The IOC have similar rules (http://worldbirdnames.org/rules.html - make
sure you follow all the links for full details). Probably more relevant to
us as they are slightly biased in favour of British rather than US spelling
and also IOC has I understand been adopted as the new "standard" by BARC.
On 11 April 2012 18:57, Richard Nowotny <> wrote:
> Ian May has, in my opinion, made the most helpful contribution to this
> interesting discussion with his reference to an article by Kenneth C.
> Parkes
> in The Auk in 1978. It is a very useful review of the joint problems of
> capitalization and hyphenation, with a recommended set of "rules". Many
> readers may already have opened and read the article. However, for those
> who
> chose not to or feared that it may be too long or too technical I have
> copied it below (with some minor formatting changes to the copied version
> in
> an attempt to make it more easily readable). I commend it to you if you
> haven't already read it - at least the initial paragraphs (which deal
> specifically with the issue of capitalization).
>
> Thanks Ian.
>
>
>
> Richard NOWOTNY
>
> Port Melbourne, Victoria
>
> M: 0438 224 456
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> A GUIDE TO FORMING AND CAPITALIZING COMPOUND NAMES OF BIRDS IN
> ENGLISH .
>
>
>
> KENNETH C. PARKES Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh,
> Pennsylvania 15213 USA
>
>
>
> There is much variation in usage, and much uncertainty among authors and
>
> editors (especially editors of nonornithological publications), with
> respect
> to the or-
>
> thography of English names ("common names" or "vernacular names" of many
>
> authors, but see Parkes 1975: 819) when these names are compounded from two
> or
>
> more words. I refer only to the English group-name, not to the modifying
> word or
>
> words used to denote the particular species. Our concern here is with
> "Frigatebird"
>
> and not with "Magnificent."
>
> The first modern attempt to standardize the orthography of the English
> names
> of
>
> North American birds was made by Cheesman and Oehser (1937), in a report
> origi-
>
> nally prepared for the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the
> Ameri-
>
> can Ornithologists' Union. The recommendations in their report dealt with
> several
>
> matters of orthography beyond those considered here.
>
> Eisenmann (1955), in his paper on Middle American birds, "followed in the
> main"
>
> the recommendations of Cheesman and Oehser, and, in turn, most of the
> names
> used
>
> by Meyer de Schauensee (1966) were those recommended by Eisenmann as a
> consul-
>
> tant on English nomenclature. Even within these two works, however, the
> formation
>
> of compound names is inconsistent.
>
> In spite of the editorial policies of some journals and book publishing
> companies,
>
> most ornithologists (including the writer) appear to believe firmly that
> the
> names of
>
> bird species should be capitalized. The usual reasons given for this, which
> are valid,
>
> are that it prevents the ambiguousness of such combinations as "gray
> flycatcher" and
>
> "solitary sandpiper," and that it makes the names of birds easier to spot
> in
> a page of
>
> print. In addition, the English name of a bird species can be considered
> to be aproper
>
> name, and thus entitled to capitalization (see editor's footnote in
> Cheesman and
>
> Oehser 1937: 335). Group-names in the plural are sometimes capitalized when
> they
>
> are intended as parts of two or more species names: thus, Common and
> Roseate
>
> Terns rather than Common and Roseate terns (U.S. Government Printing
> Office
>
> 1959:22). However, the Council of Biology Editors prefers the second
> (uncapitalized)
>
> version (Council of Biology Editors 1972: 184), which should be used in
> manuscripts
>
> intended for biological journals.
>
> When group-names are used alone in a textual context, whether single or
> com-
>
> pound, they are not capitalized. Thus we write, "The smallest of the
> hummingbirds
>
> is the Bee Hummingbird." Similarly, Otus choliba is the Tropical
> Screech-Owl, but
>
> there are several other species of Otus collectively called screech-owls
> (some of which
>
> are tropical screech-owls).
>
> I developed the following "rules" during my attempt to standardize the
> nomencla-
>
> ture used in the "Avian Biology" series (Farner and King 1971-1975).
> They
> are
>
> intended as a kind of style manual; that is, guidelines for an approach to
> an almost
>
> complete consistency in the formation of compound names. Some are virtually
> un-
>
> changed from those of Cheesman and Oehser, and others attempt to codif.v
> the
>
> refinements made by Eisenmann and others. Adherence to these "rules" will,
> it is
>
> hoped, result in consistency of usage within journals and in
> ornithological works
>
> with multiple authorship.
>
> I am indebted to Eugene Eisenmann, Chairman of the Committee on
> Classifica-
>
>
> tion and Nomenclature of the A.O.U., for having read several drafts of
> this
> paper; a
>
> number of his suggestions have been incorporated in this version. The
> Committee
>
> voted to adopt the "rules" in the A.O.U. Check-list, and has followed them
> in the
>
> published Supplements to the fifth edition. The manuscript was also read by
> Charles
>
> G. Sibley, whose forthcoming book on birds of the world will also
> reflect
> these
>
> "rules."
>
>
>
> THE "RULES"
>
>
>
> I. Compound bird names should be spelled as a single word, unhyphenated,
> if:
>
>
>
> A. The second component is the word "bird."
>
> EXAMPLES: Tropicbird, Frigatebird, Oilbird, Hummingbird, Puffbird.
>
>
>
> B. The second component is a part of the body.
>
> EXAMPLES: Spoonbill, Pintail, Finfoot, Lapwing, Yellowlegs,
>
> Greenshank, Barbthroat, Violetear.
>
>
>
> C. The name describes an activity of the bird (whether or not
> accurately!).
>
> EXAMPLES: Shearwater, Roadrunner, Goatsucker, Honeyguide, Wood-
>
> creeper, Gnatcatcher, Seedeater.
>
>
>
> D. The second component is a misnomer; either (1) a fanciful
> nonornithological
>
> noun, or (2) a group of birds to which the bird in question does not really
>
> belong.
>
> EXAMPLES: (1) Woodnymph, Hillstar, Sunangel; (2) Sungrebe, Seedsnipe,
>
> Nighthawk, Antpitta, Fruitcrow, Peppershrike, Waterthrush,
>
> Meadowlark.
>
>
>
> E. The second component is a broadly categorical bird name, not applying
> to
>
> any one particular kind of bird.
>
> EXAMPLES: Moorhen, Guineafowl, Peacock and Woodcock, Bananaquit
>
> and Grassquit ("Quit" = old Jamaican word for a little bird;
>
> Newton and Gadow 1896: 761).
>
>
>
> F. The name is onomatapoeic.
>
> EXAMPLES: Bobwhite, Killdeer, Poorwill, Chickadee, Chiffchaff.
>
> EXCEPTIONS: Names that would normally be spelled as single unhyphenated
> words
>
> under this rule should be spelled as two (or more) hyphenated words,
> with
>
> only the first capitalized, when:
>
>
>
> (1) Spelling as a single word would result in a double or triple letter,
> from the
>
> juxtaposition of the last letter of the first word and the first letter of
> the
>
> second.
>
> EXAMPLES: Thick-knee, not Thickknee (or Thicknee as in Williams 1963:
>
> 89); Bee-eater, not Beeeater; Whip-poor-will, not Whippoor-
>
> will; Swallow-wing, not Swallowwing; White-eye, not
>
> Whiteeye.
>
>
>
> (2) An unhyphenated word would be excessively long (usually four
> syllables
> or
>
> more), or clumsy, or imply an incorrect pronunciation.
>
> EXAMPLES: Plains-wanderer, not Plainswanderer; Chuckswill's-widow, not
>
> Chuckwill'swidow; Foliage-gleaner, not Foliagegleaner; Fire-
>
> wood-gatherer, not Firewoodgatherer; False-sunbird, not
>
> Falsesunbird; Silky-flycatcher, not Silkyflycatcher; Mudnest-
>
> builder, not Mudnestbuilder.
>
>
>
> II. Compound bird names should be spelled as two capitalized, hyphenated
>
> words, if:
>
>
>
> The second component is the name of a kind of bird, and is not a misnomer;
> i.e.,
>
> the bird in question does belong to that general group. The first component
> may
>
> be a noun or an adjective.
>
> EXAMPLES: Storm-Petrel, Diving-Petrel, Night-Heron, Whistling-Duck,
>
> Painted-Snipe, Ground-Dove, Screech-Owl, Wood-Wren, Bush-
>
> Shrike, Brush-Finch.
>
> EXCEPTIONS: Some bird names that are technically of this kind have become
> en-
>
> sconced in the English language as single nouns in their own right. As
> might
> be
>
> expected, these are names that were originally applied to British birds,
> viz. Spar-
>
> rowhawk, Skylark, Stonechat, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch. In some,
> the
> first
>
> word has even evolved away from its original spelling, viz. Shelduck,
> Goshawk.
>
>
>
> NOTES
>
>
>
> There is obviously a subjective element in decisions as to what is
> awkward or
>
> excessively long and thus to be excepted from being spelled as a single
> word
> under
>
> Category I. Few cases, however, should present any difficulties of
> decision.
>
> One special case is that of the group name for the Paradisaeidae. Ideally
> we
> should
>
> call these "Paradisebirds," but the inverted version is too firmly fixed to
> alter. I have
>
> seen the name rendered as "Bird of Paradise," "Bird of paradise," and
> "Bird-of-
>
> paradise"; I recommend the hyphenated form as used by Thomson (1964).
>
> No compound group-name for a bird should be spelled as two
> unhyphenated
>
>
> words. In some instances this conflicts with A.O.U. Check-list usage, but
> not with
>
> that of Eisenmann; thus, "Night Heron" of the A.O.U. (1957) should be
> "Night-
>
> Heron." (On the other hand, "Great Blue Heron" and "Little Blue Heron" are
>
> unhyphenated, as there is no group of "Blue-Herons," both adjectives in
> these two
>
> names modifying the group-name "heron.") In a few cases, Eisenmann himself
> used
>
> unhyphenated words, but consistency would require that these be
> hyphenated.
> Thus
>
> "Black-Hawk" rather than "Black Hawk" should be used for the species of
> Buteogal-
>
> lus, congruent with Eisenmann's use of "Yellow-Finch" for the species of
> Sicalis.
>
> There is no justification for such a splitting as "oyster catcher" or "seed
> eater."
>
>
>
> The Auk 95: 324-326. April 1978
>
> ===============================
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to:
>
> http://birding-aus.org
> ===============================
>
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
