"There's Wilson's warbler, and Swainson's warbler, and Kirtland's warbler," lists Kenn Kaufman, author of several birding field guides.
"You've got Nuttall's woodpecker, and Cassin's vireo, Cassin's auklet, and then there's Botteri's sparrow, and Bachman's sparrow," he says.
Kaufman, like many birders, hadn't paid much attention to the people behind the bird names. That is, until last year when he learned more about that last guy on his list.
"John Bachman was a Lutheran minister in South Carolina," Kaufman says.
"He also fancied himself to be a scientist," says Kaufman, "and part of what he wrote about was suggesting that whites were just naturally superior to members of other races." He says Bachman's theories supported efforts to justify slavery.
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