Proposal (23) to South American Classification Committee
Change English name of Eudyptula minor from
"Little Blue Penguin" to "Little Penguin"
Here is
a copy of the recent email exchange that constitutes the basics of this
proposal:
"Alvaro
also noted: "Finally, I see that the Australian Ornithologists call this
species Little Penguin, I assume that this is the most widely accepted name but
perhaps it is not? I propose to call it Little Penguin unless someone can come
up with a reason to use one of the other names for this species."
Alvaro -- would you do some background on this
make and make it an official proposal? Even if we reject #22, the species stays
on the Hypothetical List, and therefore we should consider which English name should
be used.
The
Australian bird checklist on the net (published by Birds Australia/RAOU) uses the name Little Penguin
for Eudyptula minor. HANZAB (http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/hanzab/HANZAB_spp_list.pdf)
also uses the name Little Penguin.
The
following from Mike Imber, Seabird biologist from New Zealand:
"Dear
Alvaro, Here we call it Blue Penguin. Of
course, we have to be different from the Aussies and vice versa! Actually, in
common everyday usage, Little Blue Penguin
is the widespread name. So you have a choice : Little, Blue or Little Blue. This is Nationalism flourishing. Regarding taxonomy, there is hardly 5 years
passing without another study of this,
from the point of view of anatomy, plumage, vocalisations and, now of course, DNA. The generally accepted
concept now is that it forms a single
species with a cline from north to south (in NZ) and west to east (Australia to
Chatham Is.). Various groupings of the populations (or former subspecies) have
been suggested. Hope this helps, Regards
Mike Imber "
So we
are in a quandary in that we shall have to pick one of the three English names.
Since "Little Blue" is a commonly used name that has no official
standing in either Australia or New Zealand I suggest that we don't make things any more confusing by
making that one our choice. I think we
have to choose between "Little" and "Blue". I suggest we
use "Little Penguin" as it is
the name used by the larger body of ornithologists/birders
in Australia, and because the small size is its most visible characteristic that sets it apart
from other penguins. King Penguins are
every bit as blue as Eudyptula, at
least on the back. So if accepted to the
South American list, I propose we call Eudyptula
minor "Little Penguin".
Alvaro Jaramillo
________________________________________________________________________________________
From Tom
Schulenberg: "I vote "Yes". I have
not done an exhaustive literature search, but "Little Penguin" also
was used by Harrison (1983 Seabirds) and Alexander (1954: anyone remember that
one?), so it seems to have a long and widespread history of use.