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Some thoughts on the Thick-billed Longspur, North America's newest bird name https://twitter.com/BirdWatchDaily/status/1291907015233740812
First, like I said in the article, I wanted to thank the NACC for reconsidering and coauthoring the idea, and for including me in the process. I wanted to thank the AOS Diversity and Inclusion committee for their efforts and input.
I've seen reactions across the spectrum- from unrepressed jubilation to pessimism and despair- and that's just from the people who are on our side of the debate!
My particular reaction is: this is a small step in the right direction. It's time to do to two things, briefly reflect on what everyone accomplished in the past 2 years since the proposal was written, and then focus intently on the future.
Some things to briefly reflect on: In 2011 when the Kiwikiu commentary was released, the only people reading the response were the proposal's authors, a handful of in-the-know ornithologists and birders, and the NACC itself.
Now, thanks to the incredible outreach efforts of @JERutter, @birdnirdfoley and others, there is a petition with thousands of signatures, a website dedicated to the cause, a logo, a successful hashtag, and a vibrant and involved community.
As a result of this outreach, thousands of birders and ornithologists are listening to the NACC's process and response, and offering their own opinions. The decision is still ultimately made by the NACC, but the @AmOrnith community has come to life to offer their diverse opinions
I'm not a historian, and when I wrote the proposal, I just happened to have a book that my friend's mom mailed to me that mentioned McCown's US Army resignation...
Now, we have a literal index worth of bio sketches painstakingly researched by @jfmclaughlin92 and @AlexJHolt. We have detailed publications and blog posts from @MatthewHalley telling the sordid stories of the names behind these honorifics. These resources changed the landscape.
Yes, I submitted the first proposal and helped with the second one, but it was the effort of all of these people, and more (including the 2,300+ signatories), that led to the NACC recognizing how this issue is real and is worth remedying.
What does this day mean for the future? A few things, one, the NACC has liberated itself from the yearly time frame. Not sure if this will continue, but the proposal is listed as a "Supplemental Proposal Set" and the decision isn't restricted to the annual July Issue of the Auk*.
Second, the NACC has shown that it is willing to take things it said, reconsider, and change based on new information. They are showing that they are growing. I'm not saying they or anyone is done growing or can't speed up, I'm commenting that they aren't not growing.
Third, this is the first time ever, in the history of American ornithology, that an English name was changed due to diversity or inclusion. Not only that, but the NACC's detailed proposal offers everyone a template to use for future changes.
The Special Considerations section of the English Nomenclature Guidelines was a nice step forward, but it still left me (at least) puzzled as to how to write a proposal. Now we know. Now we can take this one, and do what we need to do.
I remain optimistic about the NACC just because I have to be! I can't imagine writing future proposals with the mindset of "these guys hate my guts and will never budge on anything" or something along those lines. Call me naive but for me it's necessary.
But a real change here is that when the NACC announces a decision, it won't go away. The community is here and the community is educated. And the community wants change. So no matter what the NACC decides, the subject of honorifics is something that I don't think will go away.
The honorifics on the other hand, are things that I think will.
(Not easily, and given a long enough timeline.)
(Not easily, and given a long enough timeline.)
Finally, and most importantly, I think that the criticism of "well, you're changing these names, why don't you do something more meaningful" is invalid, but can be addressed best by really taking action.
Perhaps as a result of this movement we can do something to help put binoculars into the hands of diverse young people. One great way would be to donate to the Celebrate Urban Birds Mini-grant https://celebrateurbanbirds.org/community/minigrants/ @celebratebirds
More to come...
