Proposal (109) to South American Classification Committee
Change English name of Columba
livia from "Rock Dove" to "Rock Pigeon"
I would like to recommend to the AOU Checklist
committee that the English name of C. livia be change from Rock Dove to
Rock Pigeon.
The latest BOU Checklist (Available online at:
www.bou.org.uk/recbrlst.html) gives the English name for C. livia as
Rock Pigeon instead of the AOU's Rock Dove. They also have C. oenas listed as Stock Pigeon instead
of Stock Dove. Since this change was made in 2001 published books such as
PIGEONS AND DOVES: A guide to pigeons and doves of the World by David Gibbs et
al. and A FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF CHINA by John Mackinnon and Karen Phillipps have adopted the English name Rock Pigeon for C.
livia. This change would also agree with the general generic name for the
genus Columba, which is "pigeon." This change would also agree
with the common vernacular name for the species that is even used by
ornithologists.
Ian Paulsen, March 2004
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Addendum from Remsen: The above was
submitted to the AOU Checklist Committee in 2002, and was reluctantly approved.
Although most on the AOUCLC saw no real reason to change the long-standing name
of this species, AOU policy is to follow BOU when the species is primarily a
Palearctic species.
Comments from Stiles: "YES. English
name proposals generally don't inspire me, but this one is positively
soporific. Between yawns, and in the name of Anglo-Saxon unity (or something),
a slightly bleary YES."
Comments from Nores: "SI. Estoy muy de acuerdo, salvo casos excepcionales, que todas las especies
de un mismo género tengan la misma denominación básica. En este caso Pigeon."
Comments from Jaramillo: "NO Following
the same general thought I have been following on this series of proposals.
There is nothing really wrong with the old name, and it does have a long
history, so why change it? If the reason is to standardize an English name on a
list of South American birds, to fall into line with a recent change made by
the AOU in order to match a recent change that was made in England - well it
just seems silly. Rock Dove doesn't really bother me, at least not as much as
Common Moorhen does. Besides I love the bander code "RODO" and don't
want to lose that."
Comments from Schulenberg: "NO. I don't
think that I accept the idea that all members of a genus "really
ought" to have the same English group name, which seems to be the basic
rationale of the British checklist committee. Maybe I'll revise that opinion
when the AOU Check-list Committee changes the English name of Turdus migratorius from "American
Robin" to "[inane modifier] Thrush". But until then, I prefer to
resist this rush to conformity.
"Furthermore, I'm not convinced that the
question of what name to adopt primarily belongs to the BOU. I see this case as
qualitatively different than species that breed only or primarily in the Old
World and occur in the New World only as vagrants, rare migrants, or very local
breeders. There are wild populations of Columba livia in the United
Kingdom, which is not the case in North (or South) America. But in Europe, as
is true here, it primarily is a human commensal found in urban environments.
Given that situation, Columba livia is scarcely "their" bird anymore than it is ours.
"If the AOU thinks that the BOU name
change makes sense on its merits, that is one thing. But the AOU is reportedly
"saw no real reason to change the long-standing name of this
species". So why go along with it? Why should we?"
Comments from Zimmer: "NO. And I'm not
even sure why, except that I've come to associate "Rock Dove" so
strongly with the grimy feral pigeons that really aren't European birds any
more. "Rock Pigeon" almost conveys more legitimacy on the birds than
they deserve."
Comments from Stotz: "Yes I voted No
on the AOU north proposal, but it seems like tilting at windmills, to try to
maintain Rock Dove against the momentum from all the other committees. South
America is probably the continent where this bird probably has its most
restricted range."