Proposal (990) to South
American Classification Committee
Change English name of
Cape Petrel to Pintado Petrel
[Note
from Remsen: This is Steve’s as is email from a ship somewhere in stormy seas
south of Cape Horn, which is evidently not the cape from which Cape Petrel
derives is name.]
Every time I see this bird I think I should write something like
this, and with 20+ knots of wind and driving snow outsight right now off the
South Shetlands, I have a little time to do so.
The English name of the dapper little petrel whose scientific name
is Daption capense
has long been Pintado Petrel, but in relatively recent years for
reasons that are not entirely clear the English name in many books has shifted
to the rather insipid Cape Petrel. Cape where? Cape Cod? Cape Horn? Cape Clear?
I realize that Cape Sugarbird and other names do convey some useful geographic
information with respect to the Cape District of South Africa, but for a
circumpolar oceanic bird the name is not overly helpful.
The name pintado, meaning painted—as the bird looks to be
spattered with white paint—has a long pedigree and was used by early Spanish
(and Portuguese?) sailors for this charismatic ship-following petrel. Indeed,
the genus name Daption
is simply an anagram of Pintado (and as I recall has no other
‘meaning’), attesting to the long usage of the name Pintado Petrel. Perhaps
Pintado is too difficult for English speakers to pronounce (hardly?) or perhaps
it smacks of ‘foreign-ness’ or who knows why Cape Petrel came into being (I am
in Antarctica right now, away from literature or more than rudimentary
internet). Either way, the name Pintado is evocative and has a long history,
will teach English speakers a Spanish name, and seems like a much better option
than Cape Petrel. It is still used in some books by authors with a long history
of pelagic ventures (e.g., Howell & Zufelt 2019,
Oceanic Birds of the World) and this doesn’t seem to have
been overly confusing for anyone).
Yes, OK, I realize this is not strictly an English word, but that
is true of many ‘English’ bird names. For example, Inti, as in Inti Tanager
(and more people know Spanish than they do some obscure South American native
dialect), not to mention other names being coined these days (e.g.,
Schiffornis = a bird
named for Mr. Schiff, hardly helpful unlike mourner, which does at least say
something about the voice), so I won’t mention them in the interests of
brevity.
Thus, I suggest that reverting to Pintado Petrel would bring more
‘color’ (if that is possible for a black, and-and-white bird) and history to
English bird names, and also seems unlikely to offend anyone.
Respectfully submitted 11 January 2023 from the Bransfield Strait
Steve N. G.
Howell, January 2023
Comments
from Remsen:
“YES. Although Cape Petrel has a long track record in recent years,
resurrecting the previous name does counters somewhat the argument against
destabilization. Pintado Petrel was the
name used by the AOU until the 5th edition (1957), which changed it
to Cape Petrel. (Its presence on the AOU
list was based on a record from off Monterey no longer considered valid;
<note to self – dig out that record – I recall it may have been a
misidentified specimen). Meyer de Schauensee (1970) used Pintado Petrel as an
alternative name for Cape Petrel. Murphy
(1936) called it Cape Pigeon, and so perhaps that instigated the change in the
Americas, at least for the Cape part. (I
gave away almost all my older books when I retired, so I no longer can fully
research early usage.). Regardless, for
all the reasons mentioned above by Howell, Pintado is clearly the “better” name
in my opinion, and for SACC that it is a Spanish word make it especially
appealing to me.”
Comments
from Jaramillo:
“YES. I have considered writing this very same
proposal many times. YES, Pintado is a good name and the original name. Cape is
a name that is pretty useless for a bird that is about the most distinctive
tubenose there is on earth.”
Comments from David Donsker (voting for Areta): “I can
fill in some of the English names associated with this species that Steve and yourself were unable to provide:
“Earliest English Usage:
• Pintado
Bird (Dampier. Voyages III 1729)
•
White-and-Black Spotted Petrel (Edwards 1747)
• Pintado
Petrel (Latham Gen. Syn. Birds 1785; But in his text Latham states that the
birds are known as Cape Pigeons by sailors).
“But Cape Petrel was adopted in early Australian usage which
continues until today:
• Cape Petrel (Gould Birds of
Australia VII, 1843)
• Cape Petrel (Gould Handbook Birds
Australia 1865)
• Cape Petrel (Mathews Birds of
Australia 1912 through modern field guides)
“Also Cape Petrel in New Zealand has deep roots
• Cape
Petrel (Buller Birds of New Zealand 1873 through modern field guides and
official checklist; Gill et al.).
“South Africa: Initially referred to as Cape Pigeon but switched
to Pintado Petrel since at least 1985.
• Cape
Pigeon (Roberts 1940-1969)
• Pintado
Petrel (Roberts 1985, 2005; Fifth ed. through Seventh ed.)
“Americas:
• Both
Pintado Petrel and Cape Pigeon. (Coues Checklist of North American Birds 1873)
• Cape
Pigeon (Hellmayr & Conover 1948)
“British:
• Cape
Pigeon (Yarrell British Birds 1884)
• Cape
Fulmar (Godman Petrels 1907-1910)
“So, history doesn't help much. Both Pintado Petrel and Cape Petrel/Pigeon
have deep roots in the English language on both sides of the Atlantic and above
and below the equator.
“Steve is being purposely coy in his proposal. The
"Cape" is not really ambiguous. He and others know well that the
"Cape" in Cape Petrel is the Cape of Good Hope. It's been the source
of that name since the early sailors who called this species Cape Pigeon.
“From a global perspective it seems to me the three English
speaking regions should have the strongest claim on the English name, South
Africa, Australia and New Zealand. But they are not united in this respect, so
that doesn't help us much. I find it ironic, however, that South Africa, the
nation with the very cape from which the bird was named, initially called it
Cape Pigeon but has settled on Pintado Petrel since at least 1985.
“Another claimant for the name might reasonably be the Portuguese
since they were likely the first Europeans to actually see this bird at the
very beginning of the "Age of Exploration". Apparently, they call it
Pintado. A point in its favor, historically.
“In my mind, it's a toss-up historically and by current
international usage. But from a purely aesthetic perspective, I would favor the
unique Pintado Petrel for this striking species.”
Comments
from Stiles:
“I like
Pintado Petrel, so YES.”
Comments from Debra Shearwater (voting for Bonaccorso): “YES to
Pintado, concurring 100% with SNGH.”
Comments
from Zimmer:
“YES. Normally, I would be hesitant to
go against a historically used name that is neither inappropriate nor
misleading, and which is in wide use in other parts of the English-speaking
world (i.e. Australia & New Zealand) with an equal or broader “claim”
(based on distribution) to the species.
However, as David points out, the earliest English usage of ‘Pintado’ as applied to Daption,
pre-dates even the long-standing history of ‘Cape Petrel’, and has also been
used by the South Africans since 1985.
Given this, and the opportunity to use a name that is evocatively
descriptive and derivative of both Spanish and Portuguese, I’m for it.”
Comments
from Rasmussen (replacing Schulenberg in voting for Robbins on English names): “YES. As yet another observer who recalls thinking in the field
(most recently in Antarctica last year) that Pintado Petrel is without doubt a
preferable name, I'll join the chorus for change in this case.
“I note that NACC had it in the main checklist as recently as 1983
(there stating in the Notes ‘Also known as Pintado Petrel and Cape Pigeon’, but
in the 36th Supplement (1987) moved it to Appendix B (hypotheticals), where it
is in the 1998 edition, which doesn't even list it in the Index. The 36th
Supplement cites Bourne (1967) and Binford (1986) for rejection of all
NACC-area records.”
Comments
from Mark Pearman (voting for Claramunt): “NO. The type
description of the genus Daption contains critical, overlooked information by those who have
used the name Pintado Petrel or aspire to do so. To recap, the species was
described as Procellaria capensis by Linnaeus in
1785. Then, Stephens (1826) erected Daption for various species of petrels, all of which he called
“Pintados”, and designated capensis as the type species for the genus. He named the species
Cape Pintado.
“Stephens also applied Daption antarcticum (=
Thalassoica antarctica) as “Antarctic Pintado”,
Daption niveum
(=Pagadroma nivea) as
“Snowy Pintado”, Daption desolatum (=Pachyptila
desolata) as “Brown-banded Pintado”,
Daption gelidum (=Procellaria cinerea) as
“Glacial Pintado”, Daption
griseum (=Ardenna grisea) as
“Dark-Grey Pintado”, Daption
album (=Pterodroma alba) as “White
Pintado” and Daption fuliginosum (=Nesofregetta
albigularis) as “Sooty Pintado”.
“Importantly then, ‘pintado’ was a group name for many petrels and
not used for a single species. So, with Pintado having been described for eight
species, including Snowy Pintado, the nomenclature becomes awkward.
“According to Jobling (2011),
Daption derives
from daptes
meaning eater, and Stephens makes graphic reference as such, ‘They
feed on fish and the dead carcasses of whales, and are very voracious’.
“The word Cape (in Cape Petrel) clearly does refer to the Cape of
Good Hope, as mentioned in the type description and by Stephens (1826) who
called it Cape Pintado, and not to any old cape as suggested in the proposal.
“For what it’s worth, the Google hits for Pintado Petrel are
138,000 compared to 1.24 million for Cape Petrel and this shows that Cape
Petrel is the established and preferred name. What gain or contribution could
SACC make to change from a stable name to an ill contrived name?
“In summary, Cape Petrel unequivocally refers to
D. capensis, and I see nothing wrong with retaining it.
“Pintado Petrel” refers to many different species and turns out to have a very
confusing and elaborate history. For the purposes of stability, which should be
paramount in all considerations, Cape Petrel is the correct choice.”
Additional
comment from Donsker:
“I am persuaded by Mark’s comprehensive and
compelling analysis. I change my vote to ‘NO’”.
Additional comments from Zimmer: “Per Mark Pearman’s
comments/analysis regarding Proposal 990 (Changing Cape Petrel to Pintado
Petrel), which, like David Donsker, I found compelling, I would like to change
my vote to “NO”.
Additional
comments from Remsen:
“I’m sticking with a YES on this. I
appreciate all Mark’s good points, but given that Pintado is in use and thus a
valid competitor, and given that Pintado hasn’t been used as a group name for
two centuries ago, I think Pintado is a better name. It actually describes the appearance of the
bird well – it really looks like it was splashed with paint. In contrast, Cape says nothing useful about
the bird. That Pintado is a Spanish word
works especially well for SACC.”
Comments
from Stiles:
“YES. Although the nomenclatural history
of these is definitely intertwined, I consider “Pintado” to be the more
evocative name as well as the least subject to confusion by the unwary.. and
the fact that south Africans are now using Pintado is another (small) point in its favor. I also like it
because it translates unchanged into Spanish.”