The American Ornithological Society announced Wednesday that all common English-language names of bird species named after people will be changed, along with other monikers that have been deemed offensive. “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today,” said Colleen Handel, president of the AOS, in a statement. Many birds sport names that come from White men with “objectively horrible pasts,” according to the group Bird Names for Birds, a grassroots initiative that has been advocating for this change. Having their names memorialized in this manner is similar to building a statue in their honor, the group argues. In 2021, the AOS announced an ad-hoc committee to make recommendations regarding these common English names.

Source: CNN November 02, 2023 18:49 UTC