Some bird names are straightforward: clear, descriptive, even evocative. Take the collared forest falcon. We know where it hangs out and what it looks like. Or the social flycatcher (what it eats and how it gathers) or yellow-bellied sapsucker (coloration, diet, and method of eating). Many more birds get their names from the old tradition of eponyms, to honor the person who found them, a mentor, a lost loved one: think Anna’s hummingbird or Townsend’s warbler. These names have always been a little controversial, and now they’re in for a…
