[Tweeters] Biggest Loser Thread Origin

[Stephen Chase via Tweeters]

Bill et al.,

The "Biggest Loser" reference was actually a reference to the upcoming name
changes from the AOS removing epynomous names from birds - i.e. Wilson's
Warbler, Cassin's Auklet, etc... Both Alexander Wilson and John Cassin will
both have their names removed from a number of species. A comment was made
that the 15th century explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who's name is the source
for the term "America," would be the biggest loser of all, since dozens of
birds have "American" in their name. That said, I have seen no suggestions
that the term "American" is included in this proposal, so I assumed this
comment was in jest.

Stephen

On Sun, Jun 23, 2024 at 10:26 AM Bill Mowat via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> I think this thread from Wednesday originated from an article in the

> guardian about lost bird species, posted on Tuesday, 6/18.

>

>

>

> Here’s the link to the article:

> https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/17/birders-126-lost-bird-species-aoe

>

>

>

> The article is about how there are several bird species (126?) that are

> not listed as extinct and yet have not been definitively observed for at

> least ten years.

>

>

>

> I don’t understand the Amerigo Vespucci reference.

>

>

>

> Best – Bill

>

>

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