An ornithologist, an editor, & a VP walk into a conference room...
July 12, 2014 6:54 PM   Subscribe

"We ornithologists, with our Important Capitals, continue to look Curiously Provincial" : copy-editors and ornithologists fight a very pilkunnussija-esque war over conventions of bird names.
posted by divabat (15 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Ha, that's quite an etymology that pilkunnussija has.
posted by blueberry at 7:02 PM on July 12, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's a good thing - or not, depending on your perspective - that I don't edit for the AOU!
posted by rtha at 8:23 PM on July 12, 2014 [1 favorite]


I read this outloud to my partner and we ended up in quite the argument of our own. Neither of us really care about birding--this is a very contentious issue nonetheless! For the record, I came down on the side of the birders. 'a Blue Jay' is quite different from 'a Blue jay'.
posted by tofu_crouton at 8:43 PM on July 12, 2014


Yes, because jays may be blue without being Blue Jays! Here in California I have cautioned non-birders about saying "I saw a blue jay in the yard today!" unless they want frantic birders camped outside their house. And one must be even more careful in writing.
posted by rtha at 8:49 PM on July 12, 2014


Argh. I just accidentally erased a long comment. Anyway. Species should be capitalized because a redhead is very different than a Redhead.

Also field guides start with grebes because it was thought that the first bird was a grebe and that they were closely related to he other diving birds like loons - neither if which have been upheld since genetic analysis has been used to reconstruct the phylogeny. Now it's chickens or ducks who are the basal bird group.
posted by hydrobatidae at 9:27 PM on July 12, 2014 [1 favorite]


Species should be capitalized because a redhead is very different than a Redhead.

Don't have a Cow, man!
posted by sour cream at 12:53 AM on July 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Doles this mean that ornithologists will write things like "I took my toddler to the pond and we saw three Sparrows, a Duck and a very angry Goose?" Or is it only for double-barreled names - "... we saw three House Sparrows, a Muscovy Duck and and a very angry Canadian Goose"?
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:21 AM on July 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Whatever. Don't have a cow-man.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:22 AM on July 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Or is it only for double-barreled names - "... we saw three House Sparrows, a Muscovy Duck and and a very angry Canadian Goose"?

I believe it is only for the common names of specific species, not groups of birds. Although this does not have to mean a multi-word name. You would capitalize a Bananaquit or Willet if you saw one. Also, you would capitalize a Canada Goose, but a Canadian goose could be any goose from Canada.
posted by snofoam at 5:02 AM on July 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Before I read this I thought I was interested in everything about ornithology. I was mistaken.
posted by Jode at 5:36 AM on July 13, 2014


Common names are standardized in North America by the AOU (also four letter codes names) and these are what's capitalized. For example, yesterday I saw terns, both Common terns and Roseate Terns. You can capitalize or not the second part of the name but if you're referring to the group noun (? Don't know the proper phrasing) you don't capitalize.

I thought of another example where capitalization is really important last night. The common murre in the Arctic is the Thick-billed murre. The Common Murre in the Arctic might result from climate change.

So it'd be "Don't have a cow man" or "Don't have Cattle man".

I also saw puffins, a beautiful sunset, and a gorgeous moonrise so I'm pretty happy with yesterday.
posted by hydrobatidae at 6:19 AM on July 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


yesterday I saw terns, both Common terns and Roseate Terns

Hardly surprising you saw both. One good tern deserves another.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:39 AM on July 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


I'm glad someone posted this - I couldn't, as the author is a good friend. I think she will be pleased to know her article has been tagged "commafuckery."
posted by Stacey at 6:58 AM on July 13, 2014


A delightful article! Naturally, I am fond of pilkunnussija; also, I agree with Anselm Atkins about the Important Capitals, but I'm only an editor, not a birder, so I'll stand back and watch the commas being fucked.
posted by languagehat at 7:19 AM on July 13, 2014


Don't get me started on pedantic birders and seagulls....

signed, a pedantic birder.
posted by gingerbeer at 8:14 PM on July 13, 2014


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