A Renaming Committee of One

BirdNote®
A Renaming Committee of One
Written by J. Drew Lanham

This is BirdNote. I’m J. Drew Lanham, an ornithologist, naturalist and writer.

As we consider redacting the names of people from birds, it’s important to remember birds are flesh, feather and bone monuments of life, hope and higher aspiration. So it does matter. But I’m just one Black, bird-loving ornithologist, so what can I do? This is what. I’m taking the lark by the horns and forming my own committee of one.

    [Bachman’s Sparrow song]

Henceforth, I no longer refer to Bachman’s Sparrow by the racist’s name tacked to it by some other racist buddy named John James. It is now back to a better, melodiously appropriate name in my book: “pine woods sparrow”.

    [Bachman’s Sparrow song]

Likewise, the likely extinct southern warbler with the “Bachman” name on its front end will also be typed by habitat instead of hate. It will be “swamp cane warbler”,  because that’s what it loved to skulk around in before we drove it out of existence.

    [Bachman’s Warbler song with echo effect]

Those are just a couple of the naming controversies currently in question. I wanted to help the “experts” with some super simple ones from my personal feel guide — not field, but feel, because emotions are involved here. You’re welcome.

    [Bachman’s Sparrow song]

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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Bachman’s Sparrow ML306044 recorded by David L. Ross, Jr., and Bachman’s Warbler ML10717 recorded by G. Stuart Keith.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote July 2024
Narrator: J. Drew Lanham

ID# names-09-2024-07-10        names-09