Wingtagged Marsh Harrier
On 1 February 2024, I photographed a wingtagged young Marsh Harrier at Titchwell Marsh RSPB, Norfolk. I found the relevant ringing project online, and contacted them. I received an email back from Anny Anselin, a Belgium wingtag project coordinator, reporting how the bird was tagged (by Jeroen Arnoys) in a nest at Booitshoeke, West Flanders on the Belgian west coast, last July. I don't know how often Belgian Marsh Harriers pop up in the UK, but I am pleased to have observed it!
Bird names No.1
Far be it for me to take issue with Bo Beolens over his assertion (BW, February 2024) that “the truth is an uncomfortable mixture...” but I can’t overlook his reluctance to accept the logic behind the American Ornithological Society’s new policy on common bird names commemorating people. He misses the point by invoking ‘political correctness’. The AOS is eliminating all common names of birds named after people, not making a value judgement on individuals, however egregious
– or not – their character appears with hindsight. That several of the bird names which the society intends to change are associated with oppression of indigenous peoples and slavery is a welcome side effect.
Judith Scarl AOS Executive Director and CEO, explained the decision, unemotionally: “As scientists, we work to eliminate bias in science. But there has been historic bias in how birds are named, and who might have a bird named in their honor. Exclusionary naming conventions developed in the 1800s, clouded by racism and misogyny, don’t work for us today, and the time has come for us to transform this process and redirect the focus to the birds, where it belongs.”
Responses to the announcement have been largely positive. Criticism, where expressed, focuses on the possibility that it diverts attention from the catastrophic reduction in bird numbers and species. Unlikely, in my opinion, but maybe a topic for Bo to continue to be grumpy about in future. David Jobbins
Bird names No. 2
On the subject of bird names, I have always disliked the demeaning, sometimes inaccurate use of ‘common’ to label certain species of gull, whitethroat and redstart. I haven’t seen a ‘Common’ Redstart for more than 20 years. Jim Wright