If birds are dinosaurs, why do we call them birds instead?

Ask your average paleontologist who is familiar with the phylogeny of vertebrates and they will probably tell you that yes, birds (avians) are dinosaurs. Using proper terminology, birds are avian dinosaurs; other dinosaurs are non-avian dinosaurs, and (strange as it may sound) birds are technically considered reptiles. read more

We also sometimes call a T. rex a Tyrannosaur (or theropod) instead of a dinosaur. In a hierarchical classification system things can be called by more than one name. There is also the historical issue that we named birds before we knew they were dinosaurs. read more

This is a semantic question, not a scientific one. Yes birds are descended from dinosaurs. Birds are members of the scientific classification Dinosauria, and are Therapods, which is a subset of Dinosauria (and which also includes our friend T-Rex). But whether birds are "dinosaurs" is a question for linguists, not scientists. read more

If you call them dinosaurs instead of calling them as birds then i hope we can call ourselves as apes ! here's a more scientific reason : Birds are the direct descendants of meat-eating dinosaurs in most scientists' opinions. read more