The origin of the

birdwatching term ‘jizz’

Jeremy Greenwood and Julian Greenwood
John Grist

Radde’s Warbler Phylloscopus schwarzi

Abstract The term ‘jizz’ was introduced to ornithology by T. A. Coward in 1921.

There is no evidence for any other etymology. In this paper we explain the origin
and spread of the word. We also examine some false explanations of its origin. In
particular, it is simply untrue that GIS or GISS – ‘General Impression and Shape’ (and
Size) – were ever used for aircraft recognition and were transferred to birds as ‘jizz’.

The introduction of the term ‘jizz’ unknown to most birdwatchers; even more
into birdwatching curiously, many appear to believe an entirely
Methods of recognising and identifying birds erroneous history.
have evolved over the last two centuries Some authors, following James Fisher,
(Greenwood & Greenwood in prep.). Jizz has continue to state that ‘jizz’ was introduced by
probably always been important in the field W. H. Hudson, despite Fisher correcting
but, apart from Chapman’s (1895) statement himself in print and this being noted by the
– ‘There is generally more character in the editors of British Birds in a response to
flight of a bird than there is in the gait of a Muldal (1984). In fact, the first use of ‘jizz’ as
man. Both are frequently indescribable but a birding term in print was by T. A. Coward
perfectly diagnostic, and you learn to recog- in a ‘Country Diary’ column in The Manch-
nise bird friends as you do human ones’ – it ester Guardian on 6th December 1921, repro-
was scarcely recognised in the literature until duced with limited changes as a chapter in
it was given a name. It is strange, therefore, his 1922 book Bird Haunts and Nature Mem-
that the true origin of the term ‘jizz’ is ories. Coward recounted that ‘A West Coast

264 © British Birds 111 • May 2018 • 264 –274

 The origin of the birdwatching term ‘jizz’

Irishman was familiar with the wild creatures

which dwelt on or visited his rocks and
shores; at a glance he could name them,
usually correctly, but if asked how he knew
them would reply, “By their jizz”.’ Coward
explained further: ‘If we are walking on the
road and see, far ahead, someone whom we
recognise although we can neither distin-
guish features nor particular clothes, we may
be certain that we are not mistaken; there is
something in the carriage, the walk, the
general appearance which is familiar; it is, in
fact, that individual’s jizz.’
None of Coward’s published writings
identify the Irishman (although he subse-
quently referred to ‘an old Irish fisherman’;
Coward 1931) or reveal when and where
Coward learnt about ‘jizz’. His obituary in BB
stated that he never visited Ireland (Oldham
1933a); and his Field Notes from 1883 to
1933 (archived in the Alexander Library, at
the University of Oxford) record no visits to
Ireland. Hence the story he presented was
probably second-hand. We have searched his
correspondence (also in the Alexander
Library) and have found some from Irish 187. Thomas Alfred Coward, photographed
in 1929 at the Altrincham sewage-farm in
naturalists but none that mentions jizz. There
Cheshire by John Armitage (reproduced from
are letters from C. B. Moffat, a prolific British Birds).
nature-writer in Ireland (Kennedy 1946), but
we found nothing from Coward in Moffat’s 2003); see also Oldham (1933a,b). His repu-
correspondence (archived in the Royal Irish tation as an author must have led many to
Academy). Tony Usher, author of a useful read Bird Haunts and Nature Memories and
biography of Coward (Knutsford Ornitho- its reprinting in the year after publication
logical Society 2016), has pointed out to us shows its popularity. He published four other
that Coward spent many years in Manchester, bird books afterwards, plus Life of the
where there was a strong Irish community; Wayside and Woodland (1923), mentioning
he attended Owen’s College (now the Univer- jizz in at least two of them (Coward 1927,
sity of Manchester) and then worked in the 1931). In addition, A Book about Birds
city for 19 years. Perhaps an Irish Mancunian (Turner & Gurney 1925) referred to jizz in
was Coward’s source. terms similar to those of Coward. Written for
By 1922, Coward was a well-known writer Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, this was an
and lecturer, with a regular column in The excellent introduction to the biology,
Manchester Guardian, articles in many other behaviour and ecology of birds (reviewed in
newspapers and magazines and five books to BB by N. F. Ticehurst; Brit. Birds 19: 160).
his name, mostly on birds and other natural Emma Turner was a well-known writer,
history. His book The Migration of Birds lecturer and bird photographer, so the book
(1912) had sold well, with a second edition in probably alerted a wide readership to
1912 and a third in 1929 (Bourne 1985), Turner’s enthusiastic presentation of the
while The Birds of the British Isles and their value of jizz in bird recognition. Nonetheless,
Eggs (Coward 1920–26) was ‘the most suc- use of the term appears to have spread slowly.
cessful bird book of its day... [and] perhaps We found only four other written references
did more to promote birdwatching than any to the term before 1950: in Fish-Hawk (1938)
other book of the interwar period’ (Marren and on three occasions in newspapers – The

British Birds 111 • May 2018 • 264 –274 265

Greenwood & Greenwood

an editorial in The Irish Times

(10th January 1920), which sarcas-
tically referred to the ‘Civil Service’s
proverbial pep and jizz’. After that,
the word was increasingly used in
The Irish Times (occasionally spelt
‘gizz’ up to 1930), with a meaning
of ‘spirit’ or ‘liveliness’, and it
became a standard part of the jour-
nalists’ vocabulary. Neither the use
of the word in The Irish Times in
1920 nor its use with the g-spelling
in the New Leader magazine in the
same year (quoted by Laffan 1999)
used quotation marks, suggesting
that the word was considered stan-
dard in Ireland, as it has continued
to be. The fact that it does not
appear in most dictionaries of
Hiberno-English (Irish English)
may be because the compilers
assumed that since it is so common
in Ireland it is also used in British
English. In fact, the word is rarely,
if at all, used in the Irish sense in
Great Britain.
Coward’s use of ‘jizz’ is clearly
Fig. 1. Green Woodpecker Picus viridis, by Benjamin Fawcett. different from the standard Irish-
This illustration shows the bird but contains no jizz at all; the English use. Either Coward misin-
bird is as wooden as its perch. This style reflects how wooden
many (most?) nineteenth-century pictures of birds were. terpreted the west-coast Irishman’s
F. O. Morris’s History of British Birds was published in six usage or the Irishman was using the
volumes by Groombridge & Sons (London) in 1851–57; this word in a different sense from that
scan is from The Birds of Britain by James Fisher (Collins, 1947). normally used in Ireland – individ-
uals and local communities not
Manchester Guardian, 13th October 1931 and infrequently attribute slightly different mean-
12th March 1949, and The Times of India, ings to words, especially more informal ones.
31st March 1939. Can etymology help in determining how
the two meanings of ‘jizz’ came about? In the
‘Jizz’ in Irish English 1923 reprint of Bird Haunts and Nature
Discussing the origin of ‘jizz’, Draper (1985) Memories, Coward added a footnote: ‘Since
recalled Irish friends using the word ‘to imply the publication of the first edition, a friend
spirit or cockiness’. In this non-ornithological pointed out that in Webster’s dictionary both
sense it occurs neither in the Oxford English “gis” and “jis” are given as obsolete variants
Dictionary nor in most dictionaries of Irish of “guise”, and this seems to be the origin of
English (e.g. Mac an Bhainisteora 2001, the expressive word.’ Furthermore, the OED
Dolan 2012); but Cassidy (2007) included it states that ‘guise’ is ‘coincident in sense’ with
as meaning ‘excitement, heat, passion’, while ‘jizz’ in the birdwatching sense, which would
as far back as 21st July 1900 The Weekly Irish fit with the west-coast Irishman using ‘jizz’ in
Times described participants in a water-polo that sense (Burchfield 1976). However, the
match having ‘put plenty of “gizz” into their dictionar y continues ‘but the phonetic
play’. McDonald (2016) discovered it in a relationship remains unexplained [the ‘g’ in
play published in 1918 (‘there’s not much jizz ‘guise’ is hard] and the two words may there-
about the old chap’; Robinson 1918) and in fore be unrelated.’ An alternative suggestion

266 British Birds 111 • May 2018 • 264 –274

 The origin of the birdwatching term ‘jizz’

Fig. 2. Shepherd’s Robin Erithacus rubecula: frontispiece by J. A. Shepherd from Cuming (1913).
This was one of the first books to present really lively illustrations of birds; a second volume was
published in 1914. Shepherd, who was well-known as an animal caricaturist, also illustrated, with
similar liveliness, Songs of the Birds, by W. Garstang (John Lane, 1922).

by one of McDonald’s (1996) correspondents 29–30), who wrote that Quick looked at birds
that ‘jizz’ came from ‘gist’, which would fit ‘with an artist’s eye for those peculiarities of
with the Irishman’s apparent meaning, is ety- shape, outline and stance which give a species
mologically unsupported. The possibility of a its “jizz”.’ The word must already have been
Gaelic origin was considered by McDonald widely used among birdwatchers for Wood to
(1996) but his enquiries revealed no Gaelic have used it without explaining its meaning.
origin for ‘jizz’. We asked the Gaelic scholar It was then used increasingly often, with a
Pádraig Ó Macháin and three of our friends peak in the mid 1980s (fig. 3), when there
who are native Irish speakers: none could were several notes on the origin of the term
think of a Gaelic word from which ‘jizz’ could and on the value of jizz as an aid to identifi-
have sprung. The etymology is thus unclear, cation (and the contrary view that more
throwing no light on how the shift in attention should be paid to identifiable
meaning between the standard Irish English plumage criteria). Its main uses in BB have
and the birdwatchers’ usage occurred. been in the identification of individual
species and in distinguishing similar species.
The post-war spread of ‘jizz’ in Since its first use in Ibis, in 1962, ‘jizz’ has
British birdwatching been used at about half the annual rate of
As well as examining a selection of bird that in BB, almost always in book reviews.
books published between 1950 and 1990, we Use of the term ‘jizz’ in books increased in
have made electronic searches of the archives parallel with its use in journals. Robertson
of both BB and Ibis and used Google Scholar (1950), who devoted a 26-page chapter to an
to search the academic literature. These excellent account of bird identification, advo-
searches did not reveal every use of ‘jizz’ in cated the use of jizz (among other things) and
the two journals but do illustrate the histor- used the term explicitly. His book was,
ical pattern of use. however, chiefly about his experiences of pho-
The first post-war mention that we found tographing birds, so his advice on identifica-
in BB was in 1950, in a review of Quick tion may have reached only a fraction of the
(1948) by J. Duncan Wood (Brit. Birds 43: birdwatching community. In subsequent

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Greenwood & Greenwood

decades, although some identification books quotation marks until the late 1990s, after
referred to the recognition of birds with which their use declined rapidly, though they
which one was already familiar, few used the are still used by some authors in both jour-
term ‘jizz’. For example, Maurice Burton’s nals. Ornithological reference books and dic-
1952 edition of Birds of the Wayside and tionaries of the 1950s and 1960s (e.g. Lister
Woodland stated that ‘An experienced 1956, 1962, Thomson 1964) did not include
ornithologist can tell what bird he is looking ‘jizz’, but later ones did, from Weaver (1981)
at even from a distance and even though it is and Campbell & Lack (1985) onwards. The
only a black shape silhouetted against the sky’, Times first used ‘jizz’ (in relation to bats) on
while Hutson (1956) stated that ‘field recogni- 14th June 1960, though not again until 1988
tion relies more upon a combination of char- (in a note about dictionaries; Howard 1988).
acteristics… It is a composite picture of the It appeared in the OED supplement of 1976
bird in its environments that field recognition (Burchfield 1976).
requires’; yet neither used the term ‘jizz’. Of
the two hugely popular field guides of the The wider use of ‘jizz’
1950s, Fitter & Richardson (1952) used the ‘Jizz’ in its ornithological sense has not often
term but Peterson et al. (1954) did not. appeared in print in Ireland. Of the annual
With the exception of Hayman & Burton Irish Bird Reports (1953 to 1975), only the
(1976), the field guides of the 1970s and issues for 1974 and 1975 included it; Irish
1980s appear not to have mentioned jizz, Birds used it in 1977 (its first year of publica-
even though most of them had notes on tion) but has not since; The Irish Naturalists’
identification techniques in their introduc- Journal used the term in 1964 but then not
tions (e.g. Bruun & Singer 1971, Heinzel et al. until 2001, apart from its use being con-
1972, Hayman 1978, Ferguson-Lees et al. demned in an editorial in 1970 (Vol. 16, p.
1983, Harris et al. 1989). Hume (1990) broke 321) because it had ‘not yet reached the dic-
the mould by producing an identification tionary pages’. The first use of ‘jizz’ in its
guide based almost entirely on jizz and since birdwatching sense in The Irish Times was
then many guides have referred to jizz. not until Viney (1990) used it, and thereafter
It took some time for ‘jizz’ to be consid- it has appeared sparingly in that newspaper.
ered a part of the standard lexicon. During However, referring to the acrobatics of
the 1950s and 1960s, BB always used quota- Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris, Viney
tion marks around ‘jizz’, suggesting that it (1991) used it also in the traditional Irish
was not then regarded as standard, but by the sense. Therein perhaps lies the reason why
mid 1980s quotation marks were as often the word is little-used in its ornithological
missing as used. In Ibis, Yapp used the word sense in Ireland: since the word is already
unadorned in 1983 but most others used familiar but with a different meaning, using
it in the ornithological
sense could be con-
14
fusing.
12 ‘Jizz’ is widely used
in a birding context in
10 North America (though
number of mentions

commonly spelt ‘giss’

8
or ‘gizz’), in Australia
6 and New Zealand, and
by English-speakers in
4 Africa and the Indian
2
subcontinent. How -
ever, North America
0 has lagged behind
50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06
Britain in using the
Fig. 3. Number of articles using the term ‘jizz’ each year in British Birds, term: judging by a
1949–2006. Google search, the first

268 British Birds 111 • May 2018 • 264 –274

 The origin of the birdwatching term ‘jizz’

American use in print was not until

1977. The term was used only 5–10
times per decade thereafter and it
was invested in quotation marks on
70% of occasions. Surprisingly,
Hayman & Burton (1976), two
Britons writing a British guide,
stated that the term – which they
spelt ‘gizz’ – came from America.)
We have enquired about the
ornithological use of ‘jizz’ in other
European countries. None of our
informants said that ‘jizz’ was not
used in their country, though it was
said to be very rare in Hungary. Bird-
watchers in Denmark, France, Italy,
Norway, Poland and the Netherlands
use ‘jizz’ and appear to have no
equivalent word in their own lan-
guages; those in Hungary, the Czech
Republic, Germany, Spain, Finland
and Sweden use both ‘jizz’ and one or
more native words or expressions for
the same thing. Some informants
said it was used more by experienced
or ‘hard-core’ birders; and in
Germany the latter ‘use a lot of
English expressions (such as primary Fig. 4. Common Coots Fulica atra on ice, from Hilda
projection, primary spacing) when Quick’s book Marsh and Shore (Jonathan Cape, London,
1948). In his review of the book in BB, J. Duncan Wood
discussing field marks. This is mainly thought that her pictures captured the birds’ jizz (see text);
because this kind of birding is a rela- this was the first post-war use of the term found by the
tively young discipline in Germany authors.
and papers dealing with these identi-
fication features are published mainly in Three widely believed but
English’ (Jochen Diershcke in litt.). mistaken etymologies
Because the response to ‘How do you know
The non-ornithological use of ‘jizz’ it’s an X?’ is often ‘It just is’, some have sug-
‘Jizz’ has spread well beyond ornithology. We gested that ‘jizz’ is short for ‘just is’. No evi-
have found it being used in art history, in dence has been presented to support this.
respect of interpretations of birds in art; in The suggestion did not appear until almost a
assessment of illustrations of organisms century after Coward had introduced ‘jizz’;
other than birds, ranging from plants to and none of the many explanations we have
seashore life; in appraisal of taxidermy; in read of what ‘jizz’ means include anything
descriptions of clouds; in assessing how well like it.
composers have captured bird song in music; Leahy (1982) recorded a suggestion that
in consideration of an idea in general seman- the birdwatchers’ ‘jizz’ may be derived from
tics; to support a particular view of decision- the German ‘gestalt’, a term that became well
making; and in consideration of how known because of its use by a once-influential
scientists have to learn how to observe. Some school of perception psychology. Svensson
of the uses of the word in other disciplines (1995, cited in Lerner & Tunón 2012), Sibley
stretch it beyond its ornithological meaning (2002), MacDonald (2002), and Moore
but they serve to tell us how far this word has (2010) have also remarked on the similarity
spread from its roots in the west of Ireland. of the meanings of ‘jizz’ and ‘gestalt’.

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Greenwood & Greenwood

However, the idea is surely weakened by the did not appear until four decades after the
‘g’ in ‘gestalt’ being hard; and completely war.
undermined by the suggestion not having
surfaced until 60 years after the first appear- Was GIS(S) used in aircraft recognition?
ance of ‘jizz’ as a birdwatching term. The GIS(S) idea for aircraft recognition itself
Despite it having been clearly established is implausible: ‘general impression’ rarely
that ‘jizz’ was introduced to ornithology in delivers certain identification, and size is of
1921 and despite McDonald (1996) having little use because aircraft are usually seen
cast severe doubt on the idea that ‘jizz’ without any background to provide scale.
entered the birdwatcher’s lexicon via (This allows models to be used for training
acronyms used in aircraft recognition during because, when viewed without any back-
the Second World War, the majority of ground, a model suspended nearby looks the
British and American birdwatchers believe same as the real thing a mile away. Indeed,
this to be the correct etymology. The argu- gunners turned the relationship on its head,
ment is seductively simple: during the war, using identification and apparent size to esti-
those needing to recognise aircraft were sup- mate distance; Anon 1973). None of the
posedly taught to use General Impression statements that we have found about the use
and Shape (GIS) or General Impression, of GIS(S) in aircraft recognition is from an
Shape and Size (GISS); birdwatchers, needing individual who used it or from a military or
a label for their method of recognising birds similar body. All are hearsay, not supported
by what we now call ‘jizz’, took on GIS or by reference to an authoritative source.
GISS, pronouncing and later spelling it as Dictionaries that would surely have included
‘jizz’. This is a superficially plausible idea but it (e.g. Partridge 1942, Rufner & Thomas
is completely without foundation. 1963) have no reference to GISS, GIS or jizz,
nor do the two standard histories of the
Establishment of the GIS/GISS false Royal Observer Corps – Winslow (1948) and
etymology Wood (1976) – cited in McDonald (1996).
In a letter in BB, Muldal (1984) asked where McDonald (1996) sought evidence of the
the term ‘jizz’ originated. The editor use of GIS(S) in Australia from the Depart-
explained its appearance in Coward’s 1922 ment of Defence, Air Force Office, Royal Aus-
book, while Bourne (1985) and Draper tralian Air Force Historical Records and
(1985) expanded on the editor’s remarks. BB Information Services, and in the UK from the
also published a letter by Harvey (1985) sug- Ministry of Defence’s Air Historical Branch
gesting that: ‘Surely “jizz” is a corruption of (RAF). None of them had any record of
the old Army term “general impression and GIS(S) ever having been used. Our own
shape”, used by patrols, guards, and, particu- enquiry of the Royal Observer Corps Associa-
larly, coastal/aerial watchers? It is still in use tion Heritage Team, circulated to about a
in the US Army at least, and is written dozen of its members, also provided no evi-
“G.I.S.”.’ This appears to be the first mention dence of GIS(S) having been used. The US
of this false etymology but Harvey provided Army Heritage and Education Center, US
no evidence for it. Army Military History Institute, was also
Despite lacking foundation, this idea has unable to provide us with any evidence that
been promoted by many authorities on iden- GIS(S) had ever been used by the US military.
tification in North America and by some in Hamilton’s (1994) comprehensive history
Europe (e.g. Beaman & Madge 1998) and has of military aircraft recognition in Britain lists
been widely taken up on the internet and in many different techniques. Sabin established
popular publications. Most references to the the WEFT method – in which observers were
idea are as brief and lacking in evidence as encouraged to pay special attention to Wings,
Harvey’s original; a few are more detailed, Engine, Fuselage and Tail – promoted in The
such as that of Kloot (1995, cited in Spotter’s Handbook (Chichester 1941). In the
McDonald 1996) but are not backed up by same year, Saville-Sneath’s Aircraft Recogni-
reference to direct evidence. Importantly, its tion added Undercarriage and Radiator to the
advocates have not explained why the idea list of important features, producing the

270 British Birds 111 • May 2018 • 264 –274

 The origin of the birdwatching term ‘jizz’

acronym WETFUR. Departing from these another birdwatching friend, was in the Royal
analytical approaches, The Aeroplane Spotter Observer Corps in the early 1960s. He and his
encouraged the use of ‘mind pictures’, in colleagues were schooled in instant recogni-
which ‘outstanding features blend into one tion of planes from monochrome photo -
characteristic whole from whatever view- graphs. Neither ‘GISS’, ‘General Impression,
point it is seen’ (Mowe 1941, cited in Mac- Shape and Size’, nor any variants were ever
Donald 2002). Similarly, a 1946 UK War used by any of his contacts in the ROC (pers.
Office training manual on aircraft recogni- comm. April 2016). He recalled thinking of
tion stated: ‘...to the sportsman or country jizz in this connection, though he never con-
dweller a bird is recognised by its general sciously applied it in recognising aircraft.
appearance and method of flight (practical) Similarly, while McDonald (1996) recorded a
– not by details of the exact shape of various vague recollection of having learnt the term
parts of its body. Similarly, an aircraft is ‘jizz’ in the context of aircraft recognition as
recognised by its general appearance and “sit” an Australian serviceman in the 1960s, he has
in the air, not by precise constructional concluded that, like Oliver, he probably con-
details’ (Anon 1946, cited in McDonald flated the birdwatching term with what he
1996). In the mid 1950s, the British adopted was learning about aircraft recognition (in
the ‘Sargeant System’, in which individual fea- litt. August 2016). Lawrence Holmes (con-
tures were learnt in relation to the whole air- tacted through the Royal Observer Corps
craft (Vicory 1968). The history of wartime Association Heritage Team) told us that: ‘I
aircraft recognition in the USA was similar to was not aware of the use of the word “jizz” in
that in Britain: the ability of observers to ROC aircraft recognition circles’ (in litt. July
respond to the total form of the aircraft (the 2016). But, although exposed to methods akin
‘whole image’) rather than to a series of sepa- to jizz-recognition, Holmes did not encounter
rate components (‘image analysis’) was the term being applied to aircraft. Nor did the
stressed in some training programmes several original members of the 2nd/3rd Aus-
(Vicory 1968). Despite the variety of training tralian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Associa-
methods that were used, and the fact that tion whom David McDonald contacted some
some relied on ‘mind pictures’ or similar, years ago (in litt. August 2016). Given the
there is no mention of ‘General Impression’, weight of the otherwise entirely negative evi-
‘General Impression and Shape’, ‘General dence, we suggest that James West’s memories
Impression, Shape and Size’, GIS or GISS in do not relate to widespread usage of GISS in
any of the above publications. the Royal Observer Corps or other services
but to an individual or local usage.
Individual memories
James West, a birdwatcher and academic lin- A claim that Coward used ‘GIS’
guist, provided recollections to McDonald Peter Scott (1987) recounted that Coward
(1996), stating that ‘I heard the term “GISS” had explained to him that: ‘he always noted
used by one of my grandfathers, who was [in] down the general impression of the shape of
the Royal Observer Corps’ and that it was a bird. GIS, which he pronounced “jis” –
used in games after the war. In contrast to General Impression of Shape.’ But in all of
West, other individuals’ memories do not his writings, Coward used the spelling ‘jizz’,
support an origin of ‘jizz’ from aircraft recog- as did everyone else who wrote about it until
nition. Our birdwatching friends D. I. M. Harvey (1985) set the GIS hare running. Fur-
(Ian) Wallace (born 1933) and David Merrie thermore, neither Coward nor any of the pre-
(born 1935) grew up through the Second 1985 writers refer to General Impression of
World War and the years immediately after- Shape. Scott did not refer to these earlier
wards, when most of the aircraft recognition writings and was presumably unfamiliar with
manuals produced for military and similar them. Any meeting between Scott and
uses were actually sold to schoolboys (Ward Coward must have occurred over 50 years
2014). Neither were aware of GISS/GIS being before Scott wrote his note and we suspect
used in the context of aircraft recognition that the passage of time and a desire for a
(pers. comms. October 2015). D. W. Oliver, rational explanation of the origin of the term

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Greenwood & Greenwood

generated a false memory. In any case, Scott her view on the possible origin of ‘jizz’ from
did not refer to any connection of General aircraft recognition terminology, she wrote
Impression of Shape with aircraft recogni- (in litt. October 2015): ‘I did a lot of digging
tion, a subject with which he was surely emi- about on this question… My father never
nently familiar – he was commander of the used the term [GISS] and I’ve only ever seen
First Squadron of Steam Gun Boats oper- it in explanations of the birdwatching term!’
ating in the English Channel during the (She was very close to her father, who was a
Second World War. keen aircraft spotter – see MacDonald 2014,
and fig. 5)
Comparing bird identification and
aircraft recognition The respelling of jizz
MacDonald (2002) made a scholarly compar- There has been a marked tendency recently,
ison of the identification techniques used by especially in North America, to take ‘GISS’ or
birdwatchers and by aircraft observers during sometimes ‘GIS’ as the standard spelling,
1930–55, when each community was devel- increasingly explained as an acronym for
oping its methods. She concluded that, to be ‘General Impression, Shape and Size’. Yet
sure of their identifications, birdwatchers while it is true that on some occasions when
relied on diagnostic features even if they used birdwatchers recognise birds by their jizz, this
jizz for initial recognition of familiar species is based on general impression, shape and
whereas the ‘mind image’ method was pre- size, this is not true of other occasions, when
ferred by aircraft observers because imme- the jizz that provides the recognition entails
diate identification was always crucial for quite different features (such as movement,
them. Yet in response to our enquiry about posture, colour and voice).
Why has ‘GISS’ replaced ‘jizz’
in some quarters? One reason
may be that few people seem to
be aware of the true origin of
‘jizz’ (Coward’s Irishman). Many
mistakenly believe that the term
comes from aircraft recognition,
so perhaps prefer the spelling
‘GISS’ because it fits that belief.
And there is an increasing
number who, even less familiar
with the term’s history, actually
believe that GISS is an acronym
for a supposed bird-recognition
method ‘General Impression,
Shape and Size’. Because jizz does
not generally boil down to these
three attributes alone, this is
reason enough to deplore the use
of GISS.
There is another reason for
the switch: ‘jizz’ is also used as a
low colloquial synonym for
semen and this clearly makes
many Americans uncomfortable.
Thus ‘jizz’ has joined that group
Fig. 5. Helen Macdonald (Macdonald 2002) recognised these
drawings, ‘Birds as aircraft’, as one of the earliest attempts to
of words that are usually accept-
show birds as identifiable in flight. Published in the RSPB’s able in Britain but not in North
magazine, Bird Notes and News, in 1943 (Vol. XX(5), p. 74), America: Winter (2007) is prob-
the drawing also appeared in Bartlett (1943). ably not the only British bird-

272 British Birds 111 • May 2018 • 264 –274

 The origin of the birdwatching term ‘jizz’

watcher who has unwittingly offended Amer- O’Meara for alerting us to an early use of Hiberno-
icans by using the word. English ‘jizz’ in print; Jonathan Kindleysides and Seb
Littlewood for answering queries about the possible
‘Gestalt’ has not only been postulated as use of ‘jizz’ in Great Britain in a sense similar to the
the origin of ‘jizz’ (see above) but has been Hiberno-English; Tony Usher for information about the
promoted as an alternative to ‘jizz’ because it Coward biography on the Knutsford Ornithological
website; and Franz Bairlein, Lluis Brotons, Jochen
does not have the low colloquial connotations Dierschke, Ruud Foppen, Tony Fox, Christophe Giraud,
of the latter. Some also argue that it is better Magne Husby, Aleksi Lehikoinen, Henrik Lerner, Paul
to use an existing German word than inven- Scofield, Fernando Spina, Tadeusz Stawarczyk, Sandrine
Thibaut-Lecornu, Les Underhill, Petr Vorisek, Tomasz
tions such as ‘jizz’ and ‘GISS’. We are not per-
Wesołowski and Tibor Zsep for supplying information
suaded by such arguments. First, the idea that about the use of ‘jizz’ in their countries.
‘jizz’ is derived etymologically from ‘gestalt’
has no support (see above). Second, ‘gestalt’ is References
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Jeremy J. D. Greenwood, Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling,
University of St Andrews, Fife KY16 9LZ and BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford,
Norfolk IP24 2PU; e-mail [email protected]
Julian G. Greenwood

Jeremy Greenwood was a lecturer in Biological Sciences at the University of Dundee for 20 years before
becoming Director of the BTO, retiring to an honorary position at St Andrews in 2007. He currently works on
aspects of ornithological history and biological statistics. The late Julian Greenwood was a lecturer and head of
the Science Department at Stranmillis University College, retiring in 2012. His major project was a 32-year study
of Black Guillemots breeding in Bangor, Co. Down, still in progress at the time of his death in 2017.

274 British Birds 111 • May 2018 • 264 –274

Raptor persecution in the
Peak District National Park
Tim Melling, Mark Thomas, Mike Price and
Staffan Roos

Tim Melling
188. A Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis displaying over woodland in the Dark Peak, February 2018.

Abstract The Peak District National Park is the southernmost area managed for
driven Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus shooting in England. Grouse-moor management
includes intensive moorland burning and predator control by gamekeepers. As in many
areas with driven grouse shooting, there is evidence that raptors are persecuted by
gamekeepers. Grouse-moor management is more intense in the northern part of the
National Park, known as the Dark Peak, than elsewhere. We compared the number of
confirmed raptor persecution events and the area of moorland burning (as a proxy for
driven grouse shooting) in 10-km squares throughout the National Park. We also
compared changes in the populations of two raptor species, Northern Goshawk
Accipiter gentilis and Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, between 1995 and 2015.
The results show a strong association between confirmed raptor persecution
incidents and the area of moorland burning. Populations of Goshawks and
Peregrines have declined significantly in the Dark Peak over that period, whereas
they have shown 5- and 20-fold increases respectively elsewhere in the National
Park. Occupancy and breeding success rates are also significantly lower in the
Dark Peak. Our results demonstrate strong associations between intensive
grouse-moor management, persecution of raptors and negative population impacts
on both Goshawk and Peregrine in the Dark Peak; and provide further support for
proposals that driven grouse-moor management should be regulated.

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