has several names in Gaelic, including cnotag bheag in Tiree and guilbneach in Lewis (this is also its name in Irish). As is mentioned in Dwelly’s dictionary, however, the whimbrel differs from the curlew in its behaviour: it is quite fearless and will come within gunshot of people – hence the ‘amadan’ (fool, idiot) part of its Gaelic name.

If you are familiar with another name for amadan Bealltainn, or if you know of any other funny or interesting bird names, why don’t you let us know on Facebook or Twitter? You can now also leave a comment in the comment section under the blogs. 
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