When we explore language, we can trace our shared human experience like invisible currents flowing through time. One of twenty-five species of euphonia, this female fulvous-vented euphonia, posing patiently for me in the soft afternoon rain, is named for her sweet voice. Her name comes from the Greek eu, for “well” or “good,” and phone for “voice” or “sound,” and by understanding it, we get a sense of not only what early naturalists saw, but how they felt. They found her voice beautiful, and thus by starting with the name we give to this tiny member of the finch family, we can link the human experience of beauty and goodness across domains and history. Euthymia, “well spirit,” is the healthy balance between depression and mania. A euphemism is a pleasing name we give to something that otherwise isn’t. When we offer a eulogy, we speak well of someone we have lost. Much about life changes, but humanity has always been moved by beauty and inspired to create it, and sharing a quiet moment immersed in nature, connected to this tiny bird, I suppose I experienced something close to euphoria.
FULVOUS-VENTED EUPHONIA (Euphonia fulvicrissa)