#534: Where the streets have... bird's names

A cross posting from my LivingGeography blog.

There is a quote attributed to the American columnist Bill Vaughn, which is that:

"Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them."

This piece in the weekend's Guardian suggests that more streets are now named after birds than before, even while bird species are declining in numbers.

Developers know that such names are popular.

From the article:

The 2023 State of Nature report called the UK “one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth”, and wild bird numbers have plummeted since the 1970s.

The RSPB study also found that “meadow” in street names had risen by 34%, though wildflower meadows are down 97% since the 1930s.

The RSPB called for the government to do more to support nature, with the planning and infrastructure bill for England entering its final stages. In October it reneged on backing an amendment to the bill calling for swift bricks to be installed in every new home. Swift road names have grown by 58%.

There's a connection here with something I did for Mission:Explore in 2012. I worked to produce a special activity pack to encourage people to ride on the buses in Lowestoft. This picture shows some of the final product, and a bird-watching trip around one of the estates on the edge of town. We were featured in the local paper.

There was also a quote in the piece from the author Michael Warren who wrote the book 'The Cuckoo's Lea' about the presence of bird's names in culture and landscape.

"We love a nature name and developers know it. But the trend for birds in new-build place names masks the severe detachment many of us suffer from nature, while making it seem like everything is OK.”