The American Ornithological Society said Wednesday it will change all English bird names currently named after people. AOS said it's being done to change naming conventions clouded by racism and misogyny.
It’s a problem in that it ignores the fact that McCown (who happened to then fight for the Confederacy after) collected this bird and gave it to another white man, who ‘named’ it. The bird was already well known to Native American tribes in Texas and Arizona. So to say that McCown ‘discovered’ it is just blatantly wrong. The name that the AOS will go with is the ‘thick-billed longspur’ as it’s anatomically accurate and doesn’t make it seem like McCown discovered this bird.
It’s a problem in that it ignores the fact that McCown (who happened to then fight for the Confederacy after) collected this bird and gave it to another white man, who ‘named’ it. The bird was already well known to Native American tribes in Texas and Arizona. So to say that McCown ‘discovered’ it is just blatantly wrong. The name that the AOS will go with is the ‘thick-billed longspur’ as it’s anatomically accurate and doesn’t make it seem like McCown discovered this bird.
So you are saying they are gonna change all European centric names for something regarding their phisical attribute? Or is it just this one?
I believe they’re trying to change any bird that’s named after a person, and any European-centric name that replaced an existing indigenous name.