I am aware there is a (locked) topic about this already, I am not here to debate anything but simply to ask, will these name changes follow suit on iNaturalist? When these names are decided, will they be added as additional names for the species?
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Probably. Each taxon can have multiple names on iNaturalist, so there’s no reason not to add them once they are official.
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There’s no reason not to add them to the common name list, but if they should be set as the default name is more up for debate.
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I believe iNaturalist uses the Clements/eBird checklist and Clements defers to the AOS on common names for the Birds of the Americas. So they would likely be set up as the default common names once the changes are made if iNaturalist were to stay consistent with their current practice.
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I have been explicitly told in the past that iNat does not follow any authority for bird common names.
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It should be kept in mind that the new, official common names will not fit iNaturalist’s definition of a common name right away. If iNaturalist defines a common name as a name in common use, then the new names will not become so until they have caught on outside “official” sources.
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The major field guide authors (Sibley, Kaufman) are supportive of the name changes so the future editions of their guides would follow the new AOS common names. As the guides go so will the majority of birders. Some of the common names that will likely be made official are already in common use.
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Which names are in common use? I feel like ultimately whatever decision eBird makes will decide the commonly used names for most birders.
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eBird has already made a statement on this and any changes made by the AOS will be updated the following October (when the annual taxonomic update occurs).
See AOS Announces Plan to Revise Eponymous Bird Names - What Does This Mean for eBirders?.
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I didn’t know Clement’s taxonomy was connected to the AOS in any official way. I just wish that since we have to change the names now, there should be someone else naming them other than the AOS who came up with such memorable names as “thick-billed longspur” and “short-billed gull”. But that’s that, this pretty much answers my question.
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The Clements taxonomy isn’t connected to the AOS in any official way. But they’ve still elected to keep the changes AOS will make to the names for some reason. It’s entirely possible they will retain a language option that would allow users to keep the current names. At the very least, I’ve submitted a feature request for it and I suggest that anyone potentially interested does so as well.
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I hope so. I’m not relearning 100ish common names all at once. It’ll probably be a Lincoln’s sparrow and Cooper’s hawk till I die. It’s too far down my give-a-damn list to reall think I’ll get to relearning them all.
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The NACC was the body within the AOS that made those names. The current plan for the name changes is a new committee which is I remember correct is called the AOS English Names Committee. That will free the NACC to consider to handle things like splits, lumps, and changes in the order of the taxonomy based on new science. You can see the recommendations from the committee that was tasked with considering the changes here: https://americanornithology.org/about/english-bird-names-project/english-bird-names-committee-recommendations/
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I highly suggest you send that feature request then. That can be done here.
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For posterity’s sake, we iNaters are not forced to accept this as a fait-accompli, we can fight back, look for the petition.
They’re going away now or in the future. Either it gets done now or we wait 20 years and make the changes when the impediments to progress are gone. A majority of the younger generations support the change to descriptive names.
Are you still using the old name for Long-tailed Duck or Spotted/Eastern Towhee? Learning new birds name is easy especially when they are descriptive and say something useful about the bird.
Not when 200 change at once.
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Call me an impediment to “progress”, but 20 years from now sounds okay by me. Maybe by then we’ll realize that rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic really doesn’t help us avoid the iceberg.
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The original question was answered and I don’t want this forum to be a place to argue about the AOS decision, it seems like people are pretty set in their corners so I’m going to close the topic.
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