Subject: [Tweeters] Spelling of wigeon/widgeon
Date: Jan 4 09:59:05 2007
From: Arthur Berman - aberman at telus.net


Rachel wrote:
> I also used to wonder why so many people misspell "wigeon", but then,
> looking through some old guides, I learned that the spelling USED to be
> "widgeon". In Peterson's 1941 guide to western birds, for instance, he
> includes the "European Widgeon", but still calls the American Wigeon the
> "Baldpate". Names do change. Confusing wigeon and widgeon doesn't seem
> to be a particularly greivous error, sort of like the older birders
> among us slipping up sometimes and calling a Northern Harrier a Marsh
> Hawk. Names do change. However, I think it does indicate a certain
> lack of seriousness (my definition of it, anyway) when birders who no
> longer are beginners can't be bothered to learn the correct names and/or
> spellings for birds.

And I can't be bothered worrying about what the ABA chooses to call a
bird this week. For me birding is a pleasure and a way to enhance my
life, definitely not a job. Life's too short to worry about that stuff.

Arthur Berman
North Vancouver, BC
aberman at telus.net