And then they came for the birds, but there was no one left to tweet

[durangodawood]

I really hope the Grackle wasn't named after confederate general Hiram Grackle or something. "Grackle" is just too great name to lose.

 

[Pommer]

I really hope the Grackle wasn't named after confederate general Hiram Grackle or something. "Grackle" is just too great name to lose.

Grackles are my least favorite bird and are perfecktly named.

 

[durangodawood]

Grackles are my least favorite bird and are perfecktly named.

I went to TX for the first time ever this spring - Austin - and saw grackles. If I recall, they sound a little like "grackle".

 

[Tropical Wilds]

Even as we now have World War III possibly in our near future, there are still those who are hard at work with far more pressing issues, such as reinventing, reimagining, and renaming everything. Even the birds are immune from being targeted....

Birds in North America will be renamed to avoid any 'harmful' historical associations with people

Birds in North America will no longer be named after people. The American Ornithological Society announced the move Wednesday.

apnews.com

“There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today,” the organization’s president, Colleen Handel, said in a statement. “Everyone who loves and cares about birds should be able to enjoy and study them freely.” Rather than review each bird named after a person individually, all such birds will be renamed, the organization announced.

AOS President Colleen Handel, Ph.D., said: “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today. We need a much more inclusive and engaging scientific process that focuses attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves. Everyone who loves and cares about birds should be able to enjoy and study them freely—and birds need our help now more than ever.”
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Perhaps it's the "helpers" that really need the help!

Because goodness knows should World War III break out, this project will mean the integral wartime services provided by the American Ornithological Society will be unavailable and thus will ultimately doom us all. If I had a nickel for every time I was told in school “if it wasn’t for the American Ornithological Society during WWII, we’d all be speaking German…”

Seriously though, who cares? Them renaming birds has nothing to do with the state of World War. It’s not like they’re arming the birds and now with the new names nobody will know how command them on the battlefield.

Though I’ll say my husband is upset because he plays Wingspan and the new names mean one of the bonus cards isn’t valid anymore and the names on the cards will be factually incorrect. It was literally how he was learning how to identify birds IRL.

 

[Bradskii]

This has to be a winner...theres's a bug called Anophthalmus hitleri.

A species of blind cave beetle found only in about fifteen humid caves in Slovenia. Anophthalmus hitleri - Wikipedia

The things I've learned since joining this forum...

 

[Larniavc]

I have been "bombed from above" by a few pigeons in my day.

You should see the sea gulls in Plymouth; they still good right out of your hands!

 

[Larniavc]

Seriously though, who cares?

Silly goose. It is important because it just might distract people from the current implosion of the GOP and their anointed leader’s potential jail time.

And that distraction I.e. feigned outrage on this site might (somehow?) amount to more than a hell of beans.

Narrator: it won’t