MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Steller's jay, Cooper's hawk, Anna's hummingbird - all of these bird species and dozens more could get new names. That's because the American Ornithological Society has vowed to change the English names of all bird species named after people. And that plan is ruffling some feathers as NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.
NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE: Ever since 1886, the American Ornithological Society and its predecessor organization have maintained a list of the official English language names for birds. Scientists normally prize stability in names, but as Society president Colleen Handel told NPR last fall...
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COLLEEN HANDEL: We've come to understand that there are certain names that have offensive or derogatory connotations that cause pain to people.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: Take a bird that was named after a Confederate general, McCown's longspur. In 2020, as cities and towns removed confederate statues and monuments, the society renamed this bird, calling it the thick-billed longspur.
HANDEL: Which is a descriptive name that everyone can relate to and not feel bad about saying that name.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: Around that same time, the society was petitioned by a group called Bird Names For Birds. Over 2,500 people said, look, the society needs to do much more to address the racism and colonialism that's lurking in bird names. After studying the issue, the Society took action late last year, announcing that it would change all bird names under its jurisdiction that honor people. Kenn Kaufman is a naturalist and fellow of the society. He supported the move.
KENN KAUFMAN: I've seen some very persuasive arguments for just going ahead and changing all of the eponymous names rather than putting all these historical characters on trial and trying to draw the line and decide who's honorable and who isn't.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: He says, consider Clark's nutcracker, named for William Clark, the explorer. He kept a man named York in slavery and refused to free him.
KAUFMAN: The arguments about whether or not he deserves to have a bird name for him could get to be pretty dicey.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: But then again, the idea of renaming around 150 North American birds, plus more South American birds - it surprised and upset a lot of people.
KAUFMAN: The decision was put out there. There was a very strong reaction in some quarters, and so the initial decision might wind up being altered.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: That's because this spring, the society got another petition signed by thousands, this one saying, consider birds case by case. Plus the society got a letter from over 200 of its own fellows, saying, hold off until there's more discussion. Poll the membership. Steve Beissinger is professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley and a past president of the Society.
STEVE BEISSINGER: You know, an important point here is that changing bird names sends a stronger message if the changes are restricted to offensive names, rather than replacing all eponymous names.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: He says bird names hold a lot of history, commemorating people like Anna Blackburne, an 18th-century naturalist, John Stevens Henslow, a mentor of Charles Darwin, who was an abolitionist.
BEISSINGER: Chico Mendes - maybe that name rings a bell. He's a hero of the conservation movement in Brazil, who was gunned down on his porch in front of his family because of his work trying to conserve the Amazonian rainforest.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: At its annual meeting, the American Ornithological Society will discuss all this, as well as its pilot project. This project will start the process by renaming a half dozen birds. Robert Driver is a researcher at Duke University. He pushed for changing the name of that bird that honored a Confederate general. He says, the six birds being renamed first seem like ones that almost everyone can agree on.
ROBERT DRIVER: People who have birds named after them that are well-documented white supremacists or grave robbers of Native American skulls and things like that.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: He thinks, with these birds done, the society may feel less pressure to quickly rename others. And if this process changes to considering each bird individually, he sees some benefit to having those potentially dicey debates.
Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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