For people interested in the figures of eponymous bird names, one book I have on my shelf is Audubon to Xantus by Barbara and Richard Mearns. I think it is out of print because the price I just saw on Amazon is pretty ridiculous, but it is a good read, and works for either looking up specific interests or reading cover to cover. Plenty of Colorado Birds come up in its pages.
Diana Beatty El Paso County On Fri, Dec 8, 2023, 7:11 PM Doug Ward <[email protected]> wrote: > Since David asked, here’s a bird sighting that highlights both the bird > name debate as well as actual bird discussion threads. We had an adult > ROSS’S GOOSE fly over our house in southwest Denver (Athmar Park > neighborhood, Denver Co.) yesterday (Thurs., 7 Dec.’23) morning with a > large flock of both “Richardson’s” CACKLING and “lesser” CANADA GEESE. > Followed up a little later in the day and refound the Ross’s amongst ~1,500 > “white-cheeked” geese up at Huston Park, a huge flock for this park made up > of mostly Cacklings. I didn’t post earlier as these wandering goose flocks > can be hard to repeat, but there are very large numbers currently in this > part of town, so checking any of the local SW Denver parks, Overland Golf > Course, or along the adjacent South Platte should turn up any number of fun > geese. > > > > Now on to the Ross of Ross’s Goose. I’m not going to get into which side > of the fence I’m on in the eponymous bird name debate (this is not the > forum), but do have to admit that I too fall in the category Ken Kauffman > highlights in that I very seldom delve into the history of the person > immortalized for now in the bird’s common name. In this case, the name > given to this sweet little white goose from the Canadian Arctic, *Anser > rossii* or Ross’s Goose in English is named for Bernard Rogan Ross, an > Irish fur trader and naturalist for the Hudson Bay Company in the > mid-1800s. As Mr. Kauffman points out, Bernard is not the same Ross of > Ross’s Gull (*Rhodostethia rosea*) fame, that would be Sir James Clark > Ross. I have no idea, yet, if Bernie was a good dude or not, but plan on > doing a little further research on both of these guys to become informed. > This has actually been a positive consequence of this issue surfacing now, > it’s making many of us read a little further about the folks behind the > names, good, bad, and ugly. > > > > So keep your eyes peeled on our large goose flocks currently, you might > even find a much less controversial Snow or White-fronted Goose out there. > Need to figure out who Richardson was next. > > > > Good Birding, > > Doug > > Denver (until tomorrow) > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > 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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/011e01da2a44%24f40a7640%24dc1f62c0%24%40frontier.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/011e01da2a44%24f40a7640%24dc1f62c0%24%40frontier.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAM-_j9uyFOG6MqSA4yfRR7Lcc8ktxFceGdenenSUhkxgDJaWkQ%40mail.gmail.com.
