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 part of a broader movement to rename birds to be more descriptive. “McCow’s longspur” is both unmemorable and nondescriptive, “thick-billed longspur” puts one of its distinguishing features in the name.
The fact there’s a lot of racists who had birds named after them hundreds of years ago is just one more thing to add to the pile. The names would benefit from being changed even if they were all saints.
It’s part of a broader movement to rename birds to be more descriptive. “McCow’s longspur” is both unmemorable and nondescriptive, “thick-billed longspur” puts one of its distinguishing features in the name.
The fact there’s a lot of racists who had birds named after them hundreds of years ago is just one more thing to add to the pile. The names would benefit from being changed even if they were all saints.