[texbirds] Re: silly adherence to 'rules' regarding capitalization
- From: Jim Sinclair <jim.sinclair@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: emoon1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 07:24:34 -0500
Can't resist stirring the pot some more!
Scientific names change more frequently than common names.
Many 'common' names, like 'roadrunner' apply to more than one species.
The trend among several other disciplines is toward capitalization.
Capitalization does reduce ambiguity.
On Sep 22, 2013 6:54 AM, "Elizabeth Moon" <emoon1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Or you could always include the species name, in italics, and editors will
> respect that. If you see a common name in lower case & species name in
> italics, there can be no confusion and readers can begin to learn at least
> the genus and possibly even full species names. You don't have to "know
> Latin" to use the scientific name; you just have to look in i a good field
> guide. For someone coming to "official" birding from botany or
> entomology, the use of capitals for common names seems odd, at least at
> first. Esp. when there is no confusion possible (roadrunner, for instance.)
>
> Elizabeth Moon
> Williamson County
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On Sep 21, 2013, at 9:44 PM, Anthony Hewetson <terrverts@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> >
> > Greetings Dan (and all):
> > I have been fighting this one with the editors of the New York Times and
> The New Yorker for decades. The example I use is yellow warbler. 'Which
> specific warbler with 'yellow' in its plumage are you talking about?' has
> been my standard plea. My pleas have fallen on deaf ears - or unreasoning
> central nervous systems - and I treasure the fact that there is at least
> one other person who is bothered by this nonsensical adherence to 'the
> rules'.
> >
> > Fat Tony; Lubbock
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: "antshrike1@xxxxxxx" <antshrike1@xxxxxxx>
> > To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2013 6:16 PM
> > Subject: [texbirds] Yellow-bellied Flycatcher vs. yellow-bellied
> flycatcher
> >
> >
> > While sitting in the doctor's office yesterday, I was reading the May
> spring migration/birding issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. I was
> dismayed but not surprised to see all of the bird names written beginning
> with lower case letters except for names that involved a person's or
> place's name. Thus Cliff Shackelford's article about Mississippi Kites was
> about "Mississippi kites". And the article about how rare birds can show
> up during migration was illustrated with a photo of a blue mockingbird.
> Other birds mentioned in the article included masked tityra and elegant
> trogon, although the photo of the "elegant trogon" was labeled "Elegant
> trogon".
> >
> > I see this frequently in posts on Texbirds by people new to the birding
> world and it is understandable. But Texas Parks and Wildlife should know
> better. I know why they do it this way. It's because some old crusty
> grammar teacher (I'm only speaking from experience) very effectively
> brainwashed all the editors about the proper use of capital letters. They
> are just being diligent editors and following the rules.
> >
> >
> > Your response may be "So what?" Well, these articles are written is a
> very basic, dumbed-down style, so as to not scare away basic nature loving
> Texans with too much information. And for this magazine, I think that is
> entirely appropriate. The problem is your basic "person on the street" has
> no concept of "species" and they're probably wondering "How in heck did
> that mockingbird turn blue?" "Darned if it ain't a blue mockingbird!"
> >
> >
> > Starting a common bird name with lower case letters fails to communicate
> that a particular bird is of a specific species (redundant?) and not just
> exhibiting a particular plumage or structural trait. Thus yellow-bellied
> flycatcher is simply stating that some type of flycatcher (whatever that
> is) has a yellow belly. This would include several empids, young Eastern
> Phoebes, Western, Cassin's, Couch's and Tropical Kingbirds, Greater
> Kiskadee, etc. But Yellow-bellied Flycatcher means we are talking about
> Empidonax flaviventris, a particular species with a very specific set of
> traits, behaviors and genome, and not one of the species mentioned
> previously. Since few of us speak Latin, a common name with each part
> beginning with upper case letters communicates better that the Latin genus
> and specific epithet. A tufted titmouse (Don't ask me what a titmouse is!)
> might indeed be a Tufted Timouse or it could be an Oak Titmouse, Juniper
> Titmouse or maybe
> > a Black-crested Titmouse.
> > Is the rare stygian owl really an owl from the river Styx? By their
> rules it should be Stygian owl. But Stygian Owl means Asio stygius and you
> can argue with the ornithologist about the appropriate nature of that
> specific epithet. Well, you get the point.
> >
> >
> > I propose a massive letter writing campaign to the editors at Texas
> Parks and Wildlife Magazine to try to encourage them to write bird names
> (and other species of animals and plants) beginning with upper case
> letters. I know this would help enhance communication. We need to start
> somewhere. How can we expect the public to want to save a particular
> species when they don't even know what the word "species" means.
> >
> >
> > I feel better.
> >
> >
> > Dan Jones, Weslaco
> >
> >
> >
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