Why Are Birds Being Renamed?
Across the United States, dozens of birds in our backyards will have their identities changed. In total, over 100 bird species will be given new names this year – presenting a challenge to memorize a whole new set of names for birders, to say nothing about the Inspire EdVenture team’s regular Wingspan games.
On November 1, 2023, the American Ornithological Society (founded at the American Ornithological Union 140 years ago) decided that all birds named after people would be renamed. These include the Brewer’s blackbird, named after ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer, and Audubon’s shearwater, named after early naturalist John James Audubon.
A male Euphagus cyanocephalus, known as a Brewer’s blackbird. Image by Wolfgang Wander.
But why are these names being changed? The answer lies in the history of science, and its complicated, often fraught, relationship with colonization, slavery, and racism that scientists are today are only now beginning to grapple with.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
It’s a common adage that names have power – and that’s especially true for what we decide to call species in the natural world. While it’s acknowledged that Latin serves as the “official” language that scientists worldwide can easily identify a species by, common names for the same species can vary across languages and regions.
But when Europeans colonized the Americas, they had a whole continent full of animals they didn’t have names for. Of course, there were Native American names, but few Europeans cared to adopt them. Instead, they started naming them after who cataloged them for the first time, or for a fellow scientist or naturalist. That’s where we get Bell’s vireo, Scott’s oriole, and more.
A Vireo bellii, known as a Bell’s vireo, at the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, MO. Image by Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren.
But this was also happening at a time when two of the most extreme wrongs of American history – slavery and the massacre and forced relocation of Native Americans – were also underway. The result is that many birds we have today are named after people who had a direct hand in perpetrating these wrongs.
For example, Scott’s oriole was named after General Winfield Scott, who was directly responsible the forced relocation of Native Americans during the Trail of Tears. Townsend’s Warbler was named after John Kirk Townsend, who robbed Indigenous graves of skulls in the 1800s. And John James Audubon, the namesake of two birds and one of America’s first ornithologists, has recently drawn increased scrutiny for being an enslaver.
SAME BIRDS, NEW NAMES
So why does this matter? It can be argued (as many have!) that the names of birds today have little connection to the problematic figures they were named after. And it’s not as if the birds care, either!
It’s important to note that the change in names comes after a white woman called the police on Christian Cooper, a Black birder, in 2020. The event drove home to many birders the very real challenges faced by non-white birders, and renewed calls to confront racism in ornithology’s past. For very many people, bird watching is a chance to connect with nature, to experience the natural world, and to find joy in discovering a rare bird or particular favorite in the trees, and the names of enslavers and others can detract from that sense of joy.
It’s not a big step, either, as many of these birds already have common names. Scott’s oriole is sometimes known also as the yucca oriole, in honor of its habitat, and Bachman’s sparrow is commonly known as the Pinewood thrush. Changing other names can also identify what’s unique to a given bird – its habitat, colors or range – rather than just the person who first cataloged it.
A male Icterus parisorum, known as the Scott’s oriole or yucca oriole. Photo by Don Faulkner.
Right now, the change only applies to U.S. birds, but the American Ornithological Society is also planning to consult with ornithologists in Latin America about changing the names of birds in Central and South America, too.
In the end, we can’t take back the harms many early scientists and naturalists helped perpetrate, we can still work to move on to a better future for science. As the scientific community is striving to be more diverse and open to people of different ethnicities, sexes, and gender identities, changing the names of birds is one small step to making bird watching, and science in general, something that all people can feel welcome in.