At 08:28 PM 12/31/98 -0800, Bob and Rhonda Bolton wrote:

>That seems like a pretty weak argument--birds don't have eyebrows. Does a
>Great Horned Owl or Horned Grebe have horns? Does a Black-whiskered Vireo
>or Red-whiskered Bulbul have whiskers? Then there's the Eyebrowed Thrush!

(sigh) why does this remind me of the time a beginning raptor bander at the
Nevada site I teach at every fall talked about the "fur" on a bird being
banded.

OK, point taken - bird names are often inaccurate. Point in case, "American
robin", which is not in the least bit related to the "un-American robin",
except for having a Marxist breast.

We are given a heritage of formal names for birds, and bird parts, that are
misleading and/or simply wrong, but that doesn't mean we have to move
backwards when we've made progress. The birding world seems to have embraced
the more descriptive and accurate term "supercilium", at least in our rarified
instance of "tweeters", where we NEVER divert from serious scientific
discussion
of ANYTHING, least of all ME! :) :)

Seriously, though, what's the virtue in moving backwards from acceptance of
a technical term in favor of a less-accurate common term?

Bird names, per se, are used by a wide audience of folks who couldn't care
less if a bird's "eyebrow" is white, purple, or a graven image of Monica on
her knees, and we'll never change such common usuage, but it's not such a
big deal to learn proper terms for bird parts, IMO.


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net