FOR THE BIRDS
I’m a bird watcher, so I became aware of the American Ornithological Society’s plan to change the names of birds that were named after white males. Here’s a portion of their press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@americanornithology.org
CHICAGO (November 1, 2023) – Today the American Ornithological Society (AOS) announced that in an effort to address past wrongs and engage far more people in the enjoyment, protection, and study of birds, it will change all English bird names currently named after people within its geographic jurisdiction. “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today.”
Some of the bird names to be changed would include Swainson’s Warbler, Wilson’s Plover, Bachman’s Sparrow and Audubon’s Shearwater. John James Audubon (1785-1851) was the greatest bird artist and naturalist in American history. It’s nutty to eliminate his name.
Here’s an email I sent to the Ornithological Society, “Please spare us this woke nonsense. Renaming American birds is lunacy. You don’t give a damn about the birds. You only care about spreading your woke nonsense and that will hurt the birds more than help them.”
-Jim Cook
