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AOU-NACC Proposals 2019 (1 Viewer)

If the English name were to be changed (and it won't be), we couldn't do any better than Coues's "bay-winged longspur."

Then there's otsikékinaxsoatsis, the most nearly 'original' name for the species. We went down that same crooked path with the names of many Hawaiian birds, a serious mistake.
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Out of interest which (if any) of the suggested alternative names given would be most acceptable to all you North American forum members?[/QUOTE]
 
otsikékinaxsoatsis, the most nearly 'original' name for the species. We went down that same crooked path with the names of many Hawaiian birds, a serious mistake.

What's wrong with "King Kong Finch"? ;)

Do native Hawaiians actually use those Hawaiian names? Or are they neologisms?
 
I am surprised at your outrage given that plants, which you frequently include in your IDs, long ago did away with those apostrophes (e.g., Douglas Fir). As do most other non-biological entities (e.g, Eiffel Tower)

You mean Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga spp., I presume? ;)
 
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You mean Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga spp., I presume? ;)

Didn't our eponymous hero get himself killed by falling in to a hole which was dug to catch wild cows, there was already a cow in it which killed him or is that twaddle.................?

Do I recall a suggestion that there was suspected foul play?
 
Didn't our eponymous hero get himself killed by falling in to a hole which was dug to catch wild cows, there was already a cow in it which killed him or is that twaddle.................?

Do I recall a suggestion that there was suspected foul play?


Yep, on both counts - he was likely pushed; the person who knew where he had headed was a convict, and Douglas's money was missing. No proof of foul play, but it does appear very likely.
 
McCown's Longspur. Slavery is a sin. The U.S. Army killed lots of native peoples. Judging someone born in 1815 in 2018 viewed through a modern sensibility is awkward. I do judge I want statutes of Confederate Generals torndown. Because stupid people use them to engender hate. If someone got whipped into Pol Pot's army or Hitler's army they cannot have a bird named after them? People are complex. I made a lot of dumb choices as a youth. I have changed. Not to defend Mccown's role as a Confederate General but he grew disenchanted after a long while of the Confederacy "McCown declared the Confederacy was nothing more than "a damned stinking cotton oligarchy... gotten up for the benefit of Isham G. Harris and Jefferson Davis and their damned corrupt cliques.".

Complex indeed - the proposal clearly mentioned nothing of McCown's views in his later years. To take the argument ad absurdium, we may as well do away with all patronyms, as I'm sure everyone has done something bad in their life... and it would fix the apostrophe problem to boot!

While on the topic of the confederacy, it should be noted that cafer is not the only racially tinged subspecies of Northern Flicker. The official name of Alabama's state bird is not that, nor Yellow-shafted Flicker, but its colloquial name "Yellowhammer," in tribute(?) to certain Alabama Confederate companies whose uniforms were yellow and gray, resembling the woodpecker. With 30% or more of Alabama's citizens having ancestors who were slaves, I would expect this would have more potential to offend more people than either topic of the AOS proposals.
 
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Although etymologically of the same origin, I'm not aware that 'cafer' and 'kaf*ir' cause the same level of offence? As far as I know, only the latter spelling is proscribed in South Africa. A bit like the way 'ni**er' is offensive, but negro, or niger, aren't; or 'Scot*h' is offensive (whisky excepted!) but Scots and Scottish are not.

If so, then the scientific name cafer needn't cause any difficulty.
 
Although etymologically of the same origin, I'm not aware that 'cafer' and 'kaf*ir' cause the same level of offence? As far as I know, only the latter spelling is proscribed in South Africa. A bit like the way 'ni**er' is offensive, but negro, or niger, aren't; or 'Scot*h' is offensive (whisky excepted!) but Scots and Scottish are not.

If so, then the scientific name cafer needn't cause any difficulty.

I started a thread in Ruffled Feathers before I banned myself when I noted the spelling of Niger, given as 'Nyjer' so as not to look even vaguely offensive on packets of bird seed in America.

I'm pretty sure that the term 'Negro' is now, also no longer acceptable, the term 'African American' is I believe, the newly favoured term. We should go with the alpha numeric like the UK police do with whites being IC1 but then someone would ask, why are whites 1, black people came first, shouldn't they be 1 and others may even try to imply an elitism based on the number assignation, it's never ending!
 
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Proposals 2019-B (PDF)

2019-B-1: Transfer Orinoco Goose Neochen jubata to Oressochen
2019-B-2: Recognize the parulid genus Leiothlypis
2019-B-3: Change the linear sequence of the Hirundinidae
2019-B-4a: Make changes to the English names of hummingbirds in the genus Lampornis: Use mountain-gem for all species of Lampornis
2019-B-4b: Make changes to the English names of hummingbirds in the genus Lampornis: Delete the hyphen in mountain-gem
2019-B-5: Split Hwamei Garrulax canorus into two species, recognizing G. taewanus
2019-B-6: ASplit Socorro Parakeet Psittacara brevipes from P. holochlorus
2019-B-7: Merge the storm-petrel genus Oceanodroma into Hydrobates
2019-B-8: Recognize family Leiothrichidae for Leiothrix and Garrulax
2019-B-9: Modify the linear sequence of genera and species in the Passerellidae
2019-B-10a: Merge Pselliophorus into Atlapetes
2019-B-10b: Merge Melozone into Aimophila
2019-B-11: Separate Gray-faced Petrel Pterodroma gouldi from P. macroptera
 
The concept of a shared list of birds generated by an authority is an impediment to free will.
2019-B-5
Comprehensive phylogeny of the laughingthrushes and allies Cibois et al June 2018 agrees with this split. But disagrees with other Collar 2006 based on Tobias splits. The AOS should resurrect Leucodioptron Bonaparte, 1854 (type species Garrulax canorus),
 
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2019-B-2: Recognize the parulid genus Leiothlypis

I think the three times the word "conspecifics" is used in this proposal are all wrong - the intended word is presumably "congenerics". Compare conspecific (belonging to the same species) and congeneric (belonging to the same genus). The author of the proposal, Terry Chesser, uses "conspecific" correctly in one of his other proposals (2019-B-11).
 
I think the three times the word "conspecifics" is used in this proposal are all wrong - the intended word is presumably "congenerics". Compare conspecific (belonging to the same species) and congeneric (belonging to the same genus). The author of the proposal, Terry Chesser, uses "conspecific" correctly in one of his other proposals (2019-B-11).

Just realised that the right word would be "congeners" nor "congenerics".
 
Uff, of course, thanks. B :)

Actually I think 2019 is correct, hence the proposals being named "2019-A, 2019-B" etc. An NACC "year" ends in July apparently and that's how they organize their proposals. There are usually three sets and we can expect a "2019-C" sometime in the matching Gregorian year.

See the following for which proposals go with which years, and note that 2019 is currently "ongoing" while the 59th supplement was 2018.

http://checklist.aou.org/nacc/proposals/current_and_prior_proposals.html
 
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