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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hauksen" data-source="post: 3604016" data-attributes="member: 142861">Hi Kb57,When it comes to bird names, it's more that the name of a bird is one entity, and the German spelling makes it easy to recognize that (through contraction, not through capitalization):blue tit = Blaumeisethree-toed woodpecker = Dreizehenspechtwryneck = Wendehalsred-backed shrike = Rotrückenwürgerblack redstart = Gartenrotschwanzyellowhammer = Goldammer(Funnily enough, some of the English bird names are actually contracted as well.)Capitalization of English bird names, as seen in the Collins and the Sibley's, is another way of making the conceptual entity of the bird name recognizable in print, and to discern name-giving adjectives from merely descriptive adjectives.So it's more than just drawing attention to the bird names - it's making clear what their names actually are. (Just to point out that the two options you listed are not symmetrical ... one has an objective advantage over the other.)However, I certainly wouldn't suggest that anyone should set aside his personal preference for a certain variant of spelling just because of something like that ... in fact, I'm happy to find people who consider questions of orthography and type-setting important enough to sacrifice a certain amount of utility in favour of aesthetics, because I can definitively relate to that <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />Regards,Henning</blockquote>

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