Surveys conducted by the American Ornithological Society have revealed that three-quarters of birders were fine with its decision to change the honorific names of 152 species in the United States and Canada.
Some of these species were named after historical birders and biologists involved in racist or genocidal activities. The organization conducted a national survey and in-depth interviews and determined that 47.6% of respondents saw the name changes as positive, while 28.5% were neutral about the renaming effort. They also found that nearly 70% of respondents planned to use the new names.
The survey also revealed that more than 80% of respondents in Utah saw that state’s anti-renaming legislation unfavorably.
Interviews revealed that these name changes are helping increase diversity in the birding world, evidenced by the increase in inclusive birding clubs.
