Bewick's wren - named in honour of  Thomas Bewick though he had no association with the bird and may never have seen one (photo: Minette Lane/Flickr/ Wikimedia Commons)CONTROVERSY  continues to rage over the decree by the American Ornithological Society...

Bewick's wren - named in honour of  Thomas Bewick though he had no association with the bird and may never have seen one (photo: Minette Lane/Flickr/ Wikimedia Commons)

CONTROVERSY  continues to rage over the decree by the American Ornithological Society that - within its geographical areas of jurisdiction - all bird species named after people should be changed.

Most of the conflict has understandably been in the U.S, but it fizzed anew this week when frontline  British naturalist David Lindo - the Urban Birder - made the subject the focus of one of his popular live webinars.

His  guest was high-profile American ornithologist  Kenn Kaufman  who revealed that, having initially opposed the name-change initiative, he had  now come round to supporting it.

It was back in October that the AOS delivered its edict on the grounds that some birds were named after white supremacists and slavery supporters, thereby giving potential offence to current and future birders.

But opponents countered that it was futile to try to ‘adjust' history and that wholesale dropping of names would be unfair to those individuals whose reputations are untainted by accusations of racism.

Kaufman  (69) noted that, in the U.S., younger and non-white birders had overwhelmingly welcomed the AOS decree.

He went on to claim that the father of American ornithology, John James Audubon, had sometimes named new birds after individuals because he believed it might help him to secure influence that could, in time, prove personally beneficial.

"In effect, he was sucking up to them," he observed. 

Kenn Kaufman - supportive of name changes

Kaufman scoffed at the name of the Swainson's Thrush because it was now acknowledged that William Swainson's writings about the thrush family had been muddled and unhelpful.

He also derided the naming of the Bewick's Wren, noting that the British birdman and wood engraver, Thomas Bewick, had not the slightest association with the species.

Support for Kaufman's  position during the webinar came from British birder and Fleet Street journalist Stuart Winter who argued that naming of birds after ornithologists of yesteryear  was reflective of white male domination of birding.

The time had come to modernise and to consider more determinedly how best to attract the birders of the future.

Bo Beolens, columnist for Bird Watching magazine,  disagreed, claiming  that 90 per cent of birders neither knew nor cared why birds were named after individuals.

Most dramatic intervention of the webinar came from American birder-photographer Rachel Hopper who said that, as a person of Jewish descent, she would be horrified if there had been such a bird as a Hitler's Warbler.

But she insisted that there was no justification for wholesale renaming of all birds named after people.

Ms Hopper was  also critical of the AOS for making its stand without having first sounded out he opinions of the wider membership.

However, it looks as if the decision has now been made.

Now comes the tricky challenge of finding vibrant and descriptive new names for birds ranging from Leach's Storm Petrel to Wilson's Phalarope.

Whether there will be similar moves in the UK to change the names of birds such as Blyth's Reed Warbler remains to be seen. 

* Also in prospect for a name change is the Eskimo Curlew because 'Eskimo' is now widely regarded as derogatory to indigenous tribes.

* * The Urban Birder webinar, with Kenn Kaufman as guest, is  featured  on YouTube.

In Conservation With… Kenn Kaufman (youtube.com)

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