AOS to discard patronyms in English names (3 Viewers)

[Jacana]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1719701237929562360

So, we've had several threads on the topic of changing English names. But as the AOS seem to be about to make sweeping changes to remove patronyms from birds in their area, it might be good to have a thread dedicated to the changes. Some of the species will have alternative names which are already in use and the change will be easy. Others will be more challenging to find a suitable replacement.

They're starting with species with ranges "primarily within the USA and Canada". By my reckoning, there are 90-ish species (using IOC taxonomy) which have a patronym and can be found in the US/Canada.

Rather than have another argument about the merits of removing patronyms or not (let's save that for one of the many threads on the topic). Why not let us have some fun and come up with/predict some of the new names that we will have to become familiar with.

Here is a list of the species I've come up with:

Ross's Goose
Steller's Eider
Barrow's Goldeneye
Gambel's Quail
Vaux's Swift
Rivoli's Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird
Costa's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Ridgway's Rail
Clark's Grebe
Wilson's Plover
Baird's Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Phalarope
Sabine's Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ross's Gull
Franklin's Gull
Heermann's Gull
Cabot's Tern
Forster's Tern
Kittlitz's Murrelet
Scripps's Murrelet
Craveri's Murrelet
Cassin's Auklet
Wilson's Storm Petrel
Leach's Storm Petrel
Tristram's Storm Petrel
Murphy's Petrel
Cook's Petrel
Cory's Shearwater
Buller's Shearwater
Newell's Shearwater
Audubon's Shearwater
Brandt's Cormorant
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Lewis's Woodpecker
Williamson's Sapsucker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Say's Phoebe
Hammond's Flycatcher
Couch's Kingbird
Cassin's Kingbird
Hutton's Vireo
Cassin's Vireo
Bell's Vireo
Steller's Jay
Woodhouse's Scrub Jay
Clark's Nutcracker
Bewick's Wren
Bendire's Thrasher
LeConte's Thrasher
Townsend's Solitaire
Swainson's Thrush
Bicknell's Thrush
Sprague's Pipit
Cassin's Finch
Lawrence's Goldfinch
Smith's Longspur
McKay's Bunting
Botteri's Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Bachman's Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Harris's Sparrow
Bell's Sparrow
LeConte's Sparrow
Nelson's Sparrow
Baird's Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Abert's Towhee
Scott's Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Bullock's Oriole
Brewer's Blackbird
Bachman's Warbler
Swainson's Warbler
Lucy's Warbler
Virginia's Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Kirtland's Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Audubon's Warbler
Grace's Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Morelet's Seedeater

And here is a link to a Google Sheet where I'll keep track of ideas people come up with: AOS renaming

 

[DMW]

I object to the name 'America' on the same grounds? Can we get rid of that too?

 

[jts1882]

Intermediate yellow billed continent?

 

[DMW]

Intermediate yellow billed continent?

Maybe Yellow-bellied would be more apposite?

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Surely Chuck-wills-widow is onomatapeaic rather than being named after the wife of a deceased Mr. Charles Wills! 😂

 

[pbjosh]

Whatever you make of the decision, it's going to be disruptive and I fear unpopular!

BTW, Chuck-wills-widow is onomatopoeic, not eponymous, so I guess it shouldn't be a target for change?

 

[Jacana]

Yep, you're right. I filtered the full bird list by whether the name had an apostrophe in it or not and forgot to remove that one! Change made.

 

[Jacana]

Ok, I'm going to start off with Ross's Gull

I think this one has an elegant solution, and propose the name Rosy Gull. We end up with a very similar name phonetically, while introducing a descriptive element.

 

[Jacana]

Wilson's Plover

The feature that really stands out for this species, in my opinion, is the size of it's beak compared to all other Charadrius s.l. species.

Proposal: Thick-billed Plover

 

[Jacana]

Bachman's Sparrow

As one of those species that is restricted to the pine forests of the SE USA, an alternative name that is already in use is highly appropriate here

Proposal: Pinewoods Sparrow

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Ross's Goose
Steller's Eider
Barrow's Goldeneye
Gambel's Quail
Vaux's Swift
Rivoli's Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird
Costa's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Ridgway's Rail
Clark's Grebe
Wilson's Plover
Baird's Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Phalarope
Sabine's Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ross's Gull
Franklin's Gull
Heermann's Gull
Cabot's Tern
Forster's Tern
Kittlitz's Murrelet
Scripps's Murrelet
Craveri's Murrelet
Cassin's Auklet
Wilson's Storm Petrel
Leach's Storm Petrel
Tristram's Storm Petrel
Murphy's Petrel
Cook's Petrel
Cory's Shearwater
Buller's Shearwater
Newell's Shearwater
Audubon's Shearwater
Brandt's Cormorant
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Lewis's Woodpecker
Williamson's Sapsucker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Strickland's Woodpecker
Say's Phoebe
Hammond's Flycatcher
Couch's Kingbird
Cassin's Kingbird
Hutton's Vireo
Cassin's Vireo
Bell's Vireo
Steller's Jay
Woodhouse's Scrub Jay
Clark's Nutcracker
Bewick's Wren
Bendire's Thrasher
LeConte's Thrasher
Townsend's Solitaire
Swainson's Thrush
Bicknell's Thrush
Sprague's Pipit
Cassin's Finch
Lawrence's Goldfinch
Smith's Longspur
McKay's Bunting
Botteri's Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Bachman's Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Harris's Sparrow
Bell's Sparrow
LeConte's Sparrow
Nelson's Sparrow
Baird's Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Abert's Towhee
Scott's Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Bullock's Oriole
Brewer's Blackbird
Bachman's Warbler
Swainson's Warbler
Lucy's Warbler
Virginia's Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Kirtland's Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Audubon's Warbler
Grace's Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Morelet's Seedeater

Are they all problematic?

 

[jts1882]

No. I assume they have decided to remove them all to avoid debate on who is or isn't a problem.

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

No. I assume they have decided to remove them all to avoid debate on who is or isn't a problem.

It's a little bit ridiculous no ?

 

[Kirk Roth]

One more departure from the WGAC and major world lists.

Cabot's Tern is not accepted by AOS, so you can strike that off the list.

 

[mb1848]

Are they all problematic? To me.
Rosy Gull "it's a trait shared with a number of closely related gulls."
A Rosy Gull by any other name ...... .

 

[Farnboro John]

It's a little bit ridiculous no ?

Certainly the idea that the rest of the world might go along with their nonsense - especially for species where their "jurisdiction" is marginal at best such as Cory's Shearwater - is remarkable.

John

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Are they all problematic? To me.
Rosy Gull "it's a trait shared with a number of closely related gulls."
A Rosy Gull by any other name ...... .

In French, it's also Rosy Gull/Mouette rosée, even if the French comity use Ross's Gull/Mouette de Ross. Both English and French highlight the breast color.

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Certainly the idea that the rest of the world might go along with their nonsense - especially for species where their "jurisdiction" is marginal at best such as Cory's Shearwater - is remarkable.

John

It also gives the impression that they don't know how to solve a problem or that they don't agree among themselves to solve certain problematic names. A kind of ornithological revisionism

 

[Jos Stratford]

What a rubbish idea to mangle a huge portion of current bird names, but my first proposal if it has to be done:

Steller's Eider - change to Stellar Eider

Stellar can mean amazing, and that's one pretty cool duck. And it's close enough to the original for us Luddites to pretend it never changed

 

[Reuven_M]

Another note on the list above - Strickland's Woodpecker is endemic to Mexico so wouldn't be covered (at least right away?), and there are a number of other species which don't meet the qualification of being primarily in the US or Canada (at first glance Morelet's Seedeater, many of the seabirds, Couch's Kingbird, etc.