Birds of The World: Recommended English Names - Criteria

Criteria

As part of the name standardization, it was also necessary to develop a set of rules for spelling, capitalization, the use of derivative names, and the like. While the rules occupy several pages of the book, they may be briefly summarized:

• Official English names of species are capitalized (as was already the practice among ornithologists)
• Patronyms (names of people) are used in the possessive form, e.g., "Ross's Gull"
• Names used do not include diacriticals or inflection marks
• Compromises are made between British and American spellings
• Users are encouraged to spell and use pronunciation marks according to their preference
• Geographical names may be the noun or adjective form, but must be consistent for the location, e.g., "Canada" (as in Canada Goose and Canada Warbler), not "Canadian", but "African" (as in African Piculet or African Wood Owl), not "Africa"
• Compound words adhere to a set of rules designed to be consistent in their balancing of readability and the relationships of the words
• Hyphens are minimized, but for compound group names, hyphens are used only to connect two names that are themselves bird species or families, e.g., "Eagle-Owl", "Wren-Babbler", or when the combined name would be difficult to read, e.g., "Silky-flycatcher"

The committee began consideration of each species's name with reference to existing usage: if a name was in long-standing or widespread usage, it was not changed simply to correct a perceived inaccuracy. Names using such widespread words as "warbler" for multiple groups of unrelated species were let stand. Local names, however, were dropped in favor of already-established formal names. In a nod to political correctness, names that were seen as offensive to a "substantial" group of people were changed. Many old geographical names were also updated. A strong preference for English words in names was expressed, although long-standing terms from other languages were generally left standing. The most important criterion was that each species was to have only one English name throughout the world, which was to be different from all other names.

The result, published in 2006, was a 199-page list of species, arranged taxonomically, and a 46-page index, giving both English and scientific names, primarily of genera and families. The taxonomy generally follows the lines set out in the third edition of Howard and Moore's Checklist of Birds of the World. A compact disk bundled with the book contains spreadsheet files that list all 10,068 species and provide additional information on their ranges.