How to not Sound Silly in the Company of Ornithologists

Alright folks, I have certainly made my share of birding fauk beaks, but I want to get this straight once and for all. I am listening to Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion that he did out of Charlottesville and he made a major bird mistake. He referred to the black, white and gray geese that are the nemesis of every golf course groundskeeper as "Canadian Geese". Sorry Gar, but you sound like a doofus saying this because they are CANADA Geese. They are not from Canada, thus they are not Canadian, like Jim Carrey or Diana Krall or Shania Twain or any number of professional figure skaters. Some might even be born in....well, somewhere other than Canada, like Michigan, or Nebraska.
And on a similar note, let's try to call those five point, bumpy Echinoderms that live in salt water that people like to collect and let dry out until they break and crumble into little pieces.....Seastars. They are not fish and scientists shudder when they hear this. I get a little squirm, not quite a shudder because there are more important things to shudder about, and I am not a scientist, but I have a blog and can rant or get on a soap box about nature stuff because.....well, because I can. Seriously, folks, I am just trying to help you. I have logged countless hours educating the public in various capacities for nature museums and nature, conservation and ecology programs, so I get this stuff first line from my nature nerd friends and cohorts. They know what they're talking about people. So, if you you are the type of person that is concerned with spelling things correctly, manners, or just useless trivia that is above all else, accurate, then now you know. Here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's page on the Canada Goose: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Canada_Goose_dtl.html
I was also recently asked about our friends the Mute Swan, who, incidentally are not endemic to this country but are imported. They are also fairly destructive when it comes to endemic grasses and plants and food sources for other birds. So keep them in Europe where they look better anyway, floating in a misty pond in front of an old English castle in front of an old, english garden in an old, English village straight out of a fairy tale. But, that's another blog entry. This person asked me what a group of swans is called. You don't often see these guys together with others, but you do see Trumpeters and Tundra together in groups. These groups can be referred to as a flock, bevy, bank, eyrar, drift, game, herd, swonder, team or wedge and share these terms with some other bird types.
Just a little FYI. I am going to cross reference my source on this to make sure it's accurate, but they sound right to me. Here is a link to a page on the Mute Swan. They also, according to Cornell, do not mate for life. It's a romantic notion, but not really realistic for species support. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Mute_Swan_dtl.html
Happy Birding and Happy Bunny Trail on this Easter Holiday!
The common sea star, Asterias forbesi: (c/o the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, http://www.chesapeakebay.net/seastar.htm)