It is well past time for the term "Oldsquaw" to be made obsolete as a reference to Long-tailed Ducks. The term is demeaning and insulting and represents the perspective of "white supremacy" where it's okay to use racist terminology in naming species. It's not surprising that those who defend its use, or defend those who use it, are normally those who aren't referenced by the term. It's an example of naming the other out of disrespect for the other and as an act of power over the other. Folks who are unable to see this, or who refuse to see it, are typically stupid white fucks (SWFs) who benefit from their sheltered positions of privilege. They might be justifiably insulted by my calling them SWFs, but I do so not because I want to engage in a battle of name-calling; on the contrary, I do so in a feeble attempt to raise their awareness of what it might feel like to be named something demeaning.
In the year 2000, the American Ornithological Society, the North American group responsible for naming bird species, officially rejected "Oldsquaw" in favour of "Long-tailed Duck." Twenty-two years later, and some birders still insist on using the deprecated name. I even heard of one seasoned birder in my local area saying that it was a term of endearment! I'm not sure what universe that birder lives in, but it's not the same universe everyone else occupies, and it's certainly not a universe based on respect and inclusion. Of course, maybe that birder thinks being called a SWF is a term of endearment too. Just to be clear, it is not intended that way.
I've tried to imagine why the term persists for some birders. In my albeit limited experience, it's mainly older, seasoned birders who continue to misname Long-tailed Ducks. For some, it could be just the force of habit. In this day and age, when we're being asked to review our day-to-day naming terminology out of respect for others, it's okay to make mistakes so long as one owns up to it and tries to correct themselves.
But I think that some folks use the term purposely to preserve something they feel is being threatened in local birding communities. That something, I believe, is their reputation as authorities or centres of knowledge within local birding communities. We would never say it's okay for respected authorities of other knowledge communities to use racist terminology (can you imagine Noam Chomsky using racist epithets in his critique of neoliberal capitalism?), so why should we think it's okay for anyone to use racist terminology in birding knowledge communities? It seems to me that those who wish to protect racist terminology are trying to protect themselves from the change that comes when others contribute to shaping knowledge communities.
The strangely funny thing is that the folks who defend the misnaming of Long-tailed Ducks are the often the same people who insist on accuracy in identifying species. Identification, they rightly argue, should be based upon scientific principles of objective and accurate observation. Yet, what is scientifically objective and accurate about a racist name for a bird? Long-tailed Duck is far more accurate in its use of a unique identifying feature. The rebuttal here could be that the unique sound of a group of Long-tailed Ducks sounds like a group of elder indigenous women. That's simply ludicrous! And it's also just not scientifically accurate. Only a SWF could argue otherwise.
