Why are golf strokes named after birds ie birdie eagle albartross?

Answer 1

At the end of the 19th Century a very good amateur golfer was playing a round of Golf at his local club, he was called A. Smith. He hit a shot on the last hole to less than a foot, and he said "That was a bird of a shot" In those days, bird had a similar mean to cool. He made his putt for a score of one under par on that hole and the term birdie was coined.

Since then eagle (2 under on a given hole) was introuduced to continue the bird imagery. Also albatross was introduced to denote 3 under par and condor was introduced to denote 4 under on a given hole. No one really knows how albatross and condor came into common usage, but some speculate that the more under par on a hole, the rarer it is, therefore the rarer the bird.