Proposal (315) to South American
Classification Committee
Change English name of Larus
ridibundus
Proposal: This proposal is to
follow AOU, BOU and almost all leading European field guides in using
straightforward "Black-headed Gull" for Larus ridibundus,
rather than cumbersome "Common Black-headed Gull". "Common
Black-headed Gull" is currently used on the SACC hypothetical list, with a
recent proposal for promotion of this species to the main list.
Health
warnings: Although there are lots of gull species with black heads, Larus
ridibundus is not one of them. It has a chocolate-brown head in
breeding plumage and becomes white-headed (with a brown spot behind the eye) in
winter. Even the enthusiastic name-improvers at the BOU have failed to correct
this entrenched name. This proposal therefore provides a choice between two
inappropriate names. I use Larus herein, following the current baseline.
Pending proposal 250 would result in a change of
the Latin name of Larus ridibundus to Chroicocephalus ridibundus.
Usage:
The most widely used English name for this species is "Black-headed
Gull". Larus ridibundus is one of the most widespread and
familiar birds in the UK. Few, if any, British birders ever call it a
"Common Black-headed Gull". "Black-headed Gull" is
currently found on both BOU and AOU lists. "Black-headed Gull" is
used in the vast majority of UK and European field guides and official lists
published over at least the past 3 decades and earlier; and remains in use in
modern field guides.
Misleading
as to relations: "Common Black-headed Gull" is sometimes used
for Larus ridibundus to distinguish it from the
(primarily Eastern Palearctic) species Larus ichthyaetus. The
latter species' traditional name is "Great Black-headed Gull" (e.g.
Gill & Wright - IOC, 2006). Larus ichthyaetus and Larus
ridibundus are rather different birds and are not very closely
related. Larus ridibundus is a small two-year gull; Larus
ichthyaetus is a four-plumage gull (though completes the sequence to
adult plumage in 3 years). Pons et al. (2005) recently proposed placing Larus
ichthyaetus with other large, old world, black-headed species in the
genus Ichthyaetus; with L. ridibundus in the
genus Chroicocephalus. The "Common" naming convention
incorrectly suggests L. ichthyaetus and L.
ridibundus to be sister species. An alternative and relatively novel
name "Pallas' Gull" has been used in more recent publications
for L. ichthyaetus (e.g. BOU and Svensson et al.'s
Collins field guide - the leading current field guide in use in Europe at present).
Confusing:
"Common Gull" is the British name for another species: Larus
canus (known in the US, if lumped with the subspecies found there, as
"Mew Gull"). Common Gull is also a widespread species in the UK. The
words "Common Black-headed" - for example if uttered on a sea watch
or whilst surveying a gull flock - would at first instance misleadingly suggest
another species; or could alternatively be interpreted as referring to two
individuals of different species.
Verbose/Redundant:
"Common Black-headed Gull" is a real mouthful. The
"Common"-ness of a bird is not a particularly useful field mark - as
it depends whether one is in the range of L. ridibundus or L.
ichthyaetus. L. ridibundus is certainly not "common"
in South America.
Policy:
On some other proposals, SACC has followed BOU recommendations for primarily
old world species and AOU recommendations for species that also occur in the
NACC region. In each case, this would mean using simple
"Black-headed".
Conclusion
and Recommendation:
Use of the "Common" prefix here: (i) does not accord with the vast
bulk of Old World literature; (ii) is misleading as to the species' relations;
(iii) is verbose English language usage; (iv) is confusing and redundant for
field usage; and (v) is inconsistent with SACC treatment of birds occurring in
BOU and AOU NACC regions. Beyond seeking to achieve consistency with the IOC, I
cannot think of a single good reason to use the "Common" prefix for
this species; but there are at least 5 good reasons to use the simpler name. I
recommend adopting "Black-headed Gull" ahead of "Common
Black-headed Gull" - a YES vote.
Anonymous, September
2007
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Comments
from Remsen:
YES, and it will be great to get rid of this modifier that makes it an awful
name. Use of "Pallas's Gull" for ichthyaetus clears
the way for simplified name for ridibundus."
Comments
from Robbins:
"YES. Calling ridibundus as simply Black-headed Gull is
an improvement."
Comments
from Zimmer:
"YES. Common Black-headed Gull" is awkward, uninformative, and
unnecessary."