An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Häher

by Friedrich Kluge

Häher, masculine, ‘jay, jackdaw,’ from Middle High German hëher, masculine and feminine, Old High German hëhara, feminine; in Anglo-Saxon, by a grammatical change, higora, masculine, Old Icelandic here and hegre, masculine, ‘jay,’ Middle Low German heger. It is rightly compared with Greek κίσσα (from *κίκjα), ‘jay,’ or Sanscrit çakuná, ‘a large bird’ (Latin ciconia, ‘stork’).