-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Search results
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Could you make some splits in continental Europe, because it is still a bit awkward to travel to Madeira or Azores for an armchair tick? BTW, few people in the 21. century use words like 'a common' or 'chaff'. If one changes a 100-century old species into five, change also the name into modern...- jurek
- Post #1,557
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Anybody is keeping an ear to the student activists at American universities? Because it may be that 'the temporary truth' of denouncing historical figures has changed, activists changed interests, and birders are making a debate which nobody is interested in anymore. *The readers from outside...- jurek
- Post #996
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
I notice that while birders think they are obliged to make bird names politically correct, no such movement exists elsewhere in science. Physical units, chemical units, geographical names, mammal and plant names remain. Try changing Farhneit scale or American continent to something more...- jurek
- Post #993
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Actually, flycatchers killed even the most hardcore language for bringing taxonomy into local names, Polish. Animal names in Polish usually follow the scientific convention - they are binominal, with a different first name for every phylogenetic group, ideally a genus. Nevermind, that it...- jurek
- Post #819
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Such completely out of place errors are at least immediately visible. Mistakes between widespread birds are much more common - but practically impossible to spot, unless you go to a place supposed to have 4 rather common species and see none, and no good habitat either. Anyway Cornells ebird is...- jurek
- Post #788
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
I am not sure I understand you well, Mysticete. Promoting unused bird names to the detriment of lots of normal birders and for the benefit of few reviewers seems to be an illogical 'chart-ahead-of-a-horse' thinking. About Moorhen / Common Gallinule - I think the confusion is very unlikely. The...- jurek
- Post #775
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
The fear that somebody can be confused between 'Larus c. canus/brachyrhynchus' is overblown. In any case, 99,9% of such gulls are identified only by range. By the way, many bird names are fake - they are not used in everyday language by birders, so not used in normal English at all. They exist...- jurek
- Post #765
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Please, not Vogelkop Lorikeet or Vogelkop Bowerbird. Why not Arfak or Western? Vogelkop is an awkward to pronounce word, which means Bird's Head in German, so you get a bird-headed bird. If you remove colonial names from America or Hawaii, remove this one, too.- jurek
- Post #642
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Mysticete, you mentioned Hitler. Denazification in Europe was righting the wrongs of actual living people, and decartelization - breaking up companies which made big money on the Nazi oppression and were the economic base of the regime. The latter was considered very important. Read your history...- jurek
- Post #454
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Practically, there is going to be a bazaar of proposed splits, lumps and name changes, because while superficially they look scientific, they are in fact purely opinions which everybody can propose. And there is little cost of proposing something rejected, and a rejected change could be proposed...- jurek
- Post #432
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
That is why I count the total with the species list I used when visiting the area. Besides, it seems illogical to me to pay attention to an armchair tick. My experience of seeing a bird does not change when they split it from subspecies to species. I heard so many weary birders saying Aaargh...- jurek
- Post #419
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Even earlier to go might be oriental. Ebird has it in sixteen English bird names for now. I already read twice on online animal forums somebody surprised how it is tolerated in names like Oriental White-eye. And already mentioned was an activist biologist who complained about words black, brown...- jurek
- Post #250
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Just to sum up my thoughts on politically correct bird names. Bird names are used internationally. Changing them destroys communication between people. Of 1.2 billion of people speaking English, all Americans are little more than a quarter. Nobody so far put up evidence that scientific name...- jurek
- Post #247
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
You seem to divide people and countries into ones which have right to be interested in bird names, and ones which do not. And I thought you are interested in inclusion and equality. This is not evolving nature of language, but few persons' attempt to force the language on the international...- jurek
- Post #234
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
There has been already a number of politically correct changes, including McCrown longspur to thick-billed longspur, oldsquaw to long-tailed duck, negrofinches to nigritas and Hottentot fig to whatever. Those who feel that wildlife names should be politically correct, could perhaps summarize...- jurek
- Post #217
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
There is a saying from a movie "Teddy Bear" made in Poland during the communism, when words were banned and replaced by euphemisms, but the reality became worse. "There is the truth of the moment and the truth of the screen" says a movie producer, who thinks he can change truth and pretend and...- jurek
- Post #208
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Inuit people live in the area where the Curlew used to breed. In my attempt to see the truth of the moment (another term you may be interested in), I stumbled that BirdLife South Africa still protects the Hottentot Buttonquail...- jurek
- Post #206
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Growth of real socio-economic inequality in the USA goes together with growth of political correctness, so it is replacing action with words. Dishonesty showed precisely in your anger at being called politically correct. And your anger at the mere proposal to check how the people you are...- jurek
- Post #203
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Any BF member is in South Africa and bothered to ask Khoisan / Hottentot people themselves, what they think about it? My guess is some of them might prefer genuine move to improve their socio-economic status, rather than toying with politically correctness.- jurek
- Post #197
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature
-
Latest IOC Diary Updates
Regarding Crested Argus, I think an urgent conservation action is needed. Edward's Pheasant has been extinct in the wild for a decade, mammals kouprey and saola are probably extinct too. Edward's pheasants are living well in cages, but there is no Crested Argus of any form breeding in human care.- jurek
- Post #92
- Forum: Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature