Re: [cobirds] AOU, Changing bird names

Robert,

What if we instead consider this issue from the perspective of an ever-evolving scientific community? We failed to acknowledge the destructive effects of colonialism and racism in the past, but we have a chance to improve upon that now. If we choose to "pause" our evolution now, when might it be more prudent to resume?

It's undeniable that America's history has been fraught with racism. This effort by the AOS specifically shines a light on the colonial disparities that saturated the 19th century. I will quote below a paragraph from the AOS's full report on the naming decision.

"A disproportionate number of eponyms were coined in the American West in the mid-1800s. One member of the committee found that, of the 78 eponyms in Tier 1 [the first wave of names being analyzed], 62% are from the West, primarily the Southwest; 77% of these were named between 1825 and 1875. Prior to that time and place, eponyms were relatively rare: Only 9 of the potentially 78 eponyms in Tier 1 were named before 1825. The eponyms from the American West largely honor and were conferred by "soldier scientists" traveling with the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War and various Indian wars."

Since the American Ornithological Society published extensively about its decisions, let me bring a few more of their points into the conversation. Quoted segments are from the same report quoted above.

• Eponymous names are poor descriptors. Names that describe the bird (e.g., Spotted Sandpiper, Red-breasted Nuthatch), its habitat (e.g., Marsh Wren, Pinyon Jay), its range (e.g. Eastern Wood-Pewee, Mexican Chickadee), or something else about the species (e.g., Fish Crow, Northern Mockingbird) convey more information.
• Alternative methods of naming nature that do not imply ownership should be used. Eponyms, bestowed as honors and awards to specific people, not only ignore and conceal attributes of birds, they imply ownership or possession of an entire species by one human.
  
• We must also ask ourselves whose history we are commemorating through this list of names. Equating these names with the history of ornithology, or implying that ornithological history will be lost with the changing of these names, disregards the contributions and knowledge of populations that are not represented.
  
• Instability from such accepted name changes is regularly tolerated and expected across users of bird names.Name changes occur annually, and dozens of name changes occurred in 1957 and 1973 (American Ornithologists' Union 1957, Eisenmann et al. 1973).
  

Many eponymous bird names came about by being the first white man to "discover" the species and codify the name within standard scientific taxonomy, which has historically been overseen by white men as well. The natural history and scientific history of birds goes well beyond this homogeneous approach, and maintaining our current naming system diminishes the role of birds in America's pre-colonial past – and the role of indigenous peoples in caring for them and their habitats.

Thank you for your time.

- Evan

On Thu, Nov 2, 2023 at 3:28 PM Robert Righter <rorighter@earthlink.net> wrote:

Hi:

I would hope the American Ornithological Union would pause before changing common names of birds that are named after historic ornithologists as that could be divisive . Currently we are living in a period of time where accusations of racism are rampant and consequently we are currently judging past historic figures based on our current definition of how racist they may have been. This is how history becomes distorted and historic individuals unfortunately become misjudged. Let's wait a decade or so and revisit the topic again when hopefully our lenses are clearer, less tainted. Why are we in such the rush to change the common names of birds that have been established for centuries. We all need to take a deep breath or two and wait to see what transpires.

Bob Righter

Denver, CO

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