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HBW and BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist v4 (1 Viewer)

njlarsen said:
But seemingly nothing about what they actually did change?

Niels
Click to expand...

Grab http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v4_Dec19.zip , expand it, and you'll find a spreadsheet with a list of changes. A quick summary below.

They include: the whole Oriental/Japanese/Everett's/Mountain White-eye mess.

Splits:
Dusky Cuckoo-dove in 3
Sula Cuckoo-dove from White-faced
Ash-bellied Hermit from Straight-billed
Blossomcrown
Grey-necked Wood-rail
Eurasian Oystercatcher (restoring South Island)
Cyprus Scops-Owl from Eurasian
Upper Magdalena Parakeet from Maroon-tailed
Eclectus Parrot in 4
Purple-backed Fairy-wren from Variegated
Imitatress Honeyeater from Graceful
Chivi Vireo from Red-eyed
Sichuan Tit from Willow
Spotted Nightingale-thrush
Stripe-crowned Sparrow from Saffron-billed
Whenua Hou Diving-petrel from South Georgia
Cream-eyed Bulbul from Cream-vented
Madagascar Palm-swift from African.

Lumps:
Chaco Nothura
Spinifex Pigeon forms
Scaly-breasted Woodpecker into Waved Woodpecker
Black-headed Penduline Tit

Five newly described species
3 reassigned subspecies.
 
Seems that they already recognized the IUCN Red List of Threatened Birds 2019 (which will be published on 10 December 2019).

e.g. Spix's Macaw is listed as EW (formerly CR), and Bogota Sunangel as NR (formerly DD)
 
Besides that, there's several groups whose sequence has been radically shuffled since the previous version. (One of which is the white-eyes.) That won't be of much interest to most listers.

However there's a group of four South Indian laughingthrushes which have been moved into the genus Montecincla and their English names have been changed to "Chilappan". And there's two South Indian flycatchers which have been moved from Myiomela to Sholicola and their English names have been changed to "Sholakili".
 
Paul Clapham said:
Besides that, there's several groups whose sequence has been radically shuffled since the previous version. (One of which is the white-eyes.) That won't be of much interest to most listers.

However there's a group of four South Indian laughingthrushes which have been moved into the genus Montecincla and their English names have been changed to "Chilappan". And there's two South Indian flycatchers which have been moved from Myiomela to Sholicola and their English names have been changed to "Sholakili".
Click to expand...

This is getting ridiculous, Palani, Nilgiri, Banasura and Ashambu Chilappans, Principe Speirops (White-eye), White-bellied and Nilgiri Sholakili for goodness sake, madness........................
 
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Sholakili was introduced by one of the other lists last year I think but Chilappan is a new one. As Andy says, madness. We are talking about English language names.

Steve
 
Steve Lister said:
Sholakili was introduced by one of the other lists last year I think but Chilappan is a new one. As Andy says, madness. We are talking about English language names.

Steve
Click to expand...

Chilippan was the recommended name in the taxonomic paper that split them, I'm glad to hear they are using it, authors put so much effort into writing the paper, nice to see the names used as well as the splits.

Sholakili is a lovely name, especially given they are not robins, nor shortenings but unique in their own right.

James
 
James Eaton said:
Chilippan was the recommended name in the taxonomic paper that split them, I'm glad to hear they are using it, authors put so much effort into writing the paper, nice to see the names used as well as the splits.

Sholakili is a lovely name, especially given they are not robins, nor shortenings but unique in their own right.

James
Click to expand...

It's one thing to dream up names such as 'Shade Dweller' or 'Cup-wing' but these are not ENGLISH names, Chilappan is Malay and Shola is Indian.
 
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Neither are Quetzal, nor Tapaculo nor Brolga. The world is becoming a more inclusive one towards non-westerners and I'm all in for it. Even though I might probably have some problems to remember those names I find them to be much more charismatic than another Western Tight-bummed Striped Treemuncher...
 
On another thread, in relation to this......

'I think that if you see fit to change the name (I'm ambivalent about the necessity), then Ocotero is a great name. The reasoning as to why is in the proposal. This is one of the few cases, in my opinion, where the new name is actually excellent instead of just a compromise or the best of a lot of unappealing options.'

I flippantly wrote............

On that basis we can maybe look forward to another 4-5000 species in Spanish or Portuguese?

Seems I missed a few languages out.
 
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People proposing such names might consider that it would greatly complicate them getting attention of audience, interest in conservation etc. for something which name means nothing to most readers. Usually even for most locals in its native range.

Otherwise, I propose renaming Reed Warbler to Trzcinniczek, which is just a calque of Ocotero - 'little reed one'.
 
andyadcock said:
It's one thing to dream up names such as 'Shade Dweller' or 'Cup-wing' but these are not ENGLISH names, Chilappan is Malay and Shola is Indian.
Click to expand...

You really don't want to go down that route, Andy....

I can't imagine just how many English names derive from non-English words. A two minute ponder produced these:

Malkoha is Sri Lankan
Prinia is Indonesia
Skua from the Faroese apparently (perhaps we can call it Jaeger instead? ;-) )
Avocet originated from Italian
Jacana - Portuguese
Aracari
Tapaculo...

The more I think about the more I realise....!

ps - Chilappan is Malayalam.

J
 
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In 10 minutes I came up with these names that AFAIK are not derived from English, and are not just using a Latin or Greek generic name as an English name.
Kagu
Jabiru
Cassowary
Phalarope
Cockatoo
Lory
Pitta
Drongo
Myna
Tanager
Curassow
Tinamou
Guan
Penguin (Welsh origin, so you're .02% of the way to 5000 names in Welsh with that one)
Anhinga
Flamingo
Condor
Caracara
Macaw
Parrot
Parakeet
Pauraque
Jacamar
Toucan
Hornero
Cotinga
Becard
Oropendola

Another category is adopting (presumably Greek or Latin derived) generic names for English group names - I didn't check derivations of all of these names, might not all be Greek/Latin?
Myzomela
Chlorospingus
Euphonia
Cisticola
Gerygone
Cinclodes
Xenops
Piprites
Schiffornis
Tityra
Vireo
Dacnis
Saltator

I think a lot of it has to do with how familiar you are with the word. No English speaker bats an eye at the words Penguin, Flamingo, Cockatoo, Parrot, Parakeet, or Toucan. However, words like Skua, Vireo, Cotinga, Anhinga are just as foreign to the average person on the street as Chilippan and Sholakili are to you at the moment, due to lack of prior exposure. In time the unknown becomes incorporated and is second nature.

I am a bit less of a fan of some of the Greek/Latin group names being used for English names. Personally Myzomela, Chlorospingus, Cisticola I find a bit cumbersome and not very poetic... I would have preferred novel names but it's just my opinion and I don't lose any sleep over it.

I also personally think that there is sometimes too much emphasis placed on aligning group names to genera at the cost of English name stability. Again, though, I don't lose sleep over it, and I learn new names quickly enough.
 
A further thought. For English speakers who are new to birds/birding, the majority of the following names are probably completely meaningless:

Twite
Dunlin
Dunnock
Accentor
Ouzel
Whinchat
Vireo
Skua
Bittern
Gadwall
Sora
Godwit
Stint
Ruff
Murre
Guillemot
Vireo
Fieldfare
Pipit
Dickcissel
Junco
Chiffchaff
Wigeon
Chough
Brambling
Linnet
Serin
Siskin
Bobolink

I'm sure there's more to add to that list :)
 
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