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AOU-NACC Proposals 2019 (1 Viewer)

R Terry Chesser, Kevin J Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L Dunn, Andrew W Kratter, Irby J Lovette, Pamela C Rasmussen, J V Remsen, Douglas F Stotz, Kevin Winker, Sixtieth Supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds, The Auk: Ornithological Advances, , ukz042, https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/ukz042

[link]
 
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It seems a bit odd to me that Melanitta fusca (Velvet Scoter) appears as an entry in the 60th Supplement even though it hasn't been recorded in North America. Or if it has, I don't see any mention of it in the supplement. Maybe I'm missing something?
 
Paul Clapham said:
It seems a bit odd to me that Melanitta fusca (Velvet Scoter) appears as an entry in the 60th Supplement even though it hasn't been recorded in North America. Or if it has, I don't see any mention of it in the supplement. Maybe I'm missing something?
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It's been recorded in Greenland, which is part of the AOS region.
 
awiner said:
It's been recorded in Greenland, which is part of the AOS region.
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And given the number of North American scoter (of all 3 species) reaching NW Europe, the reverse could easily be happening too: birders in Nova Scotia, Labrador, etc., should definitely have Velvet Scoter on their radar, I'd think it won't be long till they find some :t:
 
Seems to me that they already made good case for not changing it?

Why is the species name asterisked out in the subject line?
 
Additional considerations included the lack of recognition in the proposal of McCown’s substantial contributions to ornithology; the fact that the bird name predated the Civil War and was unrelated to his role in the Confederacy; the lack of evidence personally associating McCown with slaveholding, including his upbringing in a region of Tennessee generally opposed to slavery; and McCown’s strong anti-Confederacy comments during the war.
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The above would be enough to make me still vote against a change.

Niels
 
Besides the name honouring a slave trader (is it really so difficult to understand that this is deeply offensive to many? You wouldn't object to a name change if it was Hitler's or Mussolini's Longspur, would you?) I will ALWAYS favour non-honorific bird names. Even though I have already seen both Scopoli's and Cory's Shearwater I still can't tell you which is the (more) Mediterranean and which is the (more) Atlantic species, simply because their names tell me absolutely nothing about the birds themselves.
 
I want to point that Amerigo Vespucci was a slave owner and expeditions which he joined conducted slave raids. United States of America and the continent of America are named after him. As are many birds with the name 'American'.: American Kestrel, American Coot etc. etc.
 
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Maffong said:
Besides the name honouring a slave trader (is it really so difficult to understand that this is deeply offensive to many? You wouldn't object to a name change if it was Hitler's or Mussolini's Longspur, would you?) I will ALWAYS favour non-honorific bird names. Even though I have already seen both Scopoli's and Cory's Shearwater I still can't tell you which is the (more) Mediterranean and which is the (more) Atlantic species, simply because their names tell me absolutely nothing about the birds themselves.
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Where has it been written that McCown was a "slave trader?" In the rather wide reading of his history by the NACC, he never owned slaves (let alone "traded"), he lived in a part of Tennessee that was against secession, and although he served as an officer in the CSA army, he disparaged the Confederacy and its leadership. To equate McCown with Hitler or Mussolini is about as far a stretch of hyperbole that I can imagine.

Andy

Andy
 
Maffong said:
Besides the name honouring a slave trader (is it really so difficult to understand that this is deeply offensive to many? You wouldn't object to a name change if it was Hitler's or Mussolini's Longspur, would you?) I will ALWAYS favour non-honorific bird names. Even though I have already seen both Scopoli's and Cory's Shearwater I still can't tell you which is the (more) Mediterranean and which is the (more) Atlantic species, simply because their names tell me absolutely nothing about the birds themselves.
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Naming taxa after people is inherently problematic for one reason or another and there will always be some justification for changing them. Your shearwater examples provide some anecdotes I cannot resist. Charles Cory authored some works which might be considered very out of fashion in today's times - notably "Story of a Bad Indian" and others in his book, Montezuma's Castle.

Giovanni Scopoli on the other hand, is one name I can believe is appropriate. In addition to the bird, the plant Scopolia is named after him. From that plant is derived Scopolamine, the motion sickness drug which has perhaps allowed some birders to observe his namesake shearwater in relative comfort.
 
Maffong said:
Besides the name honouring a slave trader (is it really so difficult to understand that this is deeply offensive to many? You wouldn't object to a name change if it was Hitler's or Mussolini's Longspur, would you?) I will ALWAYS favour non-honorific bird names. Even though I have already seen both Scopoli's and Cory's Shearwater I still can't tell you which is the (more) Mediterranean and which is the (more) Atlantic species, simply because their names tell me absolutely nothing about the birds themselves.
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If you bother to read the disucssion at the link which is quoted above your message by Niels, there is no proven link to slave holding let alone trading.

The extract quoted by Niels, supports not changing the name in my view although the trend for honorific naming is now considered passé and a little vulgar I believe, regardless of who a species is named after.

Again I ask, why was 'McCown', partially hidden behind asterisks in the subject line?
 
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