Common Names

[Michael Gochfeld]

	I agree with the recent posting that we really don't need to 
make common names completely unique, but the bird world has grappled 
with this for decades. North Americans have chafed that people in 
Britain refer to Troglodytes troglodytes as "The Wren", for example 
(merely because it happens to be the only Wren in the Old World. On the 
other hand our name, Winter Wren, isn't great (it happens to be the only 
wren that spends winters around the major cities where ornithologists 
congregated. 

	We did make concessions, changing "Mockingbird" to "Northern 
Mockingbird" in recognition of the several Neotropical species of 
mockingbirds and "Catbird" to "Gray Catbird" in recognition of the 
"Green Catbird" and its relatives of Australia as well as the "Black 
Catbird" and other Neotropical species.

	Other changes were made to give the same name to in both 
hemispheres, for example changing "Common Gallinule" to "Moorhen". 
	The scientific community represented by the A.O.U. Check-list 
committee and the birding community represented by the American Birding 
Association Check-list committee, have not always agreed or made 
changes at the same time. Nor has the former been especially cognizant 
of the historic nature of common names and their utility, particularly 
by naive and confused newcomers to the field. 
	Indeed, common names for virtually all North American birds 
had already in widespread use in the 1950's for more than a century and 
based on my museum experience in the 1960's and 1970's even PhD 
ornithologists used common names for North American (and even South 
American birds) in most of their discussions (and field notes). (At the 
same time the few scientific lepidopterists I knew wouldn't dream of 
using common names for anything other than Monarch and Tiger 
Swallowtail. 
	As one example of changing well entrenched common names, the 
species that most Americans knew as Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) 
had its name changes to Solitary Vireo in the 1957 AOU Checklist 
(5th edition)(merely for the reason that two western races don't have 
blue heads). {By the same token Canadians might have lobbied to change 
Winter Wren to Summer Wren). 
	Now, in the AOU Checklist (7th edition, 1998), Vireo solitarius 
has been split, into three species (one of which is named Blue-headed 
Vireo, and none of which are named Solitary Vireo, although that name 
had official status for more than 40 years (most of the lifetime of 
current ornithologists and birders). So much for tradition.
	Anyway since neither Small White nor Cabbage White are unique 
descriptors (it may be smaller, but isn't especially small and it isn't 
the only cabbage-chomping white),  I can see a checklist committee 
grappling with a 3rd "more appropriate" name.

Mike Gochfeld