Feathers Are Flying Over Colombian Bird Name Flap

Does "Feathers Are Flying Over Colombian Bird Name Flap" mean "Ornithologists are getting over Colombian bird name problem"?

Context:
ORNITHOLOGY
Feathers Are Flying Over Colombian Bird Name Flap

Last May, at the Washington, D.C., home
of the Colombian ambassador, the Ameri-
can Bird Conservancy (ABC) and its part-
ner in Colombia, Fundaci¨(R)n ProAves,
announced the discovery of a new species
of Neotropical bird. ABC touted the feat
as !°remarkable!± for being one of the ? rs
times a new species had been scienti? cally
described from an individual captured,
measured, photographed, and then released.
For George Fenwick, head of ABC, it was
a proud moment: The bird, Fenwick!ˉs ant
pitta (Grallaria fenwickorum), was named
in honor of his family.

The problem with the announcement was
that it made no mention of the bird!ˉs actual
discoverer, a 28-year-old former employee
of ProAves named Diego Carant¨(R)n, and the
two preserved specimens he had already
collected. How Carant¨(R)n, his specimens,
and the name he had chosen!Grallaria
urraoensis!acame to be omitted from the
taxonomic record is generating bitter debate
between Colombia!ˉs leading university
ornithologists and ProAves, the country!ˉs
best-known private conservation organiza-
tion, over scienti? c standards and credit for
new discoveries.
ProAves!ˉs leadership, in a lengthy state
ment expected to be released this week, says
Carant¨(R)n violated his employment con
tract by secretly collecting specimens, so
the foundation was justi? ed in rushing out
a paper last May to seize nomenclatural
priority!aaccorded to whoever publishes
? rst!aand name the bird after Fenwick

Carant¨(R)n also did not immediately tell
ProAves about the unfolding discovery, and
foundation of? cials were furious to learn not
only that there were two specimens already
in a drawer at Bogot¨￠!ˉs Institute of Natura
Sciences but also that Carant¨(R)n had involved
other researchers, including Colombia!ˉs
leading avian DNA expert, Daniel Cadena of
the University of Los Andes, in the project.
!°It was a cross, a double-cross, a triple-cross
for ProAves,!± says David Caro, ProAves!ˉ

outgoing executive director.
Initially, Carant¨(R)n was given permission
to publish a description of the new species
on the condition that he use the name G. fen-
wickorum. But negotiations became embit-
tered as ProAves sought ? nal say over the
paper and the list of authors. !°All the intel
lectual property of the discovery belongs to
ProAves, and we have every right to autho-
rize a publication or not, considering the
bird was discovered on our reserve,!± read
one e-mail that Sara Lara, currently direc-
tor of inter national affairs for ABC, sent to
scientists and ProAves staff.
To make matters worse, the name G. fen-
wickorum didn!ˉt sit well with the scientists.
In 2008, Fenwick had penned an editorial
sharply critical of Colombian museum col-
lectors, accusing them of gratuitously kill-
ing endangered bird species. Cadena later
resigned from the project, explaining in an
e-mail, !°I de? nitely don!ˉt want to be part of
homage to Fenwick.!±
When Carant¨(R)n eventually decided to
publish the discovery independently!aand
name the bird G. urraoensis, after the local
municipality of Urrao!aProAves countered
by hosting a hastily arranged ? eld expedi-
tion. In May 2010, two junior ? eld guides
scooped Carant¨(R)n, publishing a description
of G. fenwickorum in ProAves!ˉs in-house
magazine, Conservaci¨(R)n Colombian, grab-
bing the right to name the bird. !°It came
down to the name,!± says Caro. !°We neede
the name to raise more funds.!
The paper held another dart for the aca-
demics who had sided with Carant¨(R)n. Given
Fenwick!ˉs opposition to killing rare birds for
science, ProAves had collected only a few
feathers and photographs!amaterials that in
a pinch can be accepted as the museum holo-
type, or reference specimen. However, many collection curators believe a full speci-
men is needed to create an accurate record.
For F. Gary Stiles, curator of the bird collec-
tion at the National University of Colombia
in Bogot¨￠, the attempt to designate the feath
ers and photographs as the holotype is !°sci
enti? cally irresponsible.!
ProAves!ˉs publication also caused dis
sent inside the foundation!ˉs leadership. !°
thought it was just too much to steal a young
man!ˉs discovery of a lifetime that way,!± say
ornithologist Niels Krabbe of the University
of Copenhagen, one of two ProAves board
members to resign in protest.
Two months later, a description by
Carant¨(R)n and a co-author appeared, this
time in the journal of the Colombian Asso-
ciation of Ornithology. They called the bird
G. urraoensis. In a lengthy editorial, Cadena
and Stiles said ProAves had probably won
naming priority but charged !°grave faults!± i
the organization!ˉs scienti? c ethics.
Carant¨(R)n!ˉs defenders argue that Carant¨
has a !°moral right!± to his discovery, despit
any missteps. They call the case the latest in
a series of hard-boiled moves by ProAves
aimed at gratifying British and Ameri-
can donors and generating publicity at the
expense of Colombian researchers. !°They
have created a lot of tension in the country,!±
says ornithologist Luis Germ¨￠n Naranjo,
who is conservation director for the World
Wide Fund for Nature in Colombia.
There is little question that ProAves has
been successful in protecting birds. Since
its founding in 2001, the organization has
bought 22,000 hectares of Andean habitat,
creating 18 reserves for 91 threatened spe-
cies. That land includes some of the only
known habitat of the Colorful Puffleg, a
hummingbird, and ProAves is credited with
a resurgence of the rare Yellow-eared Parrot.
Success has brought a list of over 100
mostly foreign donors, including the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and ABC. Paul
Salaman, conservation director at World
Land Trust in Washington, D.C., and an
in? uential ProAves board member, says !°the
meteoric rise!± of ProAves may have gener
ated resentment. !°It wants to get things done,
and that upsets people,!± says Salaman.
Some researchers still hope G. urraoen-
sis could win out before international bod-
ies that rule on species names. However,
Ellinor Michel, executive secretary of the
Inter national Commission on Zoological
Nomenclature in London, says it will be dif-
? cult to unseat G. fenwickorum. !°If the publi
cation by ProAves [was] legitimate, then the
name they gave will stand,!± she says.