Does Bird Have to Be Capitalized?

The general rule by convention and in many style guides for generations has been that common names of mammals, birds, insects, fish and other life forms are not capitalized.

Do I capitalize the name of a bird?

Orthography. English names of birds are capitalized in keeping with standard ornithological practice. As noted by Parkes (1978), capitalization also prevents ambiguity between a species name and a description in such cases as “gray flycatcher” or “solitary sandpiper”.

Do you have to capitalize animal names?

Animal Names: lowercase, with the exception of animals whose name includes a proper name such as the Mexican wolf. It is not necessary to include Latin names in press releases unless the species in question has no common name or shares a common name with another species.