McCown’s Longspur renamed Thick-billed Longspur
The American Ornithologists Society has announced that McCown’s Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii will now be known as Thick-billed Longspur. The unanimous decision was made by the North American Classification Committee (NACC)
The change was made in the midst of a larger push to have all bird species named after people renamed. The Bird Names for Birds movement, which has gathered 2,300 signatures on a petition calling for the changing of all honorific names, is itself part of the larger societal reckoning with long-standing racist symbols and practices.
The species was originally named after amateur ornithologist John P McCown who, in 1851, shot a group of larks in Texas whilst stationed there as an army officer.
A formal proposal to rename the species was made in 2018 by Robert Driver, a graduate student in East Carolina University who wrote “He led campaigns against Native tribes along the Canadian border before being moved to Texas to serve in the Mexican War. He later fought the Seminoles in Florida and served several other positions before the onset of the Civil War. It was during this time that he collected the longspur, and that [George N.] Lawrence named the longspur in his honour.”
This proposal was rejected however but Driver co-authored a new proposal name on July 24th 2020 with NACC chair Terry Dresser and was written in consultation with the AOS Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
The proposal then consider the longspur’s name “against the background of today” with the following reflection:
“Confederate symbols across the U.S. are currently being removed because of associations with white supremacy or a racist past that has rightfully been rejected. The continued use of Confederate symbols and honorifics ignores the propagation of racism and white supremacy that followed the Civil War and persists to the present day. Black, Indigenous, and other people of color continue to experience profound prejudice, discrimination, and violence.
“The names McCown’s Longspur and Rhynchophanes mccownii were not initially associated with the Confederacy; the bird was scientifically described ten years prior to the Civil War. These names are therefore not directly equivalent to the many overtly racist symbols created to recognize individuals for their roles in the Confederacy, often intended to perpetuate the racism associated with slavery and later forms of oppression. The social question here is more nuanced, involving the symbolism linked to this name due to post-naming events. Notwithstanding McCown’s accomplishments as an ornithologist and his eventual misgivings about the Confederacy, he is perceived as a symbol of slavery and racism by many in today’s ornithological and birding communities. This broader association of McCown with the Confederacy and what it represents has damaging ramifications for promoting diversity and inclusion within ornithology.
“Ornithology is not exempt from racism. Racial minorities are underrepresented as birders, naturalists, and ornithologists, as was recently highlighted by the Twitter movements #BlackBirdersWeek and #BlackAFInStem. This underrepresentation is complex and multifaceted, but it is exacerbated by the presence of microaggressions, such as an English name honoring a high-ranking Confederate officer, regardless of when or how that name was originally created. There is obviously much work to be done, but removing an especially problematic eponym represents a step towards dismantling barriers for a more inclusive ornithological community.”
The renaming comes as part of a wider push to rename the all species named after people, this has been led by a group called Bird Names for Birds.
Responding to the news Alex Holt said; “This is certainly a positive move, but I hope this now leads to further introspection within ornithology and beyond into other scientific fields,”
“McCown wasn’t just a singular anomaly that has now been “solved”, but a single expression of far more deep-rooted issues of colonialism, racism, sexism and other prejudices that have gone unchallenged for too long. Hopefully, by continuing to confront that legacy, we can further break down the barriers around who feels able to get involved with birds and nature.”
Jordan Rutter added “I’m happy they’ve taken this step, but it’s just the first step out of many needed ones. I hope that this creates broader interest in understanding the history of ornithology, and in particular how many of those who contributed greatly to our knowledge of birds also contributed greatly to the harm of their fellow humans- especially BIPOC, women, the disabled and mentally ill, and the LGBTQ community,” says Jess McLaughlin of Bird Names for Birds. “Understanding where our discipline has failed in the past is a key part in building a more inclusive future, where anyone of any background can truly and fully participate in ornithology.”
11 Aug 2020
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