[Tweeters] Renaming birds, and other things

[HAL MICHAEL]

Having been around birds and birders (and other living things) for a really long time I find the name changing interesting.  The common names seem to change very regularly; just look at old field guides.  I believe that some of the changes are warranted to better describe the bird, its range, its behavior, whatever.  I also see value in changing names that actually give offense such as Oldsquaw. But I have a harder time when the change is more virtue signaling by expecting that if we are going to name something after a person that person had to be perfect in all ways.

I wonder, too, at what will happen to names like "King Kong Finch".  That name started as a joke that became popular and is now in both the common and Latin name.

Another conversion that strikes me as funny is that the name of the Crested Honeycreeper in Hawaii was changed to Akohekohe, the name given by the Hawaiians.  Translated, that apparent refers to female gentalia; would we support that in English?


Hal Michael
Board of Directors,Ecologists Without Borders (http://ecowb.org/)
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net


> On 11/24/2023 10:30 PM PST Kenneth Brown <kenbrownpls at comcast.net> wrote:

> 

>  

> Since you brought it up Al, I'm a life long Washingtonian and I've never liked the name of our State.  Not because George owned slaves, because he never had any thing to do with it. He never even conceived of it's future existence.  The people of the territory at the time of Statehood wanted to name the State "Columbia" (after the premier river) but the Legislature then said it would be confused with the District of Columbia, a feeble excuse even then for forcing us, at the last minute, to accept the name they wanted.  A local Olympia jeweler had to scramble, also at the last minute, to come up with a State Seal, so he copied the bust of Washington on the nickel and set in in the center of a field of green. That's all the thought that went into it.  

> 

> I am personally agnostic about altering the common name of birds, I think it will always be problematic, but it's my impression that it's about more than disassociating from racists, it's also about having the name be focused more on the bird itself, rather than the person who wanted to memorialize themselves or some other birding grandee, however worthy (or not) a human being.  Whatever happens, I'll adjust.  

> 

> 

> > On 11/24/2023 12:46 PM PST Al Wagar <jalanwagar at gmail.com> wrote:

> > 

> >  

> > I too am a bit bothered by the rush to disassociate ourselves from the racist rascals of past eras. It seems that most of our Founding Fathers, including George Washiingnton, owned slaves, as did most of the elite of that time. So goodness, gracious, we shouldn’t name anything after George.  Maybe our fine State of Washington can become "North Cascadia," or maybe just “Cascadia" since “Oregon” may not be offensive.  Perhaps Washington, D.C. can simply be shortened to “District of Columbia.”  Where will all this stop?

> > Al Wagar

> > Seattle

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