Jizz (birding)
Encyclopedia
Jizz is a term used by
birders to describe the overall impression or appearance of a bird
garnered from such features as shape, posture, flying style or other habitual movements, size and colouration combined with voice, habitat and location.
Sean Dooley described jizz as "the indefinable quality of a particular species, the 'vibe' it gives off" and notes that although it is "dismissed by many as some kind of birding alchemy, there is some physical basis to the idea of jizz."
Experienced birders can often make reliable identifications in the field at a glance by utilising jizz. Often jizz is useful for identifying to the family
or genus
level, rather than the species
level. For example, "It definitely had the jizz of a thrush, but I couldn't see what kind."
The word has been extended to refer to the impression of the general characteristics of other animals or plants.
The origin of the word is a mystery. The theory that the word is derived from the World War II
air force
acronym GISS for "General Impression of Size and Shape (of an aircraft)" is chronologically impossible since the birding term was first recorded in 1920.
American slang contains a word with a similar meaning: swagger. An analogy
for jizz might be identifying a friend across the street by the way they stand, sit, or walk: you recognize the person by their mannerisms even though you cannot see your friend's face.
You will usually hear people say this word
Twitchers' vocabulary
Twitchers' vocabulary is the set of jargon words used by twitchers. Twitchers are committed bird-watchers who travel long distances to see a new species just to add a species their "lifelist", "year list" or other lists...
birders to describe the overall impression or appearance of a bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
garnered from such features as shape, posture, flying style or other habitual movements, size and colouration combined with voice, habitat and location.
Sean Dooley described jizz as "the indefinable quality of a particular species, the 'vibe' it gives off" and notes that although it is "dismissed by many as some kind of birding alchemy, there is some physical basis to the idea of jizz."
Experienced birders can often make reliable identifications in the field at a glance by utilising jizz. Often jizz is useful for identifying to the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
or genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
level, rather than the species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
level. For example, "It definitely had the jizz of a thrush, but I couldn't see what kind."
The word has been extended to refer to the impression of the general characteristics of other animals or plants.
The origin of the word is a mystery. The theory that the word is derived from the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
air force
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
acronym GISS for "General Impression of Size and Shape (of an aircraft)" is chronologically impossible since the birding term was first recorded in 1920.
American slang contains a word with a similar meaning: swagger. An analogy
Analogy
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject to another particular subject , and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process...
for jizz might be identifying a friend across the street by the way they stand, sit, or walk: you recognize the person by their mannerisms even though you cannot see your friend's face.
You will usually hear people say this word
External links
- Texas Park and Wildlife Department - Project Prairie Birds - JIZZ Descriptions and Alpha Codes for Selected Species
- Veteran Naturalist - Jizz birding, and all that jazz
- uk.rec.birdwtching FAQ - What is jizz and where does the word come from?
- McDonald, D 1996, 'The etymology of jizz', Canberra Bird Notes, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 2-11.