"P,C. for the Birds!" Politically correct bird names, well I swan!
In November 2023, the American Ornithological Society (AOS) announced a program to change the English language names of American and Canadian birds named for people. The project was ordained in the name of science with committees to appoint, taxonomies to compile, etc. An objective was to optimize "the power of a name" and change future naming protocols. The following list contains examples of subject to change.
Recently, I met some AOS ers who mentioned the renaming project. They confided that "... some birds are named after people with 'bad' reputations."
Woah! I thought, in general terms, that science was "...systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained:"
Sorry, I don't see it. The AOS project seems more like politically motivated, subjective, censorship, and obfuscation.
What's next, the Tufted titmouse?
wjm