This notice adds one new entry (#1 below) to the 61st Supplement to the
Check-list of North American Birds (The Auk: Ornithological Advances 137:1–24;
https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/ukaa030) and corrects errors in two entries (#2–3 below):
- [p. 626] Change the English name of Rhynchophanes mccownii to Thick-billed Longspur, after the relatively stout, conical bill referred to in the genus name, and make the associated change on p. li to the English name in the list of species known from the A.O.S. area (pp. xvii–liv). The English name was changed in light of heightened awareness of racial issues and the widespread retirement of Confederate symbols. Although this species was described in 1851 and was not named in recognition of McCown’s military career, McCown nevertheless played an important leadership role in the Confederacy. This change was made in accordance with the committee’s new Guidelines for English Bird Names (https://americanornithology.org/nacc/guidelines-for-english-bird-names/).
Other possible replacement names were rejected as indicative only of particular plumages (e.g., Black-breasted Longspur) or as not distinctive with respect to other species of longspur (e.g., Bay-winged Longspur, White-tailed Longspur). Habitat names such as Shortgrass Longspur were strongly considered but rejected as misleading due to this species’ occurrence in barren habitats during most of the year (winter and migration), when the other three species of longspur are found in shortgrass.
Replace the existing Notes with the following:
Notes.—Formerly known as McCown’s Longspur.
- Under Entry 7 of the supplement, concerning the addition of Coccyzus melacoryphus to the U.S. list, correct the name of the town in southern Texas from Weslac to Weslaco.
- Under Entry 32 of the supplement, concerning the merger of Corvus caurinus and C. brachyrhynchos, correct the first sentence to read as follows:
- “Corvus caurinus is treated as conspecific with Corvus brachyrhynchos, following Slager et al. (2020), and is now considered a subspecies of brachyrhynchos.”
Replace the existing Notes with the following:
Notes.—Formerly (e.g., AOU 1983, 1998) treated as two species
C. brachyrhynchos and
C. caurinus Baird, 1858 [Northwestern Crow], but merged based on genomic data that indicate a lack of reproductive isolation with extensive introgression and backcrossing (Slager et al. 2020), clinal variation, and a lack of consistent differences in size, ecology, and vocalizations where the two are in contact in southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington (Rhoads 1893, Johnston 1961, Slager et al. 2020). Also known as Common Crow.