To add my two
cents worth to this discussion, as an optimist I would like to think Tim?s view
would in fact change average Joe?s understanding. However if you take a couple
of ?well-known? birds and analyse their part in the culture of
Australia, I think little will change. If the
Emu had not played such a part in our heritage would it have been as
recognisable as it is to most Australians? In Brisbane around 80% of the
population has never been further west than Gatton ? therefore one can assume
that at most 20% may have seen an Emu in the wild (of course many would have
seen them in nature parks and the like). If the Emu had some longer winded name
such as Australian Ostrich or Long-legged Plains Runner (pluckin them out of
.......) would it be as recognisable. If the Kookaburra was called Broad-billed
Kingfisher would it still be an Aussie icon. The Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike is
probably more prevelant in most back yards than the Kookaburra (certainly where
I live) but those who would claim to recognise the BFCS would probably call it a
Blue-Jay (as David Geering mentioned). Most people in
Brisbane recognise an Ibis as they have
become pest-like especially in the CBD. Twenty years ago I am not so sure that
so many Brisvagians would have known an Ibis from and egret.
I guess my point
of view that it is more about the impact on one?s lives rather than the names
themselves that has the most influence. The comment about black and white birds
being Magpies by Alistair Smith is another good example. The Magpie is another
icon (look how many footy teams are named after it), but a lot of people would
see a Pied Butcher-Bird and think it was a Magpie.
Maybe
primary-level education is the key (but good luck given the state systems of
education and the localised database of common names as already
mentioned.)
Perhaps what
would be most interesting in this area and may be a good starting point is for
the compilation of all the known common names of Australian birds across all
regions.
Cheers
peter
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