Bird brains! Dozens of species 'clouded by racism and misogyny' are officially ... trends now
Dozens of birds' names that have been 'clouded by racism and misogyny' have been officially reclassified to avoid glorifying slave owners and Confederate generals.
The American Ornithological Society (AOS) announced Wednesday it will alter the names of certain flying animals after a 'highly charged and publicized' debate surrounding the now-controversial figures whom the birds are named after.
According to AOS President Colleen Handel, the group will change the bird names that prove to be 'exclusionary and harmful today.'
The AOS created a committee last year to discuss and determine which birds' names needed changing. So far, more than 100 species across the Americas have been identified as needing new monikers, and the project will continue in 2024.
Pictured: Scott's Oriole. It is just one of the dozens of species that will be rechristened
The black-and-yellow bird was named after Winfield Scott, a Civil War general known for overseeing the forced relocation of Indigenous peoples in 1838 - which is now known as the Trail of Tears
Among the birds who will receive a new name is the Audubon's shearwater.
It is a bird that is found off the coast of the southeast, and was named after one of the most established bird illustrator of the 19th century, John James Audubon.
But he was also a slave owner who adamantly opposed the abolition of slavery.
John James Audubon is described by the National Audubon Society as 'a genius, a pioneer, a fabulist, and a man whose actions reflected a dominant white view of the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
'His contributions to ornithology, art, and culture are enormous, but he was a complex and troubling character who did despicable things even by the standards of his day.'
The keen bird watcher had slaves, wrote critically about emancipation, and also believed that skull remains showed that white people were superior to non-whites.
Pictured: McCown's Longspur
McCown's Longspur, which is a songbird from the Great Plains, was originally named after John P. McCown, a Confederate Army general. But in 2020, it was renamed to Thick-billed Longspur because this name changed erased 'a painful link to slavery and racism,' according to the American Ornithological Society
Although the Audubon shearwater has not yet been rechristened, its new name will most likely be a reflection of its identifiable rounded wings or its geographical home near the
