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North American splits (1 Viewer)

The Warbling Vireo possesses differences in song and genetics (IIRC, barcode data suggested more than one taxa). I think there are some slight differences in morphology, although they are very slight indeed and probably not terribly useful in the field.

Just for fairness, I think there are a few potential lumps in the future as well. The validity of Northwestern Crow and the NA Rosy-finch splits is somewhat questionable.

And to add in a few more, I would add Mountain Chickadee, Brown Creeper, and Bewick's Wren to that list. And the Yellow Warbler complex, which has already been partially split by IOC
 
Another point on the Warbling Vireos is molt timing. I read a paper in the Auk in the 90s that suggested the differences in this could produce reduced viability of hybrid offspring, if they were molting out of synch with their migration times & local resource availability.

Re: Merlin, I've also (I forget where) read that there is a deep genetic split between Old World & New World taxa here.
 
Yellow Warbler should definitely be split into at least three groupings -- the migratory races, Golden races, and Mangrove races. Plumage and vocalizations are very different.

Carlos
 
http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/1999IOC.PDF
Click to expand...

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/c...07781/PDFSTART
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Richard, Joseph, and Peter, thank you for sharing the papers. I've always liked IOC's stated rationale, and I must admit that I am fairly unfamiliar with BOU policies, but from the paper here, it seems similar. I shouldn't have implied that NOBODY had proposed good, holistic species principals (I didn't mean to, anyway), but sometimes I question their implementation.

The scrub jay example that I mentioned before is a place where I think the mark may have been missed. Rosy Finches have already been mentioned. I also have a hard time understanding Cabot's Tern as a species, just because the Elegant Tern is nested within or Sandwich Tern populations. But perhaps I'm missing something - its easy for someone like me to be critical from the "outside," without sitting through long taxonomic committee discussions!


Another point on the Warbling Vireos is molt timing. I read a paper in the Auk in the 90s that suggested the differences in this could produce reduced viability of hybrid offspring, if they were molting out of synch with their migration times & local resource availability.
Click to expand...

On the topic of "molt timing speciation," a big candidate would be Eastern vs. Western Painted Buntings.
 
I think another confusing element of these discussions is that AOU practices a different interpretation of the BSC, and in fact their combination is more of a hybrid of the PSC and BSC, since whether or not a species is monophyletic is also a major concern. Strictly speaking, the Mayr version of the BSC really doesn't care one way or another as I have read it on species paraphyly, and certainly with some groups it seems okay (see for instance the Polar Bear/Brown Bear example, or island populations of Gray Fox.
 
I think many AOU-CLC members do not require monophyly at the species level, although it does provide evidence that the lineages have been long separated and may have reproductive isolation. But some taxa can be be long separated but lack repro isolation even though they are not sister taxa anymore; e.g., California and Northern Raven pops are divergent in mtDNA, and may no longer be monophyletic (pops of Northern are closer to Chihuahuan Raven than to pops in California), but there does not seem to be differences in plumage, morphology, vocalizations, etc. Maybe all the genetic changes were 3rd-codon positions.

Once reproductive isolation has set in, then monophyly is the rule (i.e., taxa above species level).
 
Is AOU-CLC the combination of NACC + SACC, or is it a synonym of NACC?

Anyway, the SACC recently voted to recognize Trinidad Motmot even though an (unpublished) DNA analysis shows it to be embedded in subrufescens, so one more example that monophyly is not always required at the species level.

Niels
 
Synonym of NACC

SACC does appear in general, to be more liberal with their decisions than NACC...I was honestly surprised the major Motmot split occurred.
 
White-breasted Nuthatch

Peter Kovalik said:
Walstrom finds new bird species:
http://www.marysvilleonline.net/articles/2011/01/07/news/doc4d24d9ef532a0449075672.txt
Click to expand...
Presumably reflecting the four clades identified by Spellman & Klicka.

Spellman & Klicka 2007. Phylogeography of the white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis): diversification in North American pine and oak woodlands. Mol Ecol 16(8): 1729-1740.
faculty.unlv.edu/jrodriguez/Spellman2007a.pdf

  1. Eastern Clade: carolinensis
  2. Pacific Clade: aculeata, alexandrae
  3. Eastern Sierra Nevada Clade: tenuissima
  4. Rocky Mountain, Great Basin & Mexico Clade: lagunae, mexicana, nelsoni
Grubb & Pravosudov 2008 (BNA Online) identifies three distinct "call groups" (following Sibley 2000), compatible with Klicka & Spellman:

  1. Eastern: carolinensis
  2. Central: lagunae, mexicana (incl 'kinneari'), nelsoni (incl 'oberholseri'), tenuissima
  3. Pacific: aculeata, alexandrae
    [Alderfer 2006 (Complete Birds of N America) notes that these may constitute 3 separate species.]
Cornell/Clements adopts a different grouping which conflicts with the Klicka & Spellman clades:
  1. Eastern: carolinensis
  2. Interior West: mexicana, kinneari, nelsoni, oberholseri
  3. Pacific: aculeata, alexandrae, lagunae, tenuissima
Richard

PS: Oops, missed David's post!
 
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White-breasted Nuthatch

Peter Kovalik said:
Walstrom finds new bird species:
http://www.marysvilleonline.net/articles/2011/01/07/news/doc4d24d9ef532a0449075672.txt
Click to expand...
Walstrom, Klicka & Spellman (in press). Speciation in the White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis): a multilocus perspective. Mol Ecol. [abstract] [supp info]
Conclusions
Mitochondrial (Spellman & Klicka 2007) and nuclear DNA data sets show the White-breasted Nuthatch is composed of four distinct evolutionary units (i.e. The Pacific, East, ESNNR [Eastern Sierra Nevada and Northern Rockies] and RGM [Rocky Mountain, Great Basin and Mexico]). ... Combining the genetic data (Spellman & Klicka 2007; this study) with previously identified differences in morphology (AOU 1957; Harrap & Quinn 1996; Phillips 1986; Grubb and Pravosudov 2008) and song (Sibley 2000; Alderfer 2006; Grubb and Pravosudov 2008) provides support for each of the four distinct evolutionary units to be recognized as separate species.
Click to expand...
[Presumably Sitta aculeata, S carolinensis, S tenuissima, S lagunae.]​
 
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White-breasted Nuthatch

Richard Klim said:
Walstrom, Klicka & Spellman (in press). Speciation in the White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis): a multilocus perspective. Mol Ecol. [abstract] [supp info]
[Presumably Sitta aculeata, S carolinensis, S tenuissima, S lagunae.]​
Click to expand...
Listed as proposed splits, candidates for addition to IOC World Bird List:
  • S carolinensis - White-breasted Nuthatch
  • S aculeata - Pacific Nuthatch
  • S tenuissima - Great Basin Nuthatch
  • S lagunae - Mexican Nuthatch
www.worldbirdnames.org/updates-PS.html [updated 23 Mar 2012]
 
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Richard Klim said:
Listed as proposed splits, candidates for addition to IOC World Bird List:
  • S carolinensis - White-breasted Nuthatch
  • S aculeata - Pacific Nuthatch
  • S tenuissima - Great Basin Nuthatch
  • S lagunae - Mexican Nuthatch
www.worldbirdnames.org/updates-PS.html [updated 23 Mar 2012]
Click to expand...

*sigh* So another case of 'did you mean the old Whatsis Bird or the new Whatsis Bird' by retaining the name 'White-breasted Nuthatch' for the new, narrower species. Why not adopt a new name? 'Carolina Nuthatch' would be a no-brainer IMO.
 
Snapdragyn said:
*sigh* So another case of 'did you mean the old Whatsis Bird or the new Whatsis Bird' by retaining the name 'White-breasted Nuthatch' for the new, narrower species. Why not adopt a new name? 'Carolina Nuthatch' would be a no-brainer IMO.
Click to expand...

Completely agree with the first part. Which alternative name to adopt -- might be good with a few more thoughts.

Niels
 
Yeah...I think giving a new name is appropriate, but I rather don't like Carolina Nuthatch. For some reason (perhaps because of where I got my lifer), I associate Carolina Nuthatch = Brown-headed Nuthatch

Fine with Pacific and Mexican, but I am not in favor of Great Basin. If I am reading this correctly, the range is much broader, and I wonder if Mountain or Rocky Mountain Might be a better name (Although open to alternatives)

For the eastern form, maybe Eastern? or is this more applicable to some of the East Asian forms? Really no clue here...
 
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