Proposal (682) to South American Classification Committee

Change the English name of Eudyptes sclateri

The penguin Eudyptes sclateri is on the SACC list only because it is a vagrant to the Falklands. I can’t recall why we call it “Big-crested Penguin” because even in Dickinson (2003), our starting point for almost all English names, it is “Erect-crested Penguin.”

However, all or almost all recent sources use “Erect-crested”, e.g. Dickinson & Remsen (2013), del Hoyo & Collar (2014), IOC. Regardless of merits of the different names, we are in no position to be an outlier on a vagrant to our region, so I propose changing to Erect-crested Penguin.

Van Remsen, October 2015

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Comments from Stiles: “YES, no problem with Erect-crested, as everyone else uses this name!”

Comments from Jaramillo: “YES – I can’t say that I have ever seen Big-crested Penguin used; Erect-crested is the standard name for this penguin.”

Comments from Zimmer: “YES, for all of the reasons stated in the proposal.”