Changing Bird Names - Moneymaking Racket Exposed
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 11:12 am
What's In a Name? Money, That's What
A recent investigation has shocked the birding community after allegations made by a whistleblower in the publishing sector. The informant, known as Mr X to the media, revealed that the upsurge in renaming of domestic birds in recent years has nothing to do with science, but has been a carefully-coordinated strategy to increase purchases of birding "materials" by unsuspecting twitchers, thereby swelling the pockets of several unscrupulous industry players.
"The birdwatching community is a large, competitive, meticulous and generally affluent one worldwide", claims Mr X. "Birders are desperate to appear correct and up to date regarding their bird lists and sightings reports, and jump eagerly to incorporate any changes in nomenclature."
How does the Money Roll?
Mr X explained the system as follows: One may think that the big money is to be made from the publishing of updated editions of standard bird guidebooks. However this is a time-consuming and expensive process requiring substantial initial outlays, and consumers won't buy a new book every year. The short-term gains are made from the selling of standard checklists, maps and ticklists, cheaper and easier to update. Even simpler to update and sell quickly are the flourishing series of Bird Apps that have become a staple for serious birdwatchers over the years. Checklists and app updates are purchased in huge quantities, which add up to millions of rands for the manufacturers every year. It is important for the products to be marketed as "fully updated", as this is what the customer demands and will pay for multiple times..
The Sting
The renaming of birds used to be a comparatively rare phenomenon, but Mr X revealed that things changed with the advent of instant media and online deliveries. This is when the publishing house where he was an employee became involved in clandestine deals with the shadowy community of scientists involved in name-changes at a direct level. "One scientist is approached and offered say R10 000 to influence the panel to make even a seemingly innocuous change to a bird name. This soon proved successful and the size of the kickbacks increased the more popular, common or glamorous the species," he alleged. "Our biggest moneyspinners were the changing of francolin to spurfowl and plover to lapwing. Those cost in the region of R75 000 each in bribes and kickbacks, but led to substantial sales of new list and app editions in each case, netting profits of around R3.7 million in the space of 18 months."
The Future
Mr X says that the bigger changes are still comparatively rare so as not to raise suspicions amongst the public. However the pot is kept simmering, so to speak, with small changes such as the simple addition of "African", "Southern" or "Common" to existing specie names so as to keep birders interested until the next round of updated literature. "There is a big change on the horizon," warns Mr X, "one of the biggest birds is going to get a completely new name that is angle toward a bit of controversy. This should encourage more potential buyers to become interested in parting with their cash."
So birders beware. You may be being fleeced!
This is part of a developing story.
SAPA Correspondent
A recent investigation has shocked the birding community after allegations made by a whistleblower in the publishing sector. The informant, known as Mr X to the media, revealed that the upsurge in renaming of domestic birds in recent years has nothing to do with science, but has been a carefully-coordinated strategy to increase purchases of birding "materials" by unsuspecting twitchers, thereby swelling the pockets of several unscrupulous industry players.
"The birdwatching community is a large, competitive, meticulous and generally affluent one worldwide", claims Mr X. "Birders are desperate to appear correct and up to date regarding their bird lists and sightings reports, and jump eagerly to incorporate any changes in nomenclature."
How does the Money Roll?
Mr X explained the system as follows: One may think that the big money is to be made from the publishing of updated editions of standard bird guidebooks. However this is a time-consuming and expensive process requiring substantial initial outlays, and consumers won't buy a new book every year. The short-term gains are made from the selling of standard checklists, maps and ticklists, cheaper and easier to update. Even simpler to update and sell quickly are the flourishing series of Bird Apps that have become a staple for serious birdwatchers over the years. Checklists and app updates are purchased in huge quantities, which add up to millions of rands for the manufacturers every year. It is important for the products to be marketed as "fully updated", as this is what the customer demands and will pay for multiple times..
The Sting
The renaming of birds used to be a comparatively rare phenomenon, but Mr X revealed that things changed with the advent of instant media and online deliveries. This is when the publishing house where he was an employee became involved in clandestine deals with the shadowy community of scientists involved in name-changes at a direct level. "One scientist is approached and offered say R10 000 to influence the panel to make even a seemingly innocuous change to a bird name. This soon proved successful and the size of the kickbacks increased the more popular, common or glamorous the species," he alleged. "Our biggest moneyspinners were the changing of francolin to spurfowl and plover to lapwing. Those cost in the region of R75 000 each in bribes and kickbacks, but led to substantial sales of new list and app editions in each case, netting profits of around R3.7 million in the space of 18 months."
The Future
Mr X says that the bigger changes are still comparatively rare so as not to raise suspicions amongst the public. However the pot is kept simmering, so to speak, with small changes such as the simple addition of "African", "Southern" or "Common" to existing specie names so as to keep birders interested until the next round of updated literature. "There is a big change on the horizon," warns Mr X, "one of the biggest birds is going to get a completely new name that is angle toward a bit of controversy. This should encourage more potential buyers to become interested in parting with their cash."
So birders beware. You may be being fleeced!
This is part of a developing story.
SAPA Correspondent
