The eBird/Clements checklist v2018 (1 Viewer)

eBird news, July 27, 2018

August is always an exciting time of year for eBird—when we update all eBird records with the latest scientific advances in bird taxonomy. New information on species limits can result in increases (splits) or decreases (lumps) in your list totals. Whenever possible, we change your records for you to match the expected species when a split occurs—this is one of the main services we provide at eBird. Expect 2018’s update in the second or third week of August.

This year’s update will have some important changes. Many birders may notice that some big portions of the checklist sequence will be changing: this reflects new genetic information on the evolution of bird orders and families. About 31 species will be split (resulting in an increase of 36 species), six will be lumped, and five new species will be recognized, bringing the global species total to 10585. Other changes include revisions to some scientific and common names, and some additions of some new taxa for data entry (e.g., new hybrids etc.).

Looking forward to this! Interesting to see they split Mexican Duck contra AOU!

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018.

Updates & Corrections – August 2018 link here

Downloadable Checklist here

Thanks very much for that Peter.

Both morphological and genetic evidence indicate that Crested Jay Platylophus galericulatus is not a member of Corvidae (Crows, Jays, and Magpies) (Jønsson et al. 2008, Manegold 2008, Jønsson et al. 2011a, Aggerbeck et al. 2014). Its relationships remain unresolved: it may be near the base of the corvoid radiation (Jønsson et al. 2011a), or it may be sister to Laniidae (Shrikes) (Jønsson et al. 2008, Aggerbeck et al. 2014). We follow Winkler et al. (2015) in recognizing a new family, Platylophidae, for this species. Provisionally we position Platylophidae immediately following Oreoicidae (Australo-Papuan Bellbirds). Change the English name from Crested Jay to Crested Shrikejay.

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But Jønsson and al. (2015) found that this species is close to the genus Eurocephalus and related to other Laniidae.

Peter
Thanks for the link - I get the sense some of the splits are more about convergence with other checklists than based on new information, eg

'page 33, Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis

In accord with AOS-NACC (AOU 1998), Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis is split into two species, a monotypic Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis and a polytypic Andean Duck Oxyura ferruginea (with subspecies andina and ferruginea).

Reference:

American Ornithologists’ Union. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, DC'

cheers, alan

Quick review...I gained 9 from splits and lost 1 on a lump. I'll take that.

LeNomenclatoriste said:

But Jønsson and al. (2015) found that this species is close to the genus Eurocephalus and related to other Laniidae.

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But demonstrating a sister relationship between Eurocephalus and Platylophus with the supermatrix used by Jønsson et al. 2016 (which is [this]; on the web in 2015, actual publication in 2016) is not really possible, because these taxa shared no sequenced loci in their data set. (You just can't prove that two birds are more closely related to each other than to any other bird by comparing, say, the wing of the first one, to the leg of the other... You'd need two wings or two legs, in order to be able to look for similarities that are not shared with the rest of the avian life. Same thing with molecular data: you can't show two birds are sister by comparing a cytochrome b sequence from one of them to a myoglobin sequence from the other.)
That said, from what I see in the data, I'd say the relationship of Eurocephalus to Laniidae is more questionable than that of Platylophus. Neither is very strongly supported, though.

Last time I checked, "Platylophidae" did not appear to be an available name. Was this changed ? The name was certainly not established in Winkler et al. 2015, as it was used there just as if it already existed. Since 2000, all names must be indicated as intentionally new to be available from a publication.

The most wise choice is to treat Platylophidae as incertae sedis until that name is officially published.

Is there a file in which Jønsson provides a taxonomic revision of Corvoidea ?

LeNomenclatoriste said:

Is there a file in which Jønsson provides a taxonomic revision of Corvoidea ?

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There is this: https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1055790315002511-mmc3.doc