academic.oup.com
There is a preprint available here.
Does this paper seem to be for or against the change of common names?I noticed this today when looking for updated on this year's checklist proposal.
Does anyone have a copy of this recent paper/opinion piece?
A brief history of English bird names and the American Ornithologists’ Union (now American Ornithological Society)
Abstract. English bird names exist to increase the effectiveness of communication and to make ornithology more accessible to English speakers and readers.
A brief history of English bird names and the American Ornithologists’ Union (now American Ornithological Society)
Abstract:
English bird names exist to increase the effectiveness of communication and to make ornithology more accessible to English speakers and readers. This purpose was recognized from the first edition of the Check-list, when it was considered important to include both a vernacular and technical name for each taxon. Every edition of the Check-list and its Supplements have thus included English names. Improving communication is an important job, and to be most effective a single name usually has to be chosen, especially among birds with widespread distributions and many vernacular names. The Check-list has been the standard for North America for over a century, and it provides the formal scientific basis for avian diversity and its management and conservation across most of the continent. Choices for the English names given in the Check-list have been made under clear criteria and guidelines that are responsive both to increased scientific knowledge and implicitly to changing societal mores. For more than a century, and for many different reasons, many people have been unhappy with choices made about English bird names and about the underlying processes. From the published history alone, it is clear that no process will achieve global consensus, yet there remain many merits to a standardized and widely adopted approach to English bird names. Consideration of these issues in a broader context of linguistics, culture, and history is also warranted.
It's a defense of the NACC and calls for common names to be retained with the exception of cases where a bird is named after a person who clearly did some shady stuff or where the person being honored has zero connection to ornithology or anything to do with birds. Or where some aspect of the bird name is otherwise offensive.
Would you have this same reaction if the discussion was about changing the long-standing name of Ring-necked Duck to Ring-billed Duck, or American Redstart to Orangestart?
This is entirely wrong from the start, and you can't get to a correct conclusion starting from the wrong place.I noticed this today when looking for updated on this year's checklist proposal.
Does anyone have a copy of this recent paper/opinion piece?
A brief history of English bird names and the American Ornithologists’ Union (now American Ornithological Society)
Abstract. English bird names exist to increase the effectiveness of communication and to make ornithology more accessible to English speakers and readers.
A brief history of English bird names and the American Ornithologists’ Union (now American Ornithological Society)
Abstract:
English bird names exist to increase the effectiveness of communication and to make ornithology more accessible to English speakers and readers. This purpose was recognized from the first edition of the Check-list, when it was considered important to include both a vernacular and technical name for each taxon. Every edition of the Check-list and its Supplements have thus included English names. Improving communication is an important job, and to be most effective a single name usually has to be chosen, especially among birds with widespread distributions and many vernacular names. The Check-list has been the standard for North America for over a century, and it provides the formal scientific basis for avian diversity and its management and conservation across most of the continent. Choices for the English names given in the Check-list have been made under clear criteria and guidelines that are responsive both to increased scientific knowledge and implicitly to changing societal mores. For more than a century, and for many different reasons, many people have been unhappy with choices made about English bird names and about the underlying processes. From the published history alone, it is clear that no process will achieve global consensus, yet there remain many merits to a standardized and widely adopted approach to English bird names. Consideration of these issues in a broader context of linguistics, culture, and history is also warranted.
I'll refer you to John's answer above.
I think it would be a terrible idea to change the name of Ring-necked Duck to Ring-billed Duck. Every birder knows exactly which species the English name Ring-necked Duck is attached to, there's no ambiguity at all. The fact that Ring-billed Duck is arguably 'more accurate' is neither here nor there. And I kind of like bird names that bring attention to some obscure, less obvious feature, such as the ring around the neck of a Ring-necked Duck.
Did you read the paper...this is commented on IIRC. Basically, the NACC deals with this matter because at one time some species had as many as 100 different regional names, with AOU/AOS dating back to the 1800's. We are commenting on this after a good deal of consolidation of names already occurred before anyone here was born.
Absolutely, but the point about English usage is that it finds its own level, without interference from academia - which is rarely the best point for intervention anyway.... For that matter in Norfolk a Bittern used to be a Buttle (I met a birder called Carl Buttle in Mallorca in 1986): the existence of local or folk names is not, repeat not, a reason for intervention.
) Jay and Canada Jay as the same beast, as well, even though my contact with the species has been only just enough to add it to the world and photo lists.
But nowadays all that needs to happen is for the name to be on eBird and it will stick automatically - everyone will be forced to use it.
To hell with e-bird and the horse it rode in on: never so much as looked into using it. And I'm not slow to adopt new tech when I need to.
