An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Habergeiß

by Friedrich Kluge

Habergeiß, feminine, ‘common snipe,’ not found in the earlier periods; Haber- in this compound is the only remnant of the old name for a goat (Anglo-Saxon hœfer, Old Icelandic hafr; Greek κάπρος, Latin caper) in German; the bird is so called because at the pairing season it utters high in the air a sound like the distant bleating of a goat. See Bock and Haber.