Bird spider definition?

jhilde

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Jan 13, 2016
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So I recently ordered a davus fasciatus sling from a reputable breeder here in canada. While researching this species I found one website refering to it as a bird spider. Now ive always just assumed t. blondi and others were refered to as birdeaters because of there size but davus fasciatus is a relatively small T. Can anyone enlighten me on what a bird spider is?
 

viper69

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I've seen Bird Spider used in place of tarantula at times, and in place of African baboon tarantulas depending upon the site, all European sites I might add.
 

cold blood

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Brid spider, or more commonly, birdeater, is a term that needs to go away...its almost meaningless....it essentially means a South American terrestrial that gets to 5" or more...that's a lot of spiders, making it a meaningless generic moniker. When someone says I have a birdeater, it tells us nothing.

Never heard of that species referred to as such though.
 

Chris LXXIX

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While I do agree that common names are a joke, IMO annoying, a pain and etc let's not forget one thing: Avicularia literally means birdeater, from Latin words Avi: birds and cularia: eater.

Of course this doesn't means that 'Avics' eats birds eh eh :-s
 

SausageinaNet

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Birdspider would be the translation of the German word for Tarantula which is Vogelspinne ( Vogel = bird Spinne = spider)
 

KezyGLA

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.. But in all seriousness, every book I read about arachnids years ago referred to tarantulas as bird spiders. I never understood why. I could get why the "birdeaters" are called what they are but having seen a Davus fasciatum or an Aphonopelma hentzi referred to as bird spider :confused: .. I dunno
 

TownesVanZandt

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Birdspider would be the translation of the German word for Tarantula which is Vogelspinne ( Vogel = bird Spinne = spider)
Yes, Theraphosidae is called "birdspiders" in a literal translation from a lot of non-English Germanic languages, including German (Vogelspinnen), Danish or Norwegian (fugleedderkop(p) ). Norwegian have been influenced by English, so a lot of people refer to a Theraphosidae spider as a tarantell, but that is strictly speaking incorrect. A tarantell is a Lycosa tarantula, a wolf spider. Since people use the word in a anglicised way in everyday speech, our official dictionary has two entries for tarantell: a) Lycosa tarantula, a wolf spider and b) see fugleedderkopp ("birdspiders").
 
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SausageinaNet

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Nov 26, 2015
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Thanks for all the replies.
You can google the origin of the name. I read somewhere that the name comes from a picture drawn by a woman which shows a spider eating a bird. The story should explain why people call them birdspiders, birdeaters or whatever else is out there.
 

gypsy cola

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Jan 16, 2014
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I just see it as regional. like soda-pop. Some people say soda, others coke, some pop. Either way people get mad at you when you say it.
 
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