By Pat Phillips
Nationwide, a change has come to many Audubon chapters as well as to the American Ornithological Society. For several reasons, these groups have decided that it made sense to end the practice of eponymous naming in the birding world.
Slowly but surely, common names employing honorifics such as Townsend’s Warbler, Say’s Phoebe, Scott’s Oriole, Stellar’s Jay, and others will be replaced with names that are more descriptive of the birds and helpful to folks new to birding. The new names will be consistent with those based on outstanding features that are currently used for species such as the Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blue Jay, Roseate Spoonbill, Barred Owl, and others.
The reason for this change is that, in part, it is just better naming, but it is also because some of the individuals for whom the birds were named have concerning aspects of their legacies, such that we would not choose to honor them today.
Audubon chapters throughout the country have faced a related challenge as the popularity of birding has grown by leaps and bounds. Much of that growth has been fueled by a recognition and welcoming of a much broader demographic, including new birders from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, as well as many younger birders. Birding groups today strive to continue to reach beyond the core of highly educated, professional, and usually white founders of the activity and its associations.
The Green Mountain Audubon Society recognizes the need to reach a broader and younger audience to successfully continue in our mission to protect birds, wildlife, and their habitats. It is our actions related to education, conservation, and public engagement that define who we are, rather than the current name of our group, which may prove offensive to an increasingly large segment of our community that we hope to continue to attract.
With over fifty Audubon chapters throughout the United States moving to rename themselves to become “Bird Alliances,” the Vermont chapters met to discuss taking a similar action. After considerable thought and discussion over a two-year period, the Rutland County Audubon Society and the Otter Creek Audubon Society have been renamed as the Rutland County Bird Alliance and the Otter Creek Bird Alliance.
Likewise, in October of 2025, the Green Mountain Audubon Society voted to change the organization’s name to the Green Mountain Bird Alliance.
The rationale for this decision is as follows:
To eliminate the years-long confusion between the Green Mountain Audubon Center and the Green Mountain Audubon Society that has frequently been problematic relative to communication, to the public accessing programming, as well as to fundraising by each organization
To be consistent with the efforts of the American Ornithological Society in removing eponymous names
To respect those who were troubled by our former name and to ensure that all feel welcome to join us in our efforts and participate in our programs
To maintain solidarity with other Vermont Chapters that are making a similar change
And to maintain our clearly understood geographic reference - the Green Mountains
Our board is excited and energized about this new identity for our association. The Green Mountain Bird Alliance will continue our collaborative relationships with other Vermont Chapters and with Audubon Vermont and the National Audubon Society. We want to stress that nothing about those relationships will be negatively affected by this renaming.
As we look forward, we will continue to embrace, educate, and engage the interest of all northern Vermonters who share a love of birds and the natural world. The opportunity and need to “work to protect birds and their habitats” has never been greater.
Please join us as we celebrate our new name and new logo at the Pierson Library in Shelburne on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. More information about the event will follow shortly.
Photo by iNaturalist user er-birds, licensed under CC-BY.