In North America, many birds are named after the scientist who discovered them. But all that is going to change! By next year, about 80 birds will be renamed. But why do we need to rename birds? We summarize this story for you.
When a person discovers a new species, they must find a name for it. It happens that the scientist gives the animal its own name. For example, Wilson’s snipe was discovered by a scientist named Alexander Wilson.
It was the American Ornithological Society that decided to rename birds that bear human names. Ornithology is the study of birds! The goal is to give more importance to these winged animals, and not to the people who named them.
According to this organization, the old method of naming birds also contributes to the exclusion of Black people, Indigenous people or any other racialized person. This is because most birds are named after white people.
Renaming the birds will also help prevent some of them from being named after a person with a questionable past. For example, McCown’s sparrow was named in honor of John P. McCown. However, Mr. McCown was also an army general who fought to preserve slavery in the United States, in a war called the Civil War. McCown’s Sparrow was renamed in 2020 for this reason. It is now called the Chestnut-bellied Longspur.
How will we choose the names?
A special committee will supervise the operation. Animals will be named based on the habitat they live in or their appearance. This will allow people to immediately know the color of the bird or where it comes from.
The American Ornithological Society hopes it will also get more people interested in birds.
But the most cool in all of this, the population will also be able to give their ideas! In fact, the bird in the photo, the Audubon’s shearwater, is looking for a new name. It spends almost all its days flying over the sea. The only time it comes to land is when it needs to reproduce. It lives mainly in fairly warm regions, such as the Antilles or the Bahamas, in the south of the United States.
So, what would you name this bird?
Emeric Epaud
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