The American Ornithological Society explains that it no longer wants “harmful associations” with the country’s past and history.
It’s a movement that started in the United States with the names of military bases and warships and will now apply to birds: The American Ornithological Society announced that it has decided to rename about 80 birds starting next year. These are species found in the United States, but also in Canada. Their names are often associated with those who discovered them or refer to moments in history that he no longer wants. These are mostly names associated with slavery.
for the organization “there is power in a name and some English bird names have links to a past that is still exclusionary and harmful”. The president of the ornithological society explains in a press release that she decided to rename all the birds that bear a person’s name rather than research each bird individually.
Human surnames replaced by physical characteristics of birds
As early as 2020, the Little Prairie Warbler, McCown’s Longspur, was renamed the Great-billed Sparrow because the amateur naturalist who gave it the name became a Confederate Army general during the Civil War.
Other examples: the Hammond flytrap, which is named after a surgeon in the US army who had slaves in particular; Scott’s Oriole, which refers to the pro-Union general who organized the forced removal of Indians, especially the Cherokee; or the Audubon shearwater, named after one of the fathers of American ornithology, Jean-Jacques Audubon, who was also a slave owner and opposed to abolition. Like the others, this seabird will be renamed based on physical characteristics. The decision will be made by a commission composed partly of the public.