#anataidae

As you may already know... ornithological authorities (such as the AOS and ABA) in North America have decided, for a variety of reasons, to rename all of the birds that have been named after people.

Some examples: Lewis's Woodpecker, Smith's Longspur, MacGillivray's Warbler...

I thought it would be fun for us to come up with some ideas for new common names here on Tumblr.

Here are some criteria for re-naming that might appeal to ornithologists and birdwatchers:

Habitat and geographical range

Physical characteristics

Call/song characteristics

Behavior

PLEASE MAKE YOUR NAMING SUGGESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS, REBLOG, OR TAGS.

We'll take the best ideas, and put them in a poll by the end of the week! (I and an esteemed panel of ornithological tumblererrsssres will make the decisions).

WEEK 6 - Ross's Goose

Ross's Goose (Anser rossii), family Anatidae, order Anseriformes

This species nests on coastal plain and tundra in the far north of Canada and a small area of northern Alaska.

The birds overwinter in wetlands and bodies of freshwater in California, western NV, SE AZ, NM, the South Central US, a couple of isolated areas of the SE US, and northern Mexico.

Smallest of the 3 white geese species in North America.

Similar in appearance to the white phase of the Snow Goose, but smaller and smaller proportions.

Once rare from overhunting, the bird is now fairly common, after conservation efforts helped them to recover.

They nest in large colonies on small islands in or on the shorelines of large ponds and lakes.

They feed mainly on grasses (and other graminoids) and small seeds.

Couples mate for life.

"Blue morph" - the rarer of the 2 color morphs.

photograph by Brooke Miller

photograph by Patrice St. Pierre