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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    As I said on this thread before I very much dislike the AOS decision, but this is beyond moronic. Having state legislatures intervene and turning into a culture war issue is the last thing this discussion needs. It's a matter for the birding/ornithological community to decide, and I suspect many...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    If AOS does go ahead and change all the eponyms for North American birds, can we at least keep that one? It's wasn't until relatively recently that I learned it was an eponym and named after Anne Blackburne. I had always figured it referenced the bird's plumage, which features black and the...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    I think the hyperbole in that particular statement does him no favours and I agree that it's over-the-top, but "this Howell guy" is easily one of the most respected birders and field ornithologists of the last 50 years, and has authored real milestones like the Birds of Mexico and Northern...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    Half of SACC is Latin American, though, whether Remsen is the driving force or not the other members have equal standing and voices. And speaking of scientists from the Global South and their stance on eponyms, this came out today: Five exquisite new species of vipers discovered It's snakes...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    One of the authors of the Princeton Guide is Steve Howell who has been outspoken about his dislike for the AOS decision, but of course that does not necessarily mean anything about how the guide itself will deal with bird names. In addition to Ian Lewington, the other illustrator for this guide...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    I think the issue with this one is that while all other honeycreepers had established, traditional Hawaiian names, this one did not. The proposed new name was minted out of the blue.
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    Here's a perfect example of why "improving" bird names is never going to make everyone happy, because I love the name Dull-colored Grassquit! It even edges out the mighty Drab Seedeater in the bird-with-such-a-sad-name-it-makes-me-want-to-see-it sweepstakes. I mean let's face it, the name is the...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    That might turn out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, though. Birders are very opinionated about the admitedly trivial matter of bird names, and finding names that even a majority of birders will agree are "good" is much more difficult than we realize. I mean look at the Short-billed Gull...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    As someone who signed the petition, I did so with little hope of the AOS reversing course. Given how drawn-out the process will be, though, I would not be shocked if somewhere down the line a compromise is reached where some eponyms are retained. Outside of a narrow demographic (young, American...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    My sense just from following online discussion is that there is quite a bit of opposition (or at the very least eye-rolling at Americans imposing their values on others) to the name changes from Latin American birders and ornithologists. But then again it all depends on which local...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    The authors of the Rufous Antpitta split, a multinational team from the Global North and Global South - used a mix of geography, appearance, cultural names (referencing indigenous populations upon consulting them) and yes two eponyms (Graves's and O'Neill's Antpittas); additional eponyms were...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    Off the top of my head, Parker has two birds named after him (a spinetail and a Cercomacra antbird), Zimmer has two (a Hemitriccus tody-tyrant and an antbird) and Willis has just one, another Cercomacra antbird, so not exactly huge numbers. All of these are very non-descript birds that were...
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    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    That's the entire premise behind the name changes, though. Once that argument falls, the rest goes with it.
  14. C

    Poll - Do you agree or disagree with the AOS's recent decision to abandon the use of eponymous bird names?

    I always enjoy reading Steve Howell's thoughts as he is highly knowledgeable, opinionated and often quite funny, but I agree that some of the hyperbole in his statement here doesn't help him in getting his point across. I did appreciate the fact that his response links to the comments by Chris...
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