When Tim's article appeared in Wingspan my father and I had a similar
discussion, he being very much supportive of Tim's view. I begged to differ.
My recent 'pelagic' experiences with the navy (as well as being a birdo in
the general community) convince me that it doesn't matter whether we 'dumb'
the names down or not. The average Australian has only the vaguest idea what
bird is what. To the majority of Australians any black and white bird is a
magpie, a bird of prey is a chicken hawk and in most cases they just don't
even see the rest to try an identify.
Last year while instructing at the Royal Australian Naval College, I took
two groups of midshipmen to sea on HMAS Tobruk for their training cruise.
When the commanding officer found out I was a birdo he told me that he only
recognised one type of bird in the world, which he called a sh1t duck (the
navy's colloquial term for a silver gull). By the end of the second cruise
and with a great deal of effort on my behalf, he thanked me as he now
recognised 5 different type of birds; white sh1t ducks (silver gulls and
albatrosses), brown sh1t ducks (sooty albatross), green sh1t ducks (emerald
doves) coloured sh1t duck (rainbow lorikeet) and one other.
Another case in point was early one morning at anchor at Norfolk Island, I
was woken by the bosun's mate to tell me they had found a baby albatross on
the bridge. When I got to the bridge, half asleep but alert enough to be
thinking that Norfolk was a bit too far north for an albatross, I saw the
officer of the watch with a something small in his beany. The baby albatross
was in fact a Little Shearwater. I thanked them profusely for alerting me to
the bird and explained that a fledged baby albatross is the same size as the
adult.
I think that hoping that non bird watchers would be more enamoured by birds
by us calling a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike a Blackface etc, is just asking
too much.
Regards
Alastair
____________________________
Alastair Smith
Manager
Cargo Controls
Australian Customs Service
Phone: 02 6275 6367
Mob: 0439 737 658
Fax: 02 6275 5745
From:
On Behalf Of Tim Low
Sent: Thursday, 30 June 2005 12:23 PM
To:
Subject: Blackface
Many members of Birding-Aus also read Wingspan, and would have seen my
article in the latest issue proposing that birders adopt abbreviated common
name for birds. Most Australians are disconnected from nature, and I
strongly suspect that ponderous common names are part of the problem.
'Black-faced cuckoo-shrike' is an example of a long, dull and ultimately
meaningless name for a wonderful bird that everyone sees but most people
don't know, partly because its name is so complicated and
technical-sounding. Every Australian does know kookaburras, emus and
magpies, and they also could know the black-faced cuckoo-shrike if only it
had a one-word name rather a tongue-twisting turnoff. Attempts to change
common names always create controversy, so I am not proposing any formal
change. What I am suggesting instead is that names of common birds be
abbreviated in everyday use. 'Blackface' is ideal shorthand for this bird
(it goes well with 'silvereye'), and this name could be used in everyday
conversation, for example when talking to neighbours and children and people
in the local park. Birding immediately sounds more exciting and accessible
if we are heard talking about rainbows, emeralds and yellowfaces. Birders
already talk like this among themselves, mentioning red-rumps and gang
gangs, for example. I am suggesting that the full names still be used in
books and reports, but that abbreviated names be used in less formal
situations. What do birders think of this suggestion?
Tim Low
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