I also want to thank Irene Liu for posting the link to the full explanatory document. After paying attention to this discussion since the idea first emerged a couple years ago, I will say that my biggest take home message is that there is great benefit in having thoughtful discussion of any idea. Irene's link provides lots of evidence that thoughtful discussion happened. When I read the document, points were raised that I could never have dreamed of on my own. My imagination was expanded and my understanding was deepened. Like many others, I was lukewarm on the idea at first, and now am very supportive of it for reasons that never would have occurred to me if I just considered the idea in the vacuum of my own living room. The points laid out in the link Irene provided helped me look at the issue with a different perspective. Having access to that document highlighting and summarizing a lengthy set of discussions was awesome. Thanks again for that, Irene.
Also, bird names change every year, following another proscribed process that most folks may not know about. Sometimes it is the common name that is changed, but most often it is the scientific name as ornithologists' understanding of taxonomic relationships deepens. About a decade ago, "our warblers" underwent a huge taxonomic rearrangement that included the elimination of the genus "Dendroica" which was the genus name for a large number of warblers at that time. Most were moved into the genus Setophaga. Wilson's Warbler, which had been in the genus Wilsonia was rearranged into the genus Cardellina (along with Canada Warbler). So, John, Wisonia has not existed for several years! This year, lots of shorebirds that are familiar to us here in central NY have been rearranged taxonomically, with some in new genera, and many rearranged in terms of which ones are most closely related to which other ones (which ones come first, second, third, etc. in the taxonomic list). In the birding world, names change on a frequent basis because ornithologists are trying to get it right. Most of the time, the "it" is science. Sometimes "it" is naming conventions as in getting the Greek or Latin right, changing plural endings to singular endings, changing an "a" to an "us" at the end of the species name, etc. This announced change is just another form of naming convention change that happens quite frequently. I like that there is so much communication about this particular upcoming change. Jody Jody W. Enck, PhD Conservation Social Scientist, and Founder of the Sister Bird Club Network 607-379-5940 On Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 7:46 AM John Gregoire <johnandsuegrego...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks for that. A couple of issues. One is the resulting heavy cost of > change, Think checklists,alphanumeric codes, field guides are three that > immediately come to mind. When we did the second printing of the National > Geo guide, we opted to new editions and not an errata list of changes. My > plant guides are already full of redactions and pen/ink changes. > Second is the question of not changing scientific names. Does this mean > that the Wilsonia will remain intact? > John > > On Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 7:12 AM Linda Orkin <wingmagi...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Very interesting Irene. Thank you for providing this document! >> >> Linda Orkin >> >> On Nov 5, 2023, at 2:04 PM, Irene Liu <il...@cornell.edu> wrote: >> >> >> Hi everyone, I was a member of the ad hoc English Bird Names committee. >> Great to read everyone's comments and to know that people are reflecting on >> the recommendations we wrote. I encourage those wondering about why we >> endorsed removing all eponyms, including eponyms honoring people who made >> important contributions to ornithology, to read our justification for that >> particular recommendation here: here: >> https://americanornithology.org/about/english-bird-names-project/english-bird-names-committee-recommendations/#justification >> >> Apologies if I'm duplicating anyone else's response. 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