Monkman: ‘There is power in a name’ – The Peterborough Examiner
January 5, 2024
How to avoid awkward bird monikers like Owly McOwlface
A hot topic among birders and nature enthusiasts right now is the recent decision to rename many of North America’s birds.
On Nov. 1, the American Ornithological Society (AOS) pledged to change all English bird names that honour people. “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today,” said AOS president Colleen Handel.
There are about 80 species that breed in Canada and the U.S. with honorific or eponymous names. The goal is that the new names will focus attention entirely on important characteristics of the birds themselves.
The renaming will affect a number of species found in the Kawarthas such as Cooper’s Hawk, Wilson’s Snipe, Bonaparte’s Gull, Swainson’s Thrush, Wilson’s Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrow and more. There’s another local connection to this story, as well. In 2022, the AOS created the “Ad Hoc English Bird Names Committee” and asked Trent University biology professor Erica Nol to be the chairperson. It is this committee that made the recommendation to change the names.
