Changing the names of birds

[Paul Wagner]

https://www.backpackthesierra.com/post/renaming-is-for-the-birds

American Ornithological Society proposes big changes!

Can the Douglas fir be far behind?

[Jerry Adams]

They previously renamed the “oldsquaw duck” to the “long tailed duck”.  That makes sense to me.

If they rename all birds named after humans then it will avoid a controversy about who that human was.  Like, if there was a “Jefferson duck” should it be renamed because he owned slaves?

I like that any human that had slaves today wouldn’t have a bird named after them : )

 

[Paul Wagner]

Things do get renamed. And as Jerry Points out, all of those places (and birds) had names before Europeans gave them names, so we’ve already changed the name at least once. Some places in Europe have had their names changed any number of times, either for political reasons or just plain ignorance.

 

Most of the main streets in Spain had their names changed by Franco, then, 70 years later, changed back again, or changed to honor someone who opposed Franco. One of my favorite place names is Benbury Hill in the UK. Ben means hill. So does bury. So the name is actually hill hill hill.

In my own town of Napa we have a ridge called Alta Heights. Alta, of course, is Spanish for heights…

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