And while we may argue whether they should rename a specific bird that spends its time partly in Canada/U.S. and partly in Latin America, that really comes back to the question over who is vested with the authority to name birds at all and how that came to be - why was a certain organization naming it what it is currently called okay but changing it isn't, for example.
AOU has this authority for its geographic region at this point in time. If we want to argue that they don't have business renaming a bird in their geographical region, then we should also question why was it okay that they name it in the "first" place ("first" being in quotes because of course there have been many sources of names for these birds, and still are).
If one believes AOU doesn't properly represent the geographic region over which it has responsibility, then that is an issue that can be addressed in a variety of ways that would have more meaningful impact than tackling a single issue one disagrees with.
Diana Beatty
El Paso County
On Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 1:15 PM Diana Beatty <otowi33.33@gmail.com> wrote:
The AOU states on their website that they are focusing only on bird names in the U.S. and Canada right now, and do not have a plan to change Latin American bird names without the involvement of Latin American ornithologists and organizations.Diana BeattyEl Paso CountyOn Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 1:07 PM Rachel Hopper <hopkohome8@gmail.com> wrote:--So we change the name of Swainson's Warbler.
Wintering Swainson's Warblers are in the Caribbean and southern Mexico and also central Jamaica.
How are we not imposing our values on other countries where these birds are all addressed by their ENGLISH common names?
And to quote Jon Dunn: "The AOS will do outreach to individuals and organizations in Latin America to see how they feel about the changing of the English names and how to go about it. What happens if they say "no thank you?" Many of those species that are of rare to accidental occurrence have well-established English names. What right do we have to change those names? Forcing new English names seems like more examples of "American Imperialism," the very thing that the movement to replace English names decries against ("colonialism")."
Swainson's Warbler does not "belong" to us here in the U.S. nor does it "belong" to the AOS. What right does any governing body in the U.S. have to change the name of a bird that spends three-quarters of its life in mostly non-English speaking countries? How is this not imposing our "western baggage" on other parts of the world?
The whole point of the article is the very idea that we can force this change on other countries smacks of the new colonialism.
Rachel Kolokoff HopperFollow me on iNaturalist
rkhphotography.net
hopko@comcast.net
Ft. Collins, CO---------------------------------
On Dec 8, 2023, at 11:29 AM, Diana Beatty <otowi33.33@gmail.com> wrote:It is an interesting article. It does not address the AOU decision per se, but instead is addressing some published works of scientists around the interest of species name revisions, which could include lots of different ideas about how and where those are happening, for what reasons, and whether they involve common names or also scientific.The geographic range of AOU is limited and the scope of discussion is not controlling how other organizations and parts of the world adopt or alter naming conventions. Further, the scope of renaming by AOU does not currently involve scientific names but only common. Bird name changes happen regularly, and the article does say there is a "duty to remove obviously hurtful and discriminatory words from the scientific lexicon".The logic of the AOU approach is that we do waste our time if we spend it all arguing over what exactly qualifies and what doesn't, and it is one of the points of the article that their method seems to attempt to address by adopting a simple rule in its own practice.I prefer to discuss what is actually being done vs. the hypotheticals of a larger or more encompassing act that is beyond the will, scope, or intent of an AOU decision. I agree with the author that the "West" should not be imposing its baggage all over the world, but I don't think that what the article is opposing is necessarily inclusive of the AOU decision due to its much more limited range and scope and reasoned approach.Diana BeattyEl Paso CountyOn Thu, Dec 7, 2023 at 9:26 AM Rachel Kolokoff Hopper <hopkohome8@gmail.com> wrote:And I would answer in rebuttal that anyone wanting to be fully informed on this topic should read "Policing the scientific lexicon: The new colonialism?" by Rohan Pethiyagoda (Sri Lanka) which can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/5u45569rA partial quote: "Here, writing from the perspective of a scientist who has spent most of his career working in Sri Lanka, a biodiverse developing country, I contend that undoing the perceived harm that inappropriate names and terms can cause people who belong to oppressed communities in the developed world (the West) may harm the greater part of the global scientific community whose native language is not English.Cheng et al. (2023) seek to redress social problems in the English-speaking world (henceforth, the Anglosphere) and especially North America, by imposing terminological and nomenclatural reforms also on the rest of the world. These reforms would carry the unintended consequence of compelling taxonomists in biodiverse countries—especially developing countries—to direct their attention away from the enormous task of describing Earth's vanishing biodiversity in order to deal with the challenge of revising biological nomenclature and terminology to address issues that have little meaning outside the Anglosphere—particularly the US context. I contend that the US would do better to solve its social and political problems rather than renaming them, and especially, rather than exporting them."Please read the entire paper. Very Illuminating.R.-----------------------Rachel Kolokoff HopperFollow me on iNaturalist
rkhphotography.net
hopko@comcast.net
Ft. Collins, COJared Del Rosso published a good addition to this discussion on The Conversation: — https://theconversation.com/why-dozens-of-north-american-bird-species-are-getting-new-names-every-name-tells-a-story-217886An interesting point he made: "all eponymous names imply human ownership over birds....Science has greatly expanded human understanding of birds in recent decades. We now recognize that birds are intelligent, with rich emotional lives. Radar, lightweight transmitters and satellite telemetry have helped scientists map the transcontinental migrations that many bird species make each year.Trading eponymous names, which treat birds as passive objects, for richer descriptive names reflects this sea change in our understanding of avian lives."
Diana Beatty
El Paso County
On Mon, Dec 4, 2023 at 8:02 AM Greg Osland <gregosland1@gmail.com> wrote:Thanks to Don Jones for sharing a link from Kenn Kaufman that summarizes some of Kenn's recent research on eponymous names and the history of ornithology. The report provides objective historical facts that most birders, like me, never realized. Each of us can draw our own conclusions from his findings about the historical value of eponymous names and whether they should be retained for historical reasons. Here is one of his findings:From the 1820s to the early 1840s in North America, John James Audubon was handing out eponyms like candy. At first he was trying to court favor with British naturalists (like Bewick, Henslow, or Swainson) or with wealthy individuals who might support his work. Later he used names to honor various friends and colleagues (like Harris, Sprague, or Bell).Greg OslandLarimer County--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CA%2BYKL92Vdh1MCMEOiao%2BEAXm-iLSMiJLzVAKX58kpoDJmNW9Gg%40mail.gmail.com.
--******
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAM-_j9s3DBhv-Ojr9e_rbD495cQ6OWYaRo%2BNbn80RtgkxKhjUQ%40mail.gmail.com.
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/2209A12F-A148-41A0-A76F-4F76E55A35A1%40gmail.com.
--******
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/54E4A7CF-508C-41F6-8600-C337C5856480%40gmail.com.
--******
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
******
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAM-_j9t6x2HYGU-CS%3D6%3DRGzVKdXzPHuFRmsZwGTT%2BcFB0cEuEQ%40mail.gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment