Bewick’s Wren. Forster’s Tern. Gambel’s Quail. Henslow’s Sparrow. Say’s Phoebe. Wilson’s Phalarope. What do these birds have in common? They’re all named for people—for now.
As we explore in a feature story in our Summer issue, there’s growing support in the birding community from hobbyists to professional ornithologists alike to rename these six species and the roughly 145 other birds that bear honorifics. One argument for renaming is that honorific names don’t provide any information about the birds themselves or their natural history, and so they are not helpful for identification. There are also ethical and inclusivity issues: Many birds carry the names of long-dead men, some of whom were not even ornithologists and others who were enslavers, supremacists, or grave robbers.
Today the English Bird Names Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS), which officially determines the common names used by millions of birders and scientists across North and Central America, is in the process of crafting guidelines for defining harmful names. The committee will also determine priorities for settling on new monikers; considerations may include bestowing descriptive names that highlight unique avian attributes, restoring lost names, or referencing Latin names.
While AOS is just getting started, we thought it’d be fun and informative to invite our readers to dream up new names for the six species listed above. We’ve provided some info about each of the birds, pulled in part from our field guide, and we offer these naming guidelines:
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Take inspiration from the bird’s behavior, song, physical traits (though avoid male-only traits), habitat, scientific name, or cultural importance.
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Check eBird to make sure there isn’t a bird elsewhere in the world that already has the name you’re proposing.
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We urge you not to use “common” to describe the bird (e.g., no “Common Sparrow”) or geographic reference (“Indiana Sparrow”).