Subject: Bird Names
Date: Sep 8 13:11:43 1994
From: Laura Saavedra - lsdb at u.washington.edu


I just wanted to add my 2 cents regarding the naming of birds. The names
of birds in many ways reflect what humans perceive rather than a hard and
fast rule that occurs in nature. What we're striving for is a sense of
order. Whether it's on the colloquial or molecular level, the name of a
creature is symbolic of how we relate to nature. I,for one, am an
advocate of trying to maintain colloquial as well as scientific names.
Many of the colloquial names given to birds reflect what a group of
people see occurring around them. A great example of this can be found
in E. Annie Proulx's book _The Shipping News_ set in Newfoundland - the
newspaper where several characters work is called the Gammy Bird, a
colloquial name for the eider "for its habit of gathering in flocks for
socialable quacking sessions." This name gives me as much information as
a scientific name (if not more). The fact that there are several common
names for a single species may be cumbersome, but it can also be
informative.

David Buckley
lsdb at u.washington.edu