There are at least a few of you who will probably be annoyed that I'm still
posting about this, but I continue to believe it is an important topic that the
birding community should be engaged in. If you don't care to read on, then
don't.
I again provide the link to the web site offering an opportunity to express
your opposition to the abolishment of all honorific English common bird names
by AOS:
https://chng.it/VHyjZp5snr
I probably *wouldn't* post again, but a few conversations I've had in the last
week or so have troubled me. That angst has mostly centered on those of you who
don't feel like it is important . . . a couple of folks have said to me "yeah,
I didn't really look at that post you made on it." Others didn't really peruse
the web site, including counter-point narratives by a number of ornithological
luminaries (not just poster children for the cause, but *real* giants in our
ornithological realm). I sort of get it . . . they *are* just names, but there
is really more to it; there is the history and science of our pastime.
I encourage those of you who did not open the link or delve more deeply into
the content to read not only the introductory narrative that explains the
initiative, but to read some of the of comment narratives that you see if you
continue to scroll down. I particularly found comments by Jon Dunn and Steven
Howell (I hope you know who those guys are) well worth the time. Kevin Zimmer's
is quite long, but there are some really insightful comments that I know would
resonate with many of you.
If you are one of the birders who is sitting on the sidelines on this issue,
you're missing an opportunity to learn more about the hobby you normally
consider more of a passion. Sure . . . the natural thing to do when this all
came into focus in early November was to applaud the announcement, or at least
to consider it a proposal with merit. Some of you were also probably aware of
the evolution of the movement over the past few years. The thing is, no one
substantively arguing against the wholesale replacement of English honorific
names is not saying that some names should be considered for change. The NACC,
the entity that changed the name of McCown's Longspur, has been fully willing
to consider changing additional names. The AOS council just decided to abandon
that institution, which is a regrettable action on its own.
The ad hoc AOS English Names Committee proposed to take the easy route and just
replace all names, and maybe you are one of those people who doesn't think
*any* bird should be named after a person. I've never really been in that camp,
personally, but I guess I can see how some people "wouldn't get" the tradition.
However, the narratives I note above by Dunn and Zimmer point out excellent
examples of the practice that have been done with great merit. If you've read
the BN4B accounts of humans with birds named after them, then you owe it to
Zino and Parker to learn a little more about them and the birds for which their
names were utilized.
Zimmer also makes an excellent point that there aren't privileged white
Europeans naming most birds any longer . . . in the Americas it's local
researchers finding species in the Andes and the Amazon basin, some of whom
still wish to occasionally carry on the tradition of naming birds after people
who have influenced their careers.
As is the norm nowadays, there are some extreme opinions on either side of this
issue, but like most all who are embracing a "counterpoint" perspective to the
AOS proposal, I totally get why this topic has come up. Moreover, I certainly
believe that some names should be changed or considered for change; however the
AOS proposal has gone way overboard and should be reigned in with reason. And
because complaints from the birding community are why the AOS is saying they
are doing this, I think we need to be sure that a cross section of our voices
is actually heard. If you choose to support AOS in some way, do so, but please
don't say "it really doesn't matter" without learning about both sides of the
issue.
bpb, Louisville
-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Dec 18, 2023 12:03 PM
To: BIRDKY
Subject: [birdky] INFO: Petition to AOS re: English common names
There is an informative web site at this link:
https://chng.it/VHyjZp5snr
It includes a petition supporting the replacement of only *some* English common
names by the AOS. I encourage anyone with an interest in this subject to read
through the statements supporting the petition that can be found on the web
site. You may or may not choose to sign on.
bpb, Louisville
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================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS=============
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Visit the KOS website at
http://www.birdky.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the KOS Photo Page to view photos of birds recently
sighted in Kentucky:
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To unsubscribe, send e-mail to:
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