howdy:

having operated under both systems, i'm not of the notion it makes much difference once you're used to one or the other. however, it seems to me the latin binomials tend to change a little less often since the whole world is involved. less change is more attractive, especially to those of us getting deeper sulci and poorer memory. some of the recent aou changes are hard to fathom: what, pray tell, is the difference between a rock dove and a rock pigeon (other than to outdate sibley)? further, it seems the british names often trump ours. to call a bird as magnificent as *Gavia immer* a common loon seems absurd. thr brits call them great northern divers. seems much more apt. the latin does have the advantage of being useful conversational fodder at cocktail parties. one can really impress others with such scintillating stuff as noting the binomial name of the purple sea urchin is *Strongylocentrotus purpuratus*.

regards,

dt

crazydave65atinboxdotcom

> -----Original Message-----
> From: birdbooker at zipcon.net
> Sent: Sun, 7 Jan 2007 14:18:13 -0800 (PST)
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: [Tweeters] bird names
>
> HI:
> At least we do have standard English names for the species we are
> interested in. Most other branches in Zoology (and Botany) just use
> scientific names. How many people would complain if we posted our
> sightings on tweeters like this:
>
> Today I had a male Anas penelope in with a flock of A. americana.
> Couldn't find the Larus ridibundus that had been reported recently, but I
> did have one Clangula hyemalis.
>
> --
>
> Ian Paulsen
> Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
> A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
> "Rallidae all the way!"
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

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