I suspect Regent refers to the colour pattern, although it apparently came about due to a prince regent. I would hardly think (or hope) that qualifies as an
identifiable person, at least to the extent worth bothering about. I also think there are higher priorities and besides, unless the person was really evil, I don’t see a benefit of trying to remove the history. It gives something to think about, even if the
person was not so wonderful. But a lot of the people did contribute to birds and so why not commemorate them. Latin names are a whole different thing, with established rules that would not allow changes for these reasons.
Philip
From: Canberrabirds [
On Behalf Of regeraghty--- via Canberrabirds
Sent: Sunday, 3 March, 2024 7:46 PM
To: ; 'Mark Clayton'; 'Martin Butterfield'; 'Geoffrey Dabb'
Cc: 'Canberrabirds'
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Eponyms: scouts despatched
Does it mean that the Regent Bowerbird, Regent Honeyeater and Victoria Riflebird would have to be renamed?
☹
What about all the latin species names which make reference to a person? Was Cunningham a bad person? Will his name be erased from all the plants he described?
I agree it would be nice if the same attention could be given to saving Australian birds from extinction as reviewing their names.
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Lindsay Hansch via Canberrabirds
Sent: Sunday, 3 March, 2024 10:14 AM
To: 'Mark Clayton' <>; 'Martin Butterfield' <>; 'Geoffrey Dabb' <>
Cc: 'Canberrabirds' <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Eponyms: scouts despatched
I agree with Mark. You could extend the nonsense to Tasmania, Queensland and most of the islands around our coast.
Regards
Lindsay Hansch
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Mark Clayton via Canberrabirds
Sent: Saturday, 2 March 2024 12:01 PM
To: Martin Butterfield <>; Geoffrey Dabb <m("iinet.net.au","gdabb");">>
Cc: Canberrabirds <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Eponyms: scouts despatched
I am curious to see just how far this will be taken. Are they going to rename the state of Victoria after all the atrocities committed in the name of Queen Victoria in many parts of the world? I doubt it so why change
bird names. It all seems like some people have nothing better to do with their time – how about finding out just how badly off are our bird species? Time for a new atlas and NO the eBird data is NOT good enough.
Mark
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Sent: Saturday, 2 March 2024 11:29 AM
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Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Eponyms: scouts despatched
On Sat, 2 Mar 2024 at 10:51, Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds <> wrote:
Into my email box just now came something called Birdlife Bulletin for March. There is a section headed ‘Birdlife Australia in the media: March 2024. Find out
more about our bird conservation work around the country with our monthly multimedia round-up.’
The first item is headed ‘Should our birds be named after people?’ There follows: ‘In Australia, dozens of bird species are named after people. But with so many
of these historical figures tied to colonial violence, there’s a growing movement to have them renamed. Amid a review of eponymous bird names (led by BirdLife Australia’s Research and Conservation Committee), PhD student Felix Cehak delves into this cultural
conversation.’
There is a link to an article by Felix in The Conversation, mainly about possible renaming of Albert’s Lyrebird. There is not much about the procedures now in
train (see my earlier note on this),but Felix does say: ‘Some Australian scientists and birdwatchers (including one from the peak ornithological body Birdlife Australia) have proposed a review, particularly of names with colonial associations.’ There is a
further link to the publishing details and abstract of the piece in Emu ‘Why Australian common bird names should respond to societal change’ (Garnett, Maurer & Garrard).
Eventually we shall get an announcement from BirdLife Australia about what is going to happen, but at the moment the subject is being probed by scouting parties
at a safe distance with just the occasional arrow being fired into the encircled wagons.
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