Xenospiza
Distracted
If your mother tongue is English, I doubt that you are pronouncing e.g. Stejneger, Krüper, Radde, Güldenstädt, Ménétriés or Cretzschmar correctly.
So basically I am doing you a service!
(To be fair, the English pronounce "Cetti" better than the Dutch).
Many of the names below do not deserve changing at all. Others which are not eponymous actually do.
It was just an exercise in looking for features that could be used in another name.
In between brackets sources/remarks.
Bewick’s Swan - Little Swan (Dutch)
Stejneger’s Scoter - Rhinoceros Scoter
Philby’s Partridge - Black-throated Partridge (a unique feature, no idea why it needed an eponym)
Reeves’s Pheasant - Ladder-tailed Pheasant
Lady Amherst’s Pheasant - Scaly-ruffed Pheasant
Bolle’s Pigeon - Grey-banded Pigeon (I also thought of "Tree-heath Pigeon" vs Laurel Pigeon)
Pallas’s Sandgrouse - Mongolian Sandgrouse (well, it’s common there and prone to invasions)
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse - Fine-barred Sandgrouse (existing alternative name)
Sykes’s Nightjar - Thar Nightjar
Forbes-Watson’s Swift - Socotra Swift (Dutch)
Baillon’s Crake - Green-billed Crake (Dutch & German names are boring, "Least" and "Dwarf")
Allen’s Gallinule - African Purple Gallinule (vs. American Purple Gallinule)
Macqueen’s Bustard - Asian Houbara (vs African Houbara)
Monteiro’s Storm Petrel - Graciosa Storm Petrel (would be mightily unfair to change)
Matsudaira’s Storm Petrel - Large-flashed Storm Petrel
Swinhoe’s Storm Petrel - Small-flashed Storm Petrel
Fea’s Petrel - Cape Verde Petrel (alternative name)
Zino’s Petrel - Madeira Petrel (would be mightily unfair to change)
Scopoli’s Shearwater - White-fingered Shearwater
Cory’s Shearwater - Yellow-billed Shearwater (German)
Barolo Shearwater - Canary Islands Little Shearwater (alternative name)
Boyd’s Shearwater - Cape Verde Little Shearwater (alternative name)
Bulwer’s Petrel - Long-tailed Petrel
Jouanin’s Petrel - Socotra Petrel
Abdim’s Stork - Sahel Stork
Von Schrenck’s Bittern - Brown-backed Bittern
Kittlitz’s Plover – Buff-breasted Plover
Temminck’s Stint - Grizzled Stint (that'll get me beaten up by the Dutch)
Swinhoe’s Snipe - Rattling Snipe
Latham’s Snipe - Hissing Snipe (for comparison, I'm aware there are no records)
Pallas’s Gull - Great Black-headed Gull (superior alternative name)
Audouin’s Gull - Black-eyed Gull (the German name translates as "Coral Gull")
Thayer’s Gull – Grey-tipped Gull
Saunders’s Tern - Coral Tern
Rüppell’s Vulture - Spotted Vulture
Wahlberg’s Eagle - Acacia Eagle (names in other languages are "Silver Eagle", "Brown Eagle" and "Savanna Eagle". "Little" is already taken, "dimorphic" fits Booted better).
Verreaux’s Eagle - Hyrax Eagle
Bonelli’s Eagle - Black-banded Eagle (another tough one, but its wing- and tailband are black)
Montagu’s Harrier - Stripe-winged Harrier
Pallas’s Fish Eagle - White-banded Sea Eagle (Dutch)
Tengmalm’s Owl - Boreal Owl (boring American name)
Lilford’s Woodpecker - Bar-backed Woodpecker
Eleonora’s Falcon - Mediterranean Falcon (very boring indeed. Dimorphic Hobby much better).
Thekla’s Lark - Grey-winged Crested Lark (vs Brown-winged Crested Lark & Long-billed Crested Lark)
Temminck’s Lark - Desert Horned Lark
Hume’s Short-toed Lark - Tibetan Short-toed Lark (alternative name)
Horsfield’s Bush Lark - Singing Bush Lark (likely split anyway)
Dupont’s Lark - Curve-billed Lark
African Dunn’s Lark - Saharan Lark
Arabian Dunn’s Lark - Arabian Lark (not named after Dunn)
Cetti’s Warbler - Deafening Bush Warbler
Pallas’s Leaf Warbler - Goldcrest Warbler (German)
Hume’s Leaf Warbler - Piercing Warbler (for its song) (the alternative Inornate Warbler is unfair).
Radde’s Warbler - Ochre-vented Warbler
Western Bonelli’s Warbler - Alpine Wood Warbler
Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler - Balkan Wood Warbler (not named after Bonelli)
Tristram’s Warbler - Atlas Warbler (Dutch) (the Sylvia’s/Curruca’s could do with better names overall)
Ménétriés’s Warbler - Tamarisk Warbler
Moltoni’s Warbler - Churring Subalpine Warbler
Marmora’s Warbler - Corsican Warbler (it’s "Sardinian Warbler" in Dutch, but that name was inexplicably given to melanocephala)
Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler - Great Grassbird (it doesn't sound like a Grasshopper)
Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler - Rusty-rumped Grassbird (existing alternative name + it doesn't sound like a Grasshopper)
Sykes’s Warbler - Turanga Warbler
Upcher’s Warbler - Tail-wagging Warbler (vs Eastern Olivaceous Warbler = Tail-dipping Warbler)
Blyth’s Reed Warbler - Bush Reed Warbler (Dutch/German)
Krüper’s Nuthatch - Turkish Nuthatch (Dutch)
Tristram’s Starling - Dead Sea Starling
White’s Thrush - Golden Thrush (Dutch) (I like Scaled Thrush more, but that has been taken)
Naumann’s Thrush - Orange-spangled Thrush
Eversmann’s Redstart - Rufous-backed Redstart (existing alternative name)
Güldenstädt’s Redstart - White-winged Redstart (existing alternative name)
Hume’s Wheatear - Black-headed Wheatear
Finsch’s Wheatear - White-backed Wheatear
Radde’s Accentor - Turkish Accentor
Rüppell’s Weaver - Brown-masked Weaver
Richard’s Pipit - Steppe Pipit (compare to Paddyfield Pipit)
Berthelot’s Pipit - Canary Islands Pipit (I don’t like "Macaronesian" that much)
Pallas’s Rosefinch - Pale-fronted Rosefinch
Cretzschmar’s Bunting - Brown-lored Bunting (fits most plumages)
Pallas’s Reed Bunting - Grey-shouldered Reed Bunting (fits most plumages)
So basically I am doing you a service!
(To be fair, the English pronounce "Cetti" better than the Dutch).
Many of the names below do not deserve changing at all. Others which are not eponymous actually do.
It was just an exercise in looking for features that could be used in another name.
In between brackets sources/remarks.
Bewick’s Swan - Little Swan (Dutch)
Stejneger’s Scoter - Rhinoceros Scoter
Philby’s Partridge - Black-throated Partridge (a unique feature, no idea why it needed an eponym)
Reeves’s Pheasant - Ladder-tailed Pheasant
Lady Amherst’s Pheasant - Scaly-ruffed Pheasant
Bolle’s Pigeon - Grey-banded Pigeon (I also thought of "Tree-heath Pigeon" vs Laurel Pigeon)
Pallas’s Sandgrouse - Mongolian Sandgrouse (well, it’s common there and prone to invasions)
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse - Fine-barred Sandgrouse (existing alternative name)
Sykes’s Nightjar - Thar Nightjar
Forbes-Watson’s Swift - Socotra Swift (Dutch)
Baillon’s Crake - Green-billed Crake (Dutch & German names are boring, "Least" and "Dwarf")
Allen’s Gallinule - African Purple Gallinule (vs. American Purple Gallinule)
Macqueen’s Bustard - Asian Houbara (vs African Houbara)
Monteiro’s Storm Petrel - Graciosa Storm Petrel (would be mightily unfair to change)
Matsudaira’s Storm Petrel - Large-flashed Storm Petrel
Swinhoe’s Storm Petrel - Small-flashed Storm Petrel
Fea’s Petrel - Cape Verde Petrel (alternative name)
Zino’s Petrel - Madeira Petrel (would be mightily unfair to change)
Scopoli’s Shearwater - White-fingered Shearwater
Cory’s Shearwater - Yellow-billed Shearwater (German)
Barolo Shearwater - Canary Islands Little Shearwater (alternative name)
Boyd’s Shearwater - Cape Verde Little Shearwater (alternative name)
Bulwer’s Petrel - Long-tailed Petrel
Jouanin’s Petrel - Socotra Petrel
Abdim’s Stork - Sahel Stork
Von Schrenck’s Bittern - Brown-backed Bittern
Kittlitz’s Plover – Buff-breasted Plover
Temminck’s Stint - Grizzled Stint (that'll get me beaten up by the Dutch)
Swinhoe’s Snipe - Rattling Snipe
Latham’s Snipe - Hissing Snipe (for comparison, I'm aware there are no records)
Pallas’s Gull - Great Black-headed Gull (superior alternative name)
Audouin’s Gull - Black-eyed Gull (the German name translates as "Coral Gull")
Thayer’s Gull – Grey-tipped Gull
Saunders’s Tern - Coral Tern
Rüppell’s Vulture - Spotted Vulture
Wahlberg’s Eagle - Acacia Eagle (names in other languages are "Silver Eagle", "Brown Eagle" and "Savanna Eagle". "Little" is already taken, "dimorphic" fits Booted better).
Verreaux’s Eagle - Hyrax Eagle
Bonelli’s Eagle - Black-banded Eagle (another tough one, but its wing- and tailband are black)
Montagu’s Harrier - Stripe-winged Harrier
Pallas’s Fish Eagle - White-banded Sea Eagle (Dutch)
Tengmalm’s Owl - Boreal Owl (boring American name)
Lilford’s Woodpecker - Bar-backed Woodpecker
Eleonora’s Falcon - Mediterranean Falcon (very boring indeed. Dimorphic Hobby much better).
Thekla’s Lark - Grey-winged Crested Lark (vs Brown-winged Crested Lark & Long-billed Crested Lark)
Temminck’s Lark - Desert Horned Lark
Hume’s Short-toed Lark - Tibetan Short-toed Lark (alternative name)
Horsfield’s Bush Lark - Singing Bush Lark (likely split anyway)
Dupont’s Lark - Curve-billed Lark
African Dunn’s Lark - Saharan Lark
Arabian Dunn’s Lark - Arabian Lark (not named after Dunn)
Cetti’s Warbler - Deafening Bush Warbler
Pallas’s Leaf Warbler - Goldcrest Warbler (German)
Hume’s Leaf Warbler - Piercing Warbler (for its song) (the alternative Inornate Warbler is unfair).
Radde’s Warbler - Ochre-vented Warbler
Western Bonelli’s Warbler - Alpine Wood Warbler
Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler - Balkan Wood Warbler (not named after Bonelli)
Tristram’s Warbler - Atlas Warbler (Dutch) (the Sylvia’s/Curruca’s could do with better names overall)
Ménétriés’s Warbler - Tamarisk Warbler
Moltoni’s Warbler - Churring Subalpine Warbler
Marmora’s Warbler - Corsican Warbler (it’s "Sardinian Warbler" in Dutch, but that name was inexplicably given to melanocephala)
Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler - Great Grassbird (it doesn't sound like a Grasshopper)
Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler - Rusty-rumped Grassbird (existing alternative name + it doesn't sound like a Grasshopper)
Sykes’s Warbler - Turanga Warbler
Upcher’s Warbler - Tail-wagging Warbler (vs Eastern Olivaceous Warbler = Tail-dipping Warbler)
Blyth’s Reed Warbler - Bush Reed Warbler (Dutch/German)
Krüper’s Nuthatch - Turkish Nuthatch (Dutch)
Tristram’s Starling - Dead Sea Starling
White’s Thrush - Golden Thrush (Dutch) (I like Scaled Thrush more, but that has been taken)
Naumann’s Thrush - Orange-spangled Thrush
Eversmann’s Redstart - Rufous-backed Redstart (existing alternative name)
Güldenstädt’s Redstart - White-winged Redstart (existing alternative name)
Hume’s Wheatear - Black-headed Wheatear
Finsch’s Wheatear - White-backed Wheatear
Radde’s Accentor - Turkish Accentor
Rüppell’s Weaver - Brown-masked Weaver
Richard’s Pipit - Steppe Pipit (compare to Paddyfield Pipit)
Berthelot’s Pipit - Canary Islands Pipit (I don’t like "Macaronesian" that much)
Pallas’s Rosefinch - Pale-fronted Rosefinch
Cretzschmar’s Bunting - Brown-lored Bunting (fits most plumages)
Pallas’s Reed Bunting - Grey-shouldered Reed Bunting (fits most plumages)
