Michigan Birds Being Renamed For ‘Controversial, Even Racist Connotations’

Times change, and as a society, we tend to realize that things we thought were acceptable in the past have some much more sinister, and hateful historical meanings. Then, there's just some instances where a bird is named after a famous bird collector, who just happens to ALSO be a Confederate General.

It's for some of these reasons that the American Ornithological Association has decided to rename 70 different species of birds, including one of the most rare and protects in the state of Michigan - The Kirtland's Warbler.

Earlier this month, it was announced that dozens of species of birds would get new names over the next four years, and about a third of them live in the Great Lakes area, including the Kirtland's Warbler, which has its annual festival in Roscommon every year.

But sometime in the near future, the festival will have to change its name, likely to the Jack Pine, or Jack Pine Warbler fest, as it and 69 other species of birds will have their names changed.

In fact, all birds named after people will soon be changed. Many were named after the people who discovered them, and some named for those who just laid claim, or were named as tribute. However, some were actually named after people who maybe didn't have such a great past.

Case and point, the Thick-billed longspur, more commonly known as the "McCowen's Longspur," named for Captain John P. McCown, who was the man who discovered the bird, and an avid fan of bird collecting.

He also happened to be a captain of the Confederate Army.

Some birds were named with good intent, though. Kirtland's Warbler was named for Jared Potter Kirtland, who was an abolitionist, whose home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. He was a physician, a botanist, and naturalist in his day, and help improve farm harvests and conditions in Ohio's state prisons.

However, his name will also be among those removed from a species of bird. The committee in charge said naming birds after people failed to actually describe what the birds are, so changing the common names to reflect their physical and behavioral traits will help with identification.

You can see a full list of the birds being considered for name change on the American Ornithological Society's website.

What do you think? Will you continue to call the bird a Kirtland Warbler, or change with the times?