It is considered the height of arrogance, and now against the rules of nomenclature, for the discoverer of a species to name the organism after his or herself, but many species have been named in honor of others, such as Baird’s Sandpiper, Queen Anne’s Lace, and Bouganvilla. Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823 -1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and […]
Birds Named After People Read More »
There are a number of species of birds with widespread distributions such as the Peregrine Falcon, Mallard, and European Starling. Each has a designated scientific name, but all of the nearly 11,000 species of birds have an official common English name as well, as established by the International Ornithological Committee. So for every English-speaking country
The strange title is simply a euphemism for “birds eating poop.” You are familiar with bird poop as that white stuff deposited on car side view mirrors, pool decks, and window ledges, but new research reported in the National Library of Medicine provides a different way to look at it. Just as in our gut,
There’s a recent (Oct 2023) article in the journal Ornithological Applications entitled “Historical racial redlining and contemporary patterns of income inequality negatively affect birds, their habitat, and people in Los Angeles, California.” It’s rather complex but the basic idea is that well-to-do or even moderate-income neighborhoods have a greater diversity of birds than do low-income
Economic View of Birdwatching Read More »
I earlier discussed the proposal by the American Ornithologist’s Union (AOU) to change the common names of birds named after people. Let me add a little more here. Will this lead to a change in scientific names as well? The AOU changed McCown’s Longspur to the Thick-billed Longspur because of McCown’s support of slavery as
The Naming Controversy Read More »
From the Washington Post, November 1, 2023: “The American Ornithological Society (AOU) says it will alter the names of North American birds named after humans, starting with up to 80 of them.” Their justifications are that the names are of people with negative reputations – endorsing or participating in slavery, for example – and that
Bird Names Changing? Read More »
One of the most notable characteristics of birds is their lightweight skeletal systems. Even though most bird bones are thin-walled and hollow relative to mammal bones, the wall of the bone itself is quite dense and the internal struts deter breaking. Some recent research tells us something that we had not known before: bigger birds
Bird Bones as Tools Read More »
There are all kinds of reasons for the common names birds have. They are named after people (Baird’s Sandpiper, for instance), places (Carolina Wren), physical description (Purple Finch), voice (Chachalaca), and behavior (dipper). Sometimes they are misleading, like the Red-bellied Woodpecker whose belly is really pinkish and the Ring-necked Duck whose ringed neck is very
Names, Redux, Again Read More »
You might be familiar with one of the most famous murders of the 20th century, that committed by Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, teenagers who killed a 14 year old Bobby Franks in 1924 apparently for thrills, money, and the thought that they were smart enough to get away with it. They were intellectually astute
Nathan Leopold, Birdwatcher and Murderer Read More »
As I drove home from a week at a lake, catching few fish, I saw a group of fish-eating birds circling overhead – pelicans. Were the Pelicans mocking me? Probably not, but I stopped to admire these large, seemingly ungainly waterbirds which are so adept at piscivory. Known for their unique long beaks and large
