Birders know that there are some birds named for geographic places where they only migrate through or only spend part of their year. Birds with geographic places in their names were analyzed for how far from that namesake place they spend their summer breeding and how far from where they spend their winter. Take a look at which birds are furthest off the mark.
Click on any bird to see its geography
Named by the "father of modern taxonomy" Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the Baltimore Oriole is actually not named after the city of Baltimore, but the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore which match the bird's color. But since the city is named for the person, by the laws of transgression, count it.
The Canada Warbler was named by Carl Linneaus, the "father of modern taxonomy" in 1766. Audubon painted a female and called it a "Bonaparte's Flycatching-Warbler" but once properly identified the name "Canada Warbler" stayed. (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency).
The Hudsonian Godwit was named by the "father of modern taxonomy" Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
Arctic Terns nest every one to three years and then take a long, convoluted path south (Wikipedia). Perhaps they should be called "TransGlobal Terns."
Alexander Wilson, the "father of modern ornithology," named the Nashville Warbler in the spring of 1810, along with the Kentucky, Tennessee, and Magnolia Warblers on his southward journey from Louisville, KY to New Orleans, LA (Mearns and Mearns 1992). Sometimes, father doesn't know best.
Alexander Wilson, the "father of modern ornithology" named the Connecticut Warbler from a specimen he collected in the fall of 1812 (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency). It takes the prize of most misnamed geographic bird if you don't count how far some birds that breed in the area for which they were named spend most of their year. However, the Connecticut Warbler is rarely seen in Connecticut.
In 1842 John Cassin named this species from a specimen collected near Philadelphia (National Audubon Society).
The Tennessee Warbler was named by Alexander Wilson, the "father of modern ornithology," in the spring of 1810, along with the Kentucky, Nashville, and Magnolia Warblers on his southward journey from Louisville, KY to New Orleans, LA (Mearns and Mearns 1992). Sometimes, father doesn't know best.
Alexander Wilson, the "father of modern ornithology," first described the Cape May Warbler in Cape May, NJ. After that first time, Cape May Warblers were not recorded in Cape May for more than 100 years. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
The KentuckyWarbler was named by Alexander Wilson, the "father of modern ornithology," in the spring of 1810, along with the Tennessee, Nashville, and Magnolia Warblers on his southward journey from Louisville, KY to New Orleans, LA (Mearns and Mearns 1992). It was the only bird of the group he named on the trip that was not a migrant on its way to its breeding grounds.