In a move condemned for "taking political correctness too far", a correspondent on an RSPB online forum was surprised to find that his use of the word "cock", when referring to a male blackbird, was replaced with four asterisks.
He challenged the forum moderator over the sensitivity to the word, only to find that once again the asterisks appeared. He wrote: "When is it not in order to refer to a male bird as a **** and a female as a hen? I've heard of PC but that is taking things too far."
The contributor, named as JohnD from Holmfirth, Yorkshire, adds: "It's censorship that is just silly. What should I have said then ... the daddy bird ... the father bird ... the male."
The moderator replied: "It is not political correctness. The issue is words that can be used in an offensive context and we should not forget that the RSPB website has a massive viewing from children."
An RSPB spokesman confirmed that it did not use the word "cock" on its website, preferring instead to describe birds as either male or female.
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