When I was in 9th grade, we learned about birds in Mr. Brogie's science class. We also had to learn the scientific names of the common birds in Nebraska. "Why do we have to learn scientific names?" I asked. John Chace, a year older and wiser than me, responded, "Well, if you are speaking to someone from a foreign country and you say, 'Barn owl,' he won't understand you, but if you use the scientific name, 'Tyto alba,' he will. I definitely felt that that was a contrived response and John was probably repeating what he had been told when he asked a similar question back when he was an impressionable 9th grader. Really? Is reaching an impasse with someone over a bird's name ever going to happen? Hardly.
Fast forward 42 years, I am at the local bird sanctuary in Peru and we meet up with Michael, the ranger at a bird lookout. "See anything interesting?" "Los willets han vuelto (the Willets are back)," I tell Michael. Blank stare from Michael. I wished I had known its scientific name! I described it a bit and he taught me its Spanish name 'Playero de ala blanca' and said 'Tringa semipalmata'. He clearly knew the value of scientific names! Then he asked if we had seen any Tyto albas. That was a scientific name I remembered! A barn owl! "Yes, we have!" I said, proudly showing him a picture Mary Beth took of one a month ago. He was duly impressed and even gave us his phone number asking us to let him know if we saw another one!
