Wingspan to Rename Bird Cards

American Ornithological Society

On November 1, 2023 an article was posted by the American Ornithological Society about the plan to rename birds that use names of people in their titles. This is due to negative history related to the names of the people those birds are associated with.

“We’ve come to understand that there are certain names that have offensive or derogatory connotations that cause pain to people, and that it is important to change those, to remove those as barriers to their participation in the world of birds,”

Colleen Handel

Jamey Stegmaier Speaks Out

BGG user Victor R. (@JVSTICE888) pointed the article out on the Wingspan forum with the statement. “Looks like we’ll need a card update”

Some users on BGG posted about their disagreement with the American Ornithological Society’s decision to do this while others have praised the decision.

Jamey Stegmaier responded to the thread starting.

“We’re discussing how to proceed. We prefer to use the official names for birds, so given that these names are officially changing, it’s likely that we’ll make a pack of the renamed birds.”

Updated Bird Pack of the Renamed Birds

It looks like we will see an updated pack and possibly have an updated version of the cards in future Wingspan prints. The game will need to remove the “Historian Goal Card” as that is focused on birds named after people.

What are your thoughts on the American Ornithological Society decision? Will you buy an upgrade pack with the renamed birds?