Names have power. In North America, more than 100 species of birds have eponymous names, many honoring white colonizers. The “Bird Names for Birds” movement to change these names, or “verbal statues,” can be traced to Ph.D candidate Robert Driver’s 2018 proposal about the Thick-billed Longspur (then called McCown’s Longspur, named for a confederate general). More bird name changes are coming, albeit slowly — and some environmental organizations named after colonizers are following suit. One is the Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) in DC, which has announced it will change its name (at this time, they’re still deciding on a new name). Tenijah talks to Robert Driver about how the movement started; Caroline Brewer, formerly in communications at ANS about the decision to change the organization’s name; and writer/birder Stephen Carr Hampton about the impact these names have on people of color who love birds.

• Bird Names for Birds
• The McCown's Longspur Is No More, but the Debate Over Bird Names Continues
• J. Drew Lanham: What Do We Do About John James Audubon?
• A D.C. area environmental group is dropping the name of John Audubon

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. 

Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. 

BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.