By Jim Wright

Special to The Record | USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

    The birding world is in the midst of a kerfuffle. The American Ornithological Society announced last month that it is changing the names of roughly 75 birds named after people –  to the delight of some birders and the annoyance of others.

   The proposed name changes are part of an effort to "make ornithology and birding more diverse and inclusive," the AOS says. Their goal is to change the name to one that reflects a unique aspect of the species. 

    AOS President Colleen Handel explained: "There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today."

   One example often given for the nomenclature change is "McCown's longspur," named for amateur naturalist and Confederate Army officer John P. McCown.  Three years ago the AOS changed the name to "thick-billed longspur” because McCown's name had become a symbol of racism and slavery.

   My first reaction was: Seriously? With all the world's problems – from devastating wars to climate change – is this really a priority? If so, how will this change things? We can rewrite the names of birds all we want, but we can't erase history. And sometimes we need to be reminded of it.

    I hope this project turns out for the best, but I worry that searching for a common ground will merely give folks something new to argue about.

     For backyard birders, I can think of only one species that would be affected: the Cooper's hawk, named after William Cooper, a 19th-century New York scientist. No new name has been proposed, but given most birders' problems trying to identify this hawk, the new name might be a doozy.

   Returning to the Cooper's hawk's old popular name, "chicken hawk," seems outdated and confusing since this hawk doesn't prey on chickens much anymore, and it sure doesn't resemble a chicken.

   The practical net effect of this endeavor: Birders will have to learn new names, and field guides and other birding books will have to be revised. I am not optimistic. Birders can’t even agree on how to pronounce ”pileated.”

    My new book, "The Screech Owl Companion," appears to have gotten off unscathed. The book mentions just one owl that's named after a human, Blakiston's fish owl. It lives mainly in Japan, beyond the AOS's purview. (It was named for English naturalist and lumber baron Thomas Blakiston.)

   My concern is that someday the American bird-name constabulary will seek to change the name of screech owls on the grounds that adult screech owls seldom screech. If so, most of the screeching you'd hear would be coming from me.

   What do you think? I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at [email protected],

   The Bird Watcher column appears every other Thursday.