Let's Rename the Birds!!! (pt. 10)
As you may already know... ornithological authorities (such as the AOS and ABA) in North America have decided, for a variety of reasons, to rename all of the birds that have been named after people.
Some examples: Lewis's Woodpecker, Smith's Longspur, MacGillivray's Warbler...
I thought it would be fun for us to come up with some ideas for new common names here on Tumblr.
Here are some criteria for re-naming that might appeal to ornithologists and birdwatchers:
Habitat and geographical range
Call/song characteristics
PLEASE MAKE YOUR NAMING SUGGESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS, REBLOG, OR TAGS.
We'll take the best ideas, and put them in a poll by the end of the week! (I and an esteemed panel of ornithological tumblererrsssres will make the decisions).
Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), family Accipitridae, order Accipitrifomes
Called "pueco" in much of Latin America.
Previously called the Bay-winged Hawk, but I didn't want to just default to that.
Found in the SW United States, much of Mexico, western Central America, and parts of South America.
Highly social and gregarious.
Unlike most birds of prey, they are known for hunting in hierarchical packs of 2 - 7 birds, which includes a dominant female, an adult male, the last few years previous offspring, and young unrelated birds.
They prey mainly on small and medium sized mammals, but also take birds, reptiles, and large invertebrates.
The "pack" also helps to raise the dominant pair's chicks.
They nest in small trees, large bushes, and cacti.
Nests have been observed with 1 female and two males, and its possible that they engage in polyandry, but that is debated.
Believed to be one of the more intelligent raptors.
There are 2 subspecies, one found in North America and We and No South America, while the other is found in Ea and So South America.
In the U.S. the bird inhabits mostly desert and sparse arid woodlands, but can also be found in treed wetlands (such as mangrove swamps).
Populations have declined over the last several decades, due to habitat loss. (Regardless, there numbers remain high enough to be conservation classified as "least concern".)
photos : Hector Astorga, Martin Molina, Ron Friesz
photograph by Peter K Burian
Southern CA, USA - photo by Barbara Wise
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