HANZAB gives the Aboriginal name as Barri-enna, why not use that if/
when it is split? It is a bit hard to argue against an indigenous
name. After all it was good enough for Martin Lichtenstein to use one
when he described Jabiru mycteria, in 1819. It seems a bit crazy to
have three different species of stork, from three different genera, on
3 continents called Jabiru.
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
On 19/11/2009, at 10:43 PM, Greg & Val Clancy wrote:
Well my comments certainly have sparked up some discussion - great!!
I have received a number of responses to my post re. the name Satin
Stork, some direct to my personal email address so I will address the
main issues raised one by one.
One person asked 'how was the name arrived at?' - I made up the name
in an attempt to have a name that was truly appropriate for our bird
and one which would, hopefully, win over the die-hard 'Jabiru'
people. It seems that I have lost out with Tony!! The reference to
Satin is because the bird has a beautiful satin-like sheen over its
head and neck and on the black feathering of the wings and tail.
Including 'stork' in the name provides some information on what type
of bird it really is. "Jabiru' could be a plant, a lizard, a mammal
etc. As the Australian and New Guinean race was going to be split
from the Asian race as separate species a common name was needed. I
recommended 'Satin Stork' to the Birds Australia Common Names
Committee and it was accepted. Some concern about its acceptance was
expressed by members of the Research and Scientific Committee however,
not based on the suitability of the name, but on concerns that the
'Jabiru' brigade would not accept it. It was also stated that if it
gained popular acceptance then it would be fully supported. The
predicted split did not happen in the 2008 edition of Christidis and
Boles as they wanted more genetic evidence but it is very likely to
happen in the future.
"Why not Satin-necked Stork?" - because one of the main arguments of
the 'Jabiru' people is that "Black-necked Stork' is too long and
clumsy. Satin-necked Stork would not address this criticism. In
addition it is not only the neck that is 'satin'.
"Why not an indigenous name?". I am very keen on indigenous name for
places as they usually only have one name. Uluru and Wollumbin are
great because they refer to only one place each. There are many
indigenous names for the Stork so how would the most appropriate one
be selected? It is far better to document the indigenous names
separately from the common name. In that way all local names are
given equal prominence. It would be different if in the early
European history of this continent an indigenous name was applied and
it became commonly used, such as with the Galah. Instead early
settlers applied a South American indigenous name to our stork.
Greg Clancy
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