Busybody American Ornithological Society Forming Committees To Rename Birds

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Internet headlines coming society’s way in the near future: ‘So-and-So Fined For Identifying a Scott’s Oriole as…a Scott’s Oriole.

That’s, purportedly because dozens of God’s little chirpers have supposedly been named after too many “white supremacists”.

Someday soon, feathered friends id’d as ‘Woody the Woodpecker’ will be renamed as something that doesn’t sound like Woody has only a male gender.

You couldn’t possibly make this stuff up

You couldn’t possibly make this stuff up, and if you did, it would be classified as only creative or imaginative.

Well down on the well-trodden path in a world that tries to replace ‘normal’ with ‘New World Disorder’, the American Ornithological Society is changing the names of dozens of bird species to, purportedly—wipe out racism:

“Dozens of bird species in the United States and Canada will get "imaginative" new names that reflect their traits and habitats rather than the names of people, the American Ornithological Society announced Wednesday. (USA Today, Nov. 1, 2023)

“The society plans to remove all human names from the common names for birds within its jurisdiction, to create a more inclusive environment for people of diverse backgrounds interested in bird-watching and ornithology. The public process, yet to be fully defined, will include 70 to 80 birds in the U.S. and Canada, the society stated.

“Following years of controversy over bird names linked to people with racist and genocidal histories, the society's decision thrills ornithologists and scientists who supported a campaign to name birds for themselves.”

Guess it doesn’t take much to “thrill” ornithologists and scientists who supported a campaign to name birds for themselves.

Birds, who survive the most frigid of long winters, and who sing more beautifully than any human orchestra

"I'm really excited about this change," said Corina Newsome, an ornithologist who was among a group of dozens of Black outdoor enthusiasts that launched the first Black Birders Week in May 2020. (USA Today)

"It’s a major change in how we think about bird names," said Sushma Reddy, secretary of the society and the Breckenridge Chair of Ornithology at the University of Minnesota. "We came to the decision that we really want bird names to be about birds.”

Birds, who survive the most frigid of long winters, and who sing more beautifully than any human orchestra, remain happy knowing diddly-squat about the often as not absurd politics of the politically correct.

“The society wants new bird-watchers hearing bird names for the first time to "feel this is a welcoming environment for people from different backgrounds and just enjoy nature for what it is," Reddy said. "Birds are for everybody. Science is for everybody.” (USA Today)

"If there is anything that the American Ornithological Society and Company don’t get is “just enjoying nature for what it is”.

“Although the project was initiated in part "to address past wrongs" over links to historical figures known for their support of slavery or genocide of Indigenous peoples, the Society plans to remove all honorific human names.

“New bird names will favor more descriptive names like the blue-footed booby or red-headed woodpecker rather than nebulous names like Ross' goose or Bachman's sparrow that give no clues about how to identify the bird.

"We’re hoping to be imaginative about this," said noted naturalist and author Kenn Kaufman. "It’s a great chance to come up with beautiful and evocative ways of describing the visual appearance, song, or habitat they live in.”

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“The committee also proposes to change names considered derogatory or culturally inappropriate for three other birds: the flesh-footed shearwater; Eskimo curlew, and Inca dove.(USA Today)

"I was honestly very surprised they came to this decision," Newsome told USA TODAY. "It fosters a more equitable approach to learning about the living world."

“She first started noticing "bizarre names" associated with species' names when she began memorizing names in college.

"I noticed names that described how the species looked or how it acted in some way were easier to remember than species with an honorific name," she said. Later in college, she became uncomfortable with the general practice of naming other living things after people, she said. When she began to learn more about the people behind some of the names, she found it "even more upsetting.”

“Several events helped kick off the society’s multiyear deliberations over bird renaming.

“In 2018, college student Robert Driver proposed renaming McKown's longspur. The small bird that lives on shortgrass prairies in the Central United States was named for John P. McKown, who first collected a specimen of the species in 1851. That was before he fought in the Seminole Indian War in Florida in 1856 and 1857, before he participated in an expedition against Mormons in Utah in 1858 and before he became a general in the Confederate Army in 1861, according to the Central Arkansas Library System.

“Driver's renaming proposal was rejected, to the dismay of many birders.

"In the spring of 2020, major events sparked a national outcry, protests over racism and police brutality, and a renewed focus on racism in the U.S. Two of those occurred on May 25. A white woman in Central Park called the police and falsely accused Black birder Christian Cooper of threatening her after he asked her to put her dog on a leash. Then in Minneapolis, police killed George Floyd."

"While researching a book on the history of ornithology in early America, Kaufman started "coming across more names of people with birds named after them that would be unsavory by modern standards," he said. "A few of these names are really genuinely offensive to people of color." (USA Today)

"If you have a bird named for a person who was an avowed white supremacist, who preached the inferiority of Black people and it’s found mainly in the South, if people research the history, they’re going to find it offensive,” he said. One example often cited is the Scott’s oriole, named for Winfield Scott, a military general responsible for the Trail of Tears.

“A pilot project will begin in 2024, starting with an initial group from among the 70-80 birds that will be renamed in the U.S. and Canada, the Society said. In total over time, up to 260 birds with people's names could be reviewed across the Americas and associated islands.

“The society, which now has two naming committees, one each for North and South America, will appoint a third committee specifically for the review of English common names. Reddy said the group will include not only experts in taxonomy but also experts in social science and communication.

“These aren't the first birds to be renamed, and similar events have occurred as other science groups wrestle with the past. The society's predecessor, the American Ornithologist's Union, changed the name of the Oldsquaw duck to the long-tailed duck in 2000, according to a July 2000 update in the organization's magazine.

“In 2001, the American Fisheries Society changed the name of a fish once known as jewfish to Goliath grouper.

“The Entomological Society of America revamped its guidelines in 2021, barring insect names that referenced ethnic or racial groups.

"The National Audubon Society also has struggled with the controversial past of its namesake, John James Audubon. Earlier this year, the society announced it had considered but rejected adopting a new name.

“The decision prompted several local and state chapters to drop the Audubon name. Among the renamed chapters are the Golden Gate Bird Alliance in California and the Badgerland Bird Alliance in Madison, Wisconsin.”

Internet trolls out there wait for columns like this one.

“Feeling that inestimable sadness of the heart with all that is going on in our world, I went back out onto my deck just before sunrise yesterday morning to be there for God’s daily morning orchestra, the real Twitter: the spine tingling birdsong that announces the beginning of each and every day. In unison, the birds, like the angels of another realm so many long to someday see, join together in song to praise another dawn. (Canada Free Press, July 25, 2014)

“Seeing the multiple stars, each one’s name known by the Creator (Psalms 147:4-5 say, "He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite."), awaiting the first daybreak birdsong of God’s Orchestra, is sorely needed medicine for flagging souls.

“We all need the inspiration of knowing in all the tumult that some Hand guides the world. And it’s not Barack Obama’s or Al Gore’s.

Keep the faith, always.” (Read The Full Column)

Meanwhile, the science loving folk forming committees to rename the Creator’s winged birds of the air should “Make like the proverbial birds and flock off.”

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