List the bird names you cowards
Tits and boobies come to mind.
Sorry, what were we talking about? Birds?
I couldn’t find a single example of a racist bird name in that article. You’d think they would give one.
You can find a list on https://birdnamesforbirds.wordpress.com/historical-profiles/bios-by-region/ if you’re interested.
Yet often it was his own stubborn and uncompromising nature that defined his life – his choices paint a picture of a man who was unable to heed the words of others. This undendinly antagonistic nature cost him friends, honours and ultimately put him into the dark role of colonialist.
He was “stubborn and uncompromising”, which makes him “antagonistic”, therefore a colonialist and racist. That’s a pretty low bar. I don’t think it makes sense to define racism in a way that makes all 19th century naturalists racist.
You could have also picked the dude that desecrated indigenous graves to do phrenology.
Edit: Jesus Christ you left out that this dude was a literal colonizer in New Zealand. He was an officer in a militia during the New Zealand Wars.
He was also a committee member of The New Zealand Company, which existed to systemically colonize New Zealand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_John_Swainson#New_Zealand_estate
So maybe it is slightly misleading to say he was labeled racist for being “antagonistic”??
Admittedly, I only checked this one article. I think it’s hard to judge how evil he really was. Either way, not a hill I’m going to die on.
This is a terrible source, as is Lemmy tradition.
Here’s a better source I really wish that op would have been better about that. It’s linked in the article they linked.
It appears that they are concerned with the tradition that the first person that scientifically describes the species gets to name it.
And, well, those people have been white.
Seems like stupid rationale IMO.
Do you think artists should be able to name their works?
Why shouldn’t scientists also be able to name their works?
That’s exactly what I’m saying. They should be able to.
It’s hard to communicate with pithy texts only. I misunderstood.
I agree that the renaming effort is an over reaction trying to be more DEI for no apparent benefit.
That’s why people should be concerned. There’s likely an ulterior motive here.
I’m curious what the ulterior motive for renaming birds could be?
Obviously it’s about globalist world domination plot
To sell new bird guide editions, obviously.
I have no fucking idea but it only makes sense there would be one, if there truly was no bigotry behind their original names.
Calm down there Alex Jones
Lol, what? What exactly is concerning about renaming birds to be more descriptive?
Not everything is a conspiracy, my guy.
First, they rename birds.
And then, they’ll make all of our kids gay trans Korean lizard people!!!
READ BETWEEN THE LINES SHEEPLE
I must say, I will appreciate more descriptive names when trying to identify certain birds.
I must say, if they rename the tit or the booby I shall hereby declare a state of war.
Many Latin and Greek names of birds are descriptive. For example what people often call the “tit” bird is actually Parus major, which you could roughly translate into “a bit bigger”. And they are the biggest of the tit birds.
And another “tit” actually is called Lophophanes cristatus. Which roughly means “showing the comb (lophophanes) with hood (cristatus)”.
I never knew that. That’s pretty cool.
Cute!
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Birb
Tweety
Birdy mcbirdface
Birdemic
Blue tits
Yeah this’ll go well
I can’t imagine a world in which calling a bird a “tit” in the first place was not the product of a poorly thought out public poll
“tit” is old-style english mean “something small” or “a little bit”. You can still spot the word in old sayings like the biblical “Jot or tittle”.
On the other hand, we also woodpeckers, which is kinda similar in that it has a common translation, but also a hilarious one.
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They’re aiming for more descriptive names, so it’s probably not going to be a “vote for the best name” type of public involvement
I’m not entirely sure that involving the public in anything is wise.
ok what bird said the n word
Twas a Southern Black Tit but it was talking to its homey.
Papa ooma mow mow
Can we rename all the lady parts next? Too many dead white men up in my junk.
https://medium.com/beingwell/10-female-specific-body-parts-named-after-men-f4ce59d16b91
You actually seem to have got it.
Here’s a better source that suggests that they are interested in changing birds named after people, rather than birds named after slurs. It’s linked in this article. I really hope that shames op. We need to be better.
Whether or not those people were bigots, they were probably white and male. Same as the anatomists that named the lady parts.
There’s just a tradition of the first person to scientifically describe a “thing” getting to name it.
It’s not great, but people that get to travel the world describing species and knowing enough to scientifically describe lady parts, etc are not poor people, at least until post war science. They still would have been mostly white and male, but they wouldn’t have had to be as much independently wealthy.
The tradition of namin something after another person does not apply to anatomy. The tradition there is to use latin which describes its function, appearance and/or location in the body. Except the men who wanted to name women’s anatomy after themselves. Going as far as to make stuff up, and even name structures that weren’t part of the female reproductive organs but merely seemed like it.
Good tactic to make everyone need to buy new editions of bird guide books.
But which bird will be renamed to X?
The titters
For example, in 2020, the AOS renamed a small prairie songbird found on the Great Plains to “Thick-billed Longspur.” The bird’s original name—honoring John P. McCown, an amateur naturalist who later became a general in the Confederate Army during the U.S. Civil War—was perceived as a painful link to slavery and racism.
I don’t know how I feel about this though…
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.
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Damn… k bye lol
I believe if species being renamed were known and named by Indigenous peoples, that name is the proper name to use. These organisms were not discovered by western science any more than the continent was discovered by westerners. Not only would it be a small sign of respect but would help protect Indigenous language and culture.
Can’t wait to periodically rename everything every ~70 years as societal standards change.
Can’t wait to periodically rename everything every ~70 years as societal standards change.
Well, I guess you can take solace in the fact that unless you’re in grade school right now you probably won’t be alive the next time the American Ornithological Society decides to re-examine the english names for birds.
Even those still in grade school shouldn’t be concerned as most of these bird species won’t survive climate change on the track it is currently taking
Finally. I think it’s fair to name a bird after you if you are its creator. Being the first person to document it doesn’t mean much to me and certainly doesn’t mean they can name a bird after themselves.
Edit: i guess the downvoters believe that a bird is not discovered until a white man sees it.
