With tongue in cheek, the Audubon Society has embraced the Internet use of the words “birb,” “borb,” and “floof,” to describe certain birds (not all birds fit into these three categories, however). If you are interested in more detail, please read this explanation. Audubon’s taxonomy describing the three is as follows: “birb: Birbs are small, round, and either cute or absurd; borbs are those birds that carry apparent roundness to an extreme; and most birds can floof when the mood suits them. Any amorphousness in this taxonomy is a feature, not a failure: Birds and words are both shape-shifting things, shrinking and growing by turns, flitting between categories. We can cage them for a time, but in the end, it’s always better to see them fly.” This Semi-palmated Plover on Salisbury Beach near Plymouth, Massachussetts appears to be attempting a floof but seems to have fallen short. It is looking quite birbish, and seems to be midway between being a borb and a floof as it shape-shifts .