Experienced in Naming Birds, Author Peter Alden Presents Some Options
What do you do when inclement weather has you housebound? For most people, curling up with a book, doing a puzzle, or binge-watching tv shows fill the time. Not for Peter Alden. On a rainy day he's busy coming up with alternative bird names for the 150+ species that the American Ornithological Society (AOS) had designated to be-named (see previous blog post).
"This is an opportunity to provide more descriptive names which will help experts and novices alike", says Peter. If you've ever been out on a field trip with him, he's quick to point out the color, name, and some identifyable marker or trait.
Peter has developed and submitted his initial list of alternatives to the AOS. Plus he will be giving a presentation on this topic next month at the reknowned Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. His talk will cover the need for this change and focus on several dozen affected Florida species. The pros and cons for each new name candidate will be discussed and then voted on by the audience.
A few examples are presented below, along with the submission list. Photos courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Ross's Goose Proposed New Name: Small-billed or Nunavut Goose
Similar Species - Left Photo: Ross's Goose | Right Photo: Snow Goose
Wilson's Plover
Proposed New Name: Thick-billed Plover
Similar Species - Left Photo: Wilson's Plover | Right Photo: Piping Plover
Clark's Grebe
Proposed New Name: Orange-billed or White-lored Grebe
Similar Species - Left Photo: Clark's Grebe | Right Photo: Western Grebe
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Suggestions for new English names of North American Birds
Provided by Peter Alden and Simon Perkins | December 1, 2023
The American Ornithological Society and the American Birding Association are proposing to eliminate modifiers of common bird names which are named for people. This would involve changing the names of about 150 of the 1134 bird species that regularly occur or are known as vagrants from elsewhere.
There are previously published alternate English names for some. The majority of these 150 or so will require a discussion on the merits of newly proposed modifiers. There is often no unique field mark to create a simple new descriptive modifier within that group name. We must consider names based on geography, habitats, heart of their range, habits and vocalizations.
The following suggestions are offered into any compilation of proposed new names. Sequence of families/species follows July 18, 2023 ABA Checklist.
# | Current English name: | Alternative Name(s) | |
1 | Ross's Goose | > | Nunavut/Small-billed Goose |
2 | Steller's Eider | > | Little/White-headed Eider |
3 | Stejneger's Scoter | > | Siberian Scoter |
4 | Barrow's Goldeneye | > | Crescent/Teardrop/Purple-headed Goldeneye |
5 | Gambel's Quail | > | Desert Quail |
6 | Montezuma Quail | > | Sierra Madre/Sky Island/Dotted Quail |
7 | Erkel's Spurfowl | > | Black-fronted Spurfowl |
8 | Clark's Grebe | > | Orange-billed/White-lored Grebe |
9 | Vaux's Swift | > | Little Gray Swift |
10 | Rivoli's Hummingbird | > | Eye-spot/Sierra Madre Hummingbird |
11 | Anna's Hummingbird | > | Rose-headed Hummingbird |
12 | Costa's Hummingbird | > | Desert/Ocotillo Hummingbird |
13 | Allen's Hummingbird | > | California Hummingbird |
14 | Xantus's Hummingbird | > | Baja Hummingbird |
15 | Ridgway's Rail | > | California Rail |
16 | Wilson's Plover | > | Thick-billed Plover |
17 | Temminck's Stint | > | Pale/Horizontal Stint |
18 | Baird's Sandpiper | > | Long-winged/Short-grass Sandpiper |
19 | Wilson's Phalarope | > | Upland Phalarope |
20 | Kittlitz's Murrelet | > | Glacier Murrelet |
21 | Scripp's Murrelet | > | California Murrelet |
22 | Craveri's Murrelet | > | Baja Murrelet |
23 | Cassin's Auklet | > | Dusky Auklet |
24 | Sabine's Gull | > | Tundra Gull |
25 | Bonaparte's Gull | > | Spruce/Tern-like Gull |
26 | Ross's Gull | > | Rosy/Wedge-tailed Gull |
27 | Franklin's Gull | > | Prairie Gull |
28 | Belcher's Gull | > | Humboldt Gull |
29 | Heermann's Gull | > | Rasa Gull---(90% breed on that Island) |
30 | Forster's Tern | > | Masked Tern |
31 | Salvin's Albatross | > | Bounty Albatross |
32 | Wilson's Storm-Petrel | > | Antarctic Storm-Petrel |
33 | Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel | > | Japanese Storm-Petrel |
34 | Leach's Storm-Petrel | > | Bounding Storm-Petrel |
35 | Townsend's Storm-Petrel | > | Socorro Storm-Petrel |
36 | Tristram's Storm-Petrel | > | West Pacific Storm-Petrel |
37 | Murphy's Petrel | > | Polynesian Petrel |
38 | Fea's Petrel | > | Cape Verde Petrel |
39 | Zino's Petrel | > | Madeira Petrel |
40 | Cook's Petrel | > | Aotearoa Petrel (New Zealand's Maori name) |
41 | Stejneger's Petrel | > | Fast Petrel |
42 | Bulwer's Petrel | > | Point-tailed/Wedge-tailed Petrel |
43 | Jouanin's Petrel | > | Indian Ocean Petrel |
44 | Parkinson's Petrel | > | Black Petrel |
45 | Cory's Shearwater | > | Yellow-billed Shearwater |
46 | Buller's Shearwater | > | Pied/New Zealand Shearwater |
47 | Newell's Shearwater | > | Kauai/Hawaiian Shearwater |
48 | Bryan's Shearwater | > | Mysterious Shearwater |
49 | Audubon's Shearwater | > | Tropical Shearwater |
50 | Barolo Shearwater | > | Macaronesian Shearwater |
51 | Brandt's Cormorant | > | Blue-pouched/Buff-throated Cormorant |
52 | Cooper's Hawk | > | Round-tailed/Feeder Hawk |
53 | Steller's Sea-Eagle | > | Kamchatka Sea-Eagle |
54 | Harris's Hawk | > | Bay-winged/Cooperative Hawk |
55 | Swainson's Hawk | > | Prairie/Pampas Hawk |
56 | Lewis's Woodpecker | > | Crow/Silvery Woodpecker |
57 | Williamson's Sapsucker | > | Pine/Black Sapsucker |
58 | Nuttall's Woodpecker | > | California Woodpecker |
59 | Nutting's Flycatcher | > | Thorn Forest Flycatcher |
60 | La Sagra's Flycatcher | > | Flat-headed Flycatcher |
61 | Couch's Kingbird | > | Veracruz Kingbird |
62 | Cassin's Kingbird | > | Slate-chested Kingbird |
63 | Hammond's Flycatcher | > | Gray-throated Flycatcher |
64 | Say's Phoebe | > | Ranch/Tawny-bellied Phoebe |
65 | Bell's Vireo | > | Riparian/Streamside Vireo |
66 | Hutton's Vireo | > | Oakwood/Kinglet Vireo |
67 | Cassin's Vireo | > | Pacific Vireo |
68 | Steller's Jay | > | Blue-black/Long-crested Jay |
69 | Woodhouse's Scrub Jay | > | Western/Highland Scrub Jay |
70 | Clark's Nutcracker | > | Silver/Rockies/Pine Nutcracker |
71 | Blyth's Reed Warbler | > | Woodland Reed Warbler |
72 | Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler | > | Fan-tail Grasshopper Warbler |
73 | Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler | > | Skulking Grasshopper Warbler |
74 | Pallas's Leaf Warbler | > | Yellow-crowned Leaf Warbler |
75 | Bishop's Oo | > | Molokai Oo |
76 | Bewick's Wren | > | Riparian/Streamside Wren |
77 | Bendire's Thrasher | > | Cholla/Pale-billed Thrasher |
78 | LeConte's Thrasher | > | Sandrunner/Roadrunner Thrasher |
79 | Townsend's Solitaire | > | Juniper/Buff-winged Solitaire |
80 | Bicknell's Thrush | > | Tree-line/Mountain-top/Hispaniolan Thrush |
81 | Swainson's Thrush | > | Spectacled Thrush |
82 | Naumann's Thrush | > | Dusky Thrush |
83 | Sprague's Pipit | > | Prairie Pipit |
84 | Pallas's Rosefinch | > | Frosted Rosefinch |
85 | Cassin's Finch | > | Pink Mountain/Rockies Finch |
86 | Lawrence's Goldfinch | > | Yellow-winged/California Goldfinch |
87 | Smith's Longspur | > | Buffy Longspur |
88 | McCown's Longspur | > | Thick-billed Longspur |
89 | McKay's Bunting | > | St. Matthew/Ghost Bunting |
90 | Pallas's Reed Bunting | > | Siberian Reed Bunting |
91 | Botteri's Sparrow | > | Yerba Buena/Shy Sparrow --- YB=Good Tall Grass |
92 | Cassin's Sparrow | > | Skylark/Aerial/White-tipped Sparrow |
93 | Bachman's Sparrow | > | Pinewoods Sparrow |
94 | Brewer's Sparrow | > | Great Basin Sparrow |
95 | Worthen's Sparrow | > | Coahuila Sparrow |
96 | Harris's Sparrow | > | Black-faced/Canadian Sparrow |
97 | Bell's Sparrow | > | Chaparral Sparrow |
98 | LeConte's Sparrow | > | Sedge Sparrow |
99 | Nelson's Sparrow | > | Orange-chested Sparrow |
100 | Baird's Sparrow | > | Prairie Sparrow |
101 | Henslow's Sparrow | > | Tall-grass Sparrow |
102 | Lincoln's Sparrow | > | Buff-chested/Dot-chested Sparrow |
103 | Abert's Towhee | > | Arroyo/Black-faced Towhee |
104 | Bullock's Oriole | > | Cottonwood/Western Oriole |
105 | Audubon's Oriole | > | Mexican/Lemon Oriole |
106 | Scott's Oriole | > | Yucca Oriole |
107 | Brewer's Blackbird | > | Ranch Blackbird |
108 | Brewster's Warbler | > | Massachusetts Warbler |
109 | Lawrence's Warbler | > | New Jersey Warbler |
110 | Swainson's Warbler | > | Leaftosser/Rufous-crowned Warbler |
111 | Lucy's Warbler | > | Mesquite/Rusty-rumped Warbler |
112 | Virginia's Warbler | > | Canyon/Yellow-chested/Southwest Warbler |
113 | MacGillivray's Warbler | > | Western Brush/Split-ring Warbler |
114 | Kirtland's Warbler | > | Jack Pine Warbler |
115 | Grace's Warbler | > | Pine-Oak/Ponderosa Warbler |
116 | Townsend's Warbler | > | Masked Warbler |
117 | Wilson's Warbler | > | Black-capped Warbler |
118 | Morelet's Seedeater | > | Mexican Seedeater |
Read About the Project on the American Ornithological Society website.
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