So your understanding of common speech would admit amphibians into the animal kingdom? We are only to exclude birds and bugs and human beings? What about fish?
I think in everyday use, as well, people do call birds animals. I have toddler vocabulary cards, for example, that are meant to teach toddlers how to put things in categories, and birds are in the animal category.
It seems to me that when an editor uses the word "animal" it should be understood according to its definition, and that's that. Even then, though, our choices are limited.
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