Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America
Abstract Several long-accepted terms are widely misused in ornithology and have led to a misperception of important concepts in the ecology of Nearctic–Neotropical migratory birds. The term “North America” (and its ancillary terms “North American species,” “North American habitats,” etc.) is widely...
Published in: | Ornithological Applications |
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Oxford University Press (OUP)
2023
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/ornithapp/duad059 2024-09-09T19:26:04+00:00 Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America Albert, Steven K Siegel, Rodney B Institute for Bird Populations 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duad059 https://academic.oup.com/condor/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/ornithapp/duad059/54400779/duad059.pdf https://academic.oup.com/condor/article-pdf/126/1/duad059/56642997/duad059.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights Ornithological Applications volume 126, issue 1 ISSN 0010-5422 2732-4621 journal-article 2023 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duad059 2024-07-22T04:26:12Z Abstract Several long-accepted terms are widely misused in ornithology and have led to a misperception of important concepts in the ecology of Nearctic–Neotropical migratory birds. The term “North America” (and its ancillary terms “North American species,” “North American habitats,” etc.) is widely used to refer to the United States and Canada, when in fact it should include all of the continent from the Arctic through Panama. In a similar vein, the terms “wintering” and “over-wintering” (whether used to describe the status of individual birds or species, or as a modifier for terms like habitats, ecology, or behavior), “spring migration” and “fall migration” are inappropriate for Nearctic–Neotropical migrants because they explicitly reference conditions in the temperate zone of the continent, even as most such species spend the majority of their annual cycle elsewhere, where these terms are inaccurate and unhelpful. We discuss the pitfalls of using these terms and suggest several alternatives and replacements. In particular, we urge more precision in the use of the term “North America”; for Nearctic–Neotropical migratory species (especially long-distance migrants), we suggest retiring the terms “wintering” and “over-wintering” in favor of “nonbreeding”; and for the same group of species we suggest retiring the terms “spring migration” and “fall migration” in favor of “pre-breeding,” “post-breeding,” or “post-natal” migration. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Oxford University Press Arctic Canada Ornithological Applications |
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Open Polar |
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Oxford University Press |
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croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
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Abstract Several long-accepted terms are widely misused in ornithology and have led to a misperception of important concepts in the ecology of Nearctic–Neotropical migratory birds. The term “North America” (and its ancillary terms “North American species,” “North American habitats,” etc.) is widely used to refer to the United States and Canada, when in fact it should include all of the continent from the Arctic through Panama. In a similar vein, the terms “wintering” and “over-wintering” (whether used to describe the status of individual birds or species, or as a modifier for terms like habitats, ecology, or behavior), “spring migration” and “fall migration” are inappropriate for Nearctic–Neotropical migrants because they explicitly reference conditions in the temperate zone of the continent, even as most such species spend the majority of their annual cycle elsewhere, where these terms are inaccurate and unhelpful. We discuss the pitfalls of using these terms and suggest several alternatives and replacements. In particular, we urge more precision in the use of the term “North America”; for Nearctic–Neotropical migratory species (especially long-distance migrants), we suggest retiring the terms “wintering” and “over-wintering” in favor of “nonbreeding”; and for the same group of species we suggest retiring the terms “spring migration” and “fall migration” in favor of “pre-breeding,” “post-breeding,” or “post-natal” migration. |
author2 |
Institute for Bird Populations |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Albert, Steven K Siegel, Rodney B |
spellingShingle |
Albert, Steven K Siegel, Rodney B Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America |
author_facet |
Albert, Steven K Siegel, Rodney B |
author_sort |
Albert, Steven K |
title |
Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America |
title_short |
Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America |
title_full |
Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America |
title_fullStr |
Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improving the language of migratory bird science in North America |
title_sort |
improving the language of migratory bird science in north america |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duad059 https://academic.oup.com/condor/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/ornithapp/duad059/54400779/duad059.pdf https://academic.oup.com/condor/article-pdf/126/1/duad059/56642997/duad059.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Ornithological Applications volume 126, issue 1 ISSN 0010-5422 2732-4621 |
op_rights |
https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duad059 |
container_title |
Ornithological Applications |
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1809895755540856832 |