Isles

• I must have been about three years old and had discovered a blackbird nest unusually accessible in our garden hedge.
• I take some small consolation from the likelihood that this encounter helped forge a lifetime of fascination and involvement with birds.
• In the hope of opening that bridge to all, the American Ornithological Society recently announced it would replace all bird species named after people in North America.
• The history of bird naming in the British Isles offers some solutions.

It takes a village to name a bird

• We know of more than 7,000 folk names in English for about 150 species of British bird.
• For example, the grey heron has 180 recorded English folk names, and the wren 164.

• Bird names evoke strong emotional connections – potentially linking us not only with specific encounters with birds, but with the context and people who experienced them.
• It indicates that whoever coined this name recognised that the bird was singing the songs of other, more familiar species – and the namer knew these songs.

Passed down with care

• Many of the folk names given to other species were probably coined by or for children.
• Names like “scribble-lark” and “scribbling schoolmaster” for bunting species, whose eggs appear to have been written on, suggests (as do many more such names) a fascination with nests and eggs.

• We know, however, that despite the plethora of local names, they were handed down from generation to generation with great precision.
• These names were largely collected by ornithologists like Little, who wanted to know what birds were present throughout the British Isles.
• But they were agreed through consent with no intention, as evidenced through numerous bird books of the time, of these superseding or replacing the local names.
• It can only be hoped that renaming birds after their own qualities will help to open the wonder and love of birds to all people.

Andrew Gosler has received funding from the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council.

• For thousands of years, people in the British Isles lived with and depended on wild animals for food and clothes.
• Archaeological research reaches back in time to understand how humans and wild animals interacted.
• Today, interactions between wild animals and people are often in the news, from urban foxes to tree-felling beavers and wild boars.
• As wild animals, they are not owned and only become someone’s property when they are captured or killed by persons entitled by law to do so.

South Uist

• In March 2023, the tensions between red deer and locals reached a crisis point on the Scottish island of South Uist.
• There was a call to eradicate an entire herd of 1,198 animals, as their behaviour was negatively affecting locals.
• As an animal archaeologist, my research has shown that red deer were taken to Scottish islands for food more than 5,000 years ago.
• A recent count found that South Uist deer numbers have increased by a third, from around 800 in 2015 to 1,200 today.

Management

• Paying hunters provide some income, but the value of deer is not clear to all who live in deer-impacted communities.
• As in the past, venison, antler and hides are all valuable items.
• Investment in resources and training by Stòras Uibhist, the community-owned company that manages the 93,000 acre South Uist Estate, is producing venison.
• The deep history of human interactions with these animals can provide inspiration for their future management.

• Bookings for the full lineup of 2023 Land Adventures and Private Adventures open to the public on May 13.
• Led by a team of specially trained Adventure Guides, these itineraries will be brought to life with immersive, authentic experiences marked by signature Disney service.
• Adventures by Disney will offer 10 Sicily departures in 2023, three of which are reserved for adult guests.
• Adventures by Disney will offer nine British Isles departures in 2023, four of which are reserved for adult guests.