I agree that tweeters should not use FLAs (Four-Letter Acronym; hmmm,
contradiction here: FLA is a TLA), at least in the first mention of a bird.

But, as an alien (I've been here for 8 months now, coming from France), I
also had difficulty with plain english names in the beginning !


I suggest that we use the scientific name (which, as Dennis mentionned, is
as often greek as latin) instead :-)

Like in the following:

Yesterday on Mount Seymour, I stop to see the _Passerella iliaca_ singing on
top of a _Pinus sp_.
At the same spot, I saw _Sphyrapicus ruber_ drilling a _Salix sp_ to
drink the sap.

It was a comprehensive ecology lesson, for I also saw many _Dipterae_
around the tree and getting caught in the drying sap. In particular, I
saw a _Vespa sp_ flying around the _Sphyrapicus ruber_ who eventually went
annoyed with this critter and caught it, knocked it and the trunk of the
_Salix sp_ and ate it.
During my 30 minutes stop, I also saw a female _Selasphorus rufus_ visiting
the drills.

It is much better with scientific names, eh :-)

Hmmm, maybe we should stick to english names ...

P.S.:
I will translate the scientific (mostly latin in this case, anyway :-)

_Passerella iliaca_ : Fox Sparrow
_Pinus sp_ : some kind (???) of conifer (I'm probably cheating here, for
I didn't pay much attention to the trees ...)
_Sphyrapicus ruber_ : Red-breasted Sapsucker
_Salix sp_ : some sort of cottonwood
_Dipterae_ : hmmm, let's go for bugs (or flying pests ?)
_Vespa sp_ : wasp (no, it is not a FLA for White Anglo ...)
_Selasphorus rufus_ : Rufous Hummingbird

Isn't it nicer than FOSP, COSP, RBSA, SASP, BUSP, RUHU, isn't it ?