Some bird species to get new names in 2024

The American Ornithological Society (AOS) announced that in an effort to address past wrongs and engage far more people in the enjoyment, protection, and study of birds, it will change all English bird names currently named after people within its geographic jurisdiction. 

The AOS will also change the process by which English names are selected for bird species. The effort will begin in 2024 and will focus initially on 70–80 bird species that occur primarily within the U.S. and Canada.

The Cooper's Hawk is one of the birds that will get a new name.   It was named after William Cooper, a New York scientist.  I can see new editions of Sibley's Guide to Birds.  I have a copy on my iPhone.  

I am not sure but maybe the Northern Cardinal (the cardinal is named after cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who wear distinctive red robes and caps) will also be a bird to get a new name.

Some birds to get a new name

CBC article

One of the more ridiculous things I’ve seen in many years.

dougc wrote: One of the more ridiculous things I’ve seen in many years.

Absolutely agree!!! They even want to get rid of Audubon's name..

Joe

Is there a list of changes? I hope the Harris Hawk is one of them, and they get their original name (Baywing Hawk) back.

There are actually 263 names to be changed. PC has gone too far this time.

Joe

In the Scientific American article, Ken Kaufman, a bird expert and authour of several field guides had this to say, referencing the mixed responses to the announcement, “A lot of the older people are opposed to it, and I can understand that,” he says. “I came around from being totally opposed to the idea to being totally in favor of it."  He goes on to give reasons why.  

American Scientific


I don't think any owls were named after someone?   The ones I know have more descriptive names.   Some of the genus names were named after a Greek Goddess.

6 owls named after a Greek Goddess


A possible impedus for the renaming of birds.

NPR article.


Bird Names For Birds.

Because birds don't need eponymous or honorific common names

Baywing wrote: Is there a list of changes?  I hope the Harris Hawk is one of them, and they get their original name (Baywing Hawk) back.

There are some obvious ones including Audubon's Warbler and Anna's Hummingbird,  Others include Wilson's warbler, Bachman's sparrow, Cooper's hawk, Stellar's jay and many others.  They had already changed the name of one bird in 2021 after an unsuccessful attempt to do so in 2019.  A small prairie bird that had been named after a Confederate General, McCown was renamed to Thick-billed Longspur. 

The Long-Tailed Duck used to be called OldSquaw before its name change in 2000.

Anyone think of other U.S. and Canadian birds named after people? 
  

The comments after the following article say a lot:

https://americanornithology.org/america ... er-people/

Joe

Change is never easy but think all major birding orgganizations in North America support the AOS decision.  Starting in 2024 we may start to see some of the new bird names in eBird which just about everyone uses to report / record bird sightings.  

Can someone start a group to petition the unblocking of great gray owl and northern hawk owl sightings on eBird?  j/k  


"Bird Protection Quebec and its working group on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity support the American Ornithological Society's recent announcement that, in an effort to address past wrongs and engage more people in the enjoyment, protection and study of birds, it will change the English names of bird species that make reference to a person. We are eager to see these upcoming changes to common nomenclature for birds in Canada and in the U.S."

While it's going to be a pain in the butt to change everything over on my website and in my brain, having an engineering background, I am all in favor of some logical standardization of bird naming.  I certainly can understand the emotional attachment to a name like Audubon but I do favor a more standardized approach.  I hope this also brings with it some corrections to birds like the American Robin, which isn't a Robin at all...

Maybe we should just give them letters and numbers based on average length...B1 for the largest and so on. But then we might get to B52 and it's a bomber, so that would upset some people too. lol
I agree, it's going to be a renaming nightmare not to mention remembering them.

I would have hoped they could find something better to spend their time on.

What a waste of time and resources.

SantaFeJoe wrote: The comments after the following article say a lot:

https://americanornithology.org/america ... er-people/

Joe

There was one PC comment that appealed to me Joe.  (seemed to be the only one applying common sense, an old approach that has little value in the modern world "of lets be morally right" and pc correctness.  (look for P C in the comments section replied on 11.03.23... ).

If we do this, we should go after the scientific names as well.  Clintonia genus is out.  Then the plants too!  This is nuts. Pipsissewa (cherokee aka stripped wintergreen) is in and Clinton's Lily (NY governor) out.

Wildflower-nut wrote: If we do this, we should go after the scientific names as well.  Then the plants too!  This is nuts. Pipsissewa in Clinton's Lily out.

Next, it will be street names and cities, towns, counties, National Parks, and state parks. I say move forward and don't worry about the long ago past.

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote:

Wildflower-nut wrote: If we do this, we should go after the scientific names as well.  Then the plants too!  This is nuts. Pipsissewa in Clinton's Lily out.

Next, it will be street names and cities, towns, counties, National Parks, and state parks. I say move forward and don't worry about the long ago past.

Joe

Some of that is already being done. Committees sometimes need to find work to keep themselves busy. 

Scott Fairbairn wrote:

SantaFeJoe wrote:

Wildflower-nut wrote: If we do this, we should go after the scientific names as well.  Then the plants too!  This is nuts. Pipsissewa in Clinton's Lily out.

Next, it will be street names and cities, towns, counties, National Parks, and state parks. I say move forward and don't worry about the long ago past.

Joe

Some of that is already being done. Committees sometimes need to find work to keep themselves busy. 

and I thought it was to spend money and justify their jobs.

Wildflower-nut wrote:

Scott Fairbairn wrote:

SantaFeJoe wrote:

Wildflower-nut wrote: If we do this, we should go after the scientific names as well.  Then the plants too!  This is nuts. Pipsissewa in Clinton's Lily out.

Next, it will be street names and cities, towns, counties, National Parks, and state parks. I say move forward and don't worry about the long ago past.

Joe

Some of that is already being done. Committees sometimes need to find work to keep themselves busy. 

and I thought it was to spend money and justify their jobs.

Yeah, that, too, lol. But seriously, it will make a mess of guidebooks and my catalogue. I don't think I'll rename them until I submit the images for something. I'll keep them the same in my library. I still can't get used to Blue-headed Vireo, I haven't a hope if a hundred species change names. lol

It's bad enough that the Rufous-sided Towhee is now the Spotted Towhee. I like certain names like the Stellar's Jay. I wish this wasn't happening.

Joe