Re: [cobirds] Re: Changing Common Names of birds; example, Steller’s Jay

Brian et al,

Don't forget about Pioneer Naturalists by the great entomologist Dr. Howard Ensign Evans.  He gained fame at Harvard working along side the likes of E. O. Wilson before deciding mid-career to make a change and come West to CSU to study ground-nesting wasps and toil in a region of the country where new discoveries arose from almost every one of his field visits.  This book by Dr. Evans seeks to celebrate the efforts of obscure naturalists, lest they and their stories be forgotten over time.  Yes, many of them are European doctors and such who joined exploratory military expeditions into lands long occupied and known by Native Americans.  But as evidence Dr. Evans recognized the sovereignty of these people, many of the insects Dr. Evans himself formally described in the scientific literature as "new species" he named for Native American tribes.  One tiny wasp yours truly happened to lay eyes on and collect at Lamar Community College was given the scientific name Dipogon kiowa ("two-bearded wasp of Kiowa country") in recognition of the area's early inhabitants.  That same summer a CSU colleague discovered another little wasp in the same genus at Mesa Verde and Dr. Evans named it D. anasazi.  In defense of this name, it was constructed before anthropologists determined a better name for the cliff dwellers of that region would be "ancient Puebloans". 

I have promoted Dr. Evans' writing in previous COBIRDS posts but it bears repeating that his other books are equally good including Cache la Poudre: The Natural History of a Rocky Mountain River, The Natural History of North American Beewolves, The Pleasures of Entomology: Portraits of Insects and the People Who Study Them, Australia: A Natural History, William Morton Wheeler, Biologist, The Wasps, The Biology of Social Insects, Wasp Farm, and others.  Perhaps his most famous book, Life on a Little Known Planet has been printed in at least 26 languages.

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins

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From: cobirds@googlegroups.com <cobirds@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Brian Johnson <buntingrobinjay@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2021 9:22 PM
To: Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [cobirds] Re: Changing Common Names of birds; example, Steller's Jay

 

This has been an interesting thread. I have had an interest in the names behind the bird names. I know of two books that might be of interest for anyone.

Who's Bird: Common Bird Names and the People they commemorate by Bob Boelens and Micheal Watkins

This book covers the world and includes names up to the time of publishing, 2004, as we know things have changed since then. It is an encyclopedia so the entries are brief. Also goes over extinct bird names if it honors someone. There is also an explanation for how to name birds.

One more local in interest

Audubon to Xantus: The Lives of those Commemorated in North American Bird Names by Barabara Means

Published in 1992 so some bird names have changed, Xantus Murelet has since been split and is not longer a name for any bird (but Xantus still has a Hummingbird in Baja California) it has longer entries for the people, it however only covers birds north of the border. Their is an appendix that covers birds that are subspecies and birds that were once considered spices but are now subspecies. This author also has Biographies for Birdwatchers, which covers the Western  Paleartic  and includes overlap from the other book, such as Alexander Wilson, who was from Scotland.

Anyway, I am a librarian so I wanted to offer some books. Both are out of print however but you can get them used or from your library.

Good reading, good birding

Brian Johnson,

Englewood CO

On Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 6:57:16 AM UTC-6 mvjo...@gmail.com wrote:

Really entertaining dialogue on naming birds, often named for the least conspicuous feature. I also love bird names that might be longer than the actual bird...like Northern Beardless Tyrannulet. (Curious....Is there a Tyrannult with a beard?...My mind is picturing this!!) Along with Hugh's disdain for Least (which I agree) would be the boastful and judgement laddened "Greater"....like Greater Yellowlegs. 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO 

On Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 12:30:12 PM UTC-6 rori...@earthlink.net wrote:

Peter the Great,Tsar of all of Russia, invited Georg W. Steller, a German scientist to come to Russia and help explore and catalogue it's natural history. In 1741 Steller joined the Vitus Bering Expedition in sailing east to discover what was out there. After several weeks   they bumped into new land now known as Alaska. Steller discovered a jay, now known as Steller's Jay. The expedition sailed west exploring the Aleutians. Out of many of Steller's new discoveries was a new eagle, now known as Steller's Sea Eagle.

Doesn't the eponymic name Steller's Jay evoke more romance, interest, and wonder than if it was just called, for convenience, say "Mountain" Jay?

Bob Righter

Denver, CO  

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