#renaming

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 1 - Steller's Jay

Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), family Corvidae, order Passeriformes

Found in southern Alaska, western US and Canada, and much of Mexico, south to Nicaragua

Usually occurs in forested areas with coniferous trees.

Blue body with black head, but extremely varied in other markings across its extensive range.

As with many jays, loud and harsh calls. (listen here)

Bold, often approaching yards and parks.

In the same genus as the Blue Jay, found in the Eastern US and Canada.

Monogamous.

The official provincial bird of British Colombia.

Feed mainly on nuts and fruits, but about 1/3 of the diet is small animals and eggs.

It depends on the Clan culture and leader's personality at the time. More often than not, a Clan will accept a newcomer not wanting to give up their name, though with great reluctance and occasional verbal pushes to take on a warrior's title regardless. Sometimes the cat is given the choice to leave or accept their new culture's rules, and if they refuse a rename, they are escorted out of the territory with some polite force.

The thing is, Clan cats understand the personal importance of a name - it's the most significant aspect of the average warrior's life. There are, at minimum, two ceremonies just for naming that every single cat will go through, and at max, you may have five (kit-to-apprentice, apprentice-to-warrior, injury rename, leadership, and retirement, thus losing leadership). It's a big deal, basically.

So which do you like better?

Interesting how sometimes you focus on the little differences. Growing up in New Zealand meant mostly Commonwealth names and spellings, but seeing enough American media to notice the differences when titles got renamed. And the idea of America being a place where people hadn't heard about the philosopher's stone, the northern lights, ludo, or the name 'Wally' was for a long time as salient as the actual substantial cultural differences.

...Of course now when I look up some more of those renamings a conspicuous pattern emerges.

The Fungus ➔ Death Spore Seven Ancient Wonders ➔ Seven Deadly Wonders

For Agatha Christie in particular…