Dozens of birds are renowned due to "offensive connotations"

The original names of these birds are now considered controversial.


In recent years, the United States has seen many name changes intended to delete offensive connotations . In September 2022, the American Department of the Interior published new names For nearly 650 geographic characteristics that used the word "Squaw", which was deemed offensive. Several professional sports teams, such as Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins, have also changed their nickname. In this spirit, it is logical that more and more names are examined. Now there will be a big reshuffle in the community of birds, because about 70 birds are renamed due to offensive connotations. Read the rest to find out more about changes and why they occur now.

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The American ornithological Society will change around 70 names of birds.

endemic akikiki bird
Photo Agami / Shutterstock agency

On November 1, the American ornithological Society (AOS) has published a statement that it changes all the names of English birds which are currently named people. This decision aims to eliminate offensive associations. About 70 to 80 birds will be renowned, about 6 to 7% of the total species that occur mainly in the United States and Canada, by NPR.

"There is power in a name, and some names of English birds have associations with the past which continue to be exclusive and harmful today," said the president of AOS Colleen Handel , PHD, a biologist of research fauna at US Geological Survey in Alaska, said in the press release.

"As scientists, we work to eliminate prejudices in science. But there have been historical prejudices in the way birds are named and which could have a bird named in their honor. Conventions of name of exclusion exclusion Developed in the 1800s, obscured by racism and misogyny, don 'it works for us today, and the time has come to transform this process and redirect attention to birds, where it belongs, " Judith Scarl , PHD, executive director AOS and CEO, added in the press release.

The elimination of the coverage of all human names aimed to potentially avoid Value judgments on people whose eponymous birds have been renamed, USA today writing.

In addition to their official English names, birds also have a two -part scientific name that scientists use to communicate between languages. These names will remain the same throughout the initiative.

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These are some of the modified names.

Cedar waxwing bird in serviceberry tree eating serviceberries with blue clear sky in the background on a warm spring day.
Dropout

The examples of bird names that will be modified include Anna's hummingbird, Gambel quail, Lewis peak, Bewick Wren and Bullock Oriole, simply because they were named after the people, according to NPR. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

The committee also plans to change the names considered inappropriate for three birds that are not named people: the shearwater on foot of flesh, the Eskimu Curlew and the Colombe Inca, by USA today .

This is not the first time that the company, which has been in charge of bird names, renamed a bird. In 2020, the AOS renamed a prairie singer bird at "Longspur with thick beak". Its original name has honored the amateur naturalist and the general of the Confederate army John P. McCown , by the press release.

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The change was triggered by current events.

Close-up of a female American Goldfinch who has the birdfeeder all to herself in the backyard.
istock

The same day that the police killed George Floyd In Minneapolis, a white woman from Central Park called the police on a black rut and said he threatened her. Shortly after, a group called Bird names for birds wrote to the management of AOS demanding change.

"Current events in 2020 have renewed the emphasis on society on social justice and have shown that time to reassess is now, and largely explain this initiative," they write on their website. "We are individually late, as groups and communities, and as a society to reassess our prejudices, eliminate barriers of all kinds and be better."

Amateur ornithologists have mixed feelings about change.

Bird Chirping In a Tree
Julian Popov / Shutterstock

Like any significant change, there are many opinions.

"I see some of these birds and I use these names every year for 60 years", " Kenn Kaufman , an eminent author of Guides Field, told NPR. "It will feel like a pain for some people, but I think it is actually an exciting opportunity. It is an exciting opportunity to give these birds names that celebrate them - rather than a person in the past . "

"It is a major change in the way we think of bird names", " Sushma Reddy , the secretary of the company and the president of the Breckenridge ornithology at the University of Minnesota, said USA today . "We made the decision that we really want bird names to be on the birds."

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