Some Birds Are Named By And For White Supremacists
So I propose we come up with nicknames for the warblers (and I need your help!)
(TLDR: A lot of birds are named for white supremacists! I wanted to do a project where we collectively come up with fun nicknames for the warblers of North America so bird-watching season can feel safer and more fun for all people. Jump directly to this project and how it works by clicking here, or find the spreadsheet here.)
I almost spent my life not caring very much about birds.
My mom liked birds, and I grew up in Oregon, which is lousy with birds, so I initially felt a general interest in the animals who flew outside our kitchen window. But then I took a high school biology class and learned that if you were going to like birds, you had to be mathematical about it; you had to take it deathly seriously, and stand quietly while wearing a drab colored coat, and remark that you could hear far-off warbles reminiscent of this or that highly specific species. You couldn’t describe birds as “magical” or “like a muppet,” because that was unscientific. I learned that if you did not know the Latin names of the 50 commonest North American birds, you would get a D-minus on a quiz, and be deemed by Mr. D as “not good at ornithology.” I learned that to name a bird, you had to kill it…
