On Mon, 15 Jun 1998, Susan Myers wrote:
> (can't be bothered remembering new names)? I think it's such a shame that
> we can't assign better names to robins, babblers, magpies,etc all of which
> have no relation whatsoever to the European species after which they were
> named a couple of centuries ago
There are also possibilities for using aboriginal names for the species-part
of common names (rather than the genus/family part).
For example, the naming of the White-lined Honeyeater is very
uninspiring. There are 8 other White-something Honeyeater species and
many Honeyeater species have some sort of white line.
The Gagudju name for the species is Bindjanok. Bindjanok Honeyeater would
be a much better common name in my view. I'm not worried that it (I
assume) has other aboriginal names elsewhere in its range.
Its congener the Yellow-spotted Honeyeater is another good candidate
for a similar renaming.
[ The Gagudju name comes from Ian Morris' book "Kakadu National Park".
I don't like the book's format but Ian's knowledge of Kakadu, its wildlife
and its traditional owners is amazing ]
Andrew Taylor
P.S. If anyone has a copy of the 1968 book "Bird song: Acoustics and
Physiology" by Greenewalt, which they are willing to sell, please
e-mail me.
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