5-way chaffinch split accepted by IOC (1 Viewer)

[James Lowther]

Some discussion of this on the IOC updates thread but in case it’s passed anyone by the split of common chaffinch into Eurasian, African, Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores chaffinches has been accepted by IOC yesterday.
Anyone get a Valentine’s boost of 4 armchair ticks?
Cheers,
James

 

[Nightjar61]

Just one--African.

Dave

 

[Larry Sweetland]

4/5 for me (no Azorean), though I can't help but wonder how robust these splits will prove to be.

Actually doing remarkably well (for a change!) with the accepted splits so far in the 13.2 draft!

 

[Steve Lister]

All four for me. So what with the LSP split last week I'm up five species - more new birds than I have seen properly in the last four years!

Four extra chaffinches will take my Western Palearctic list past 700 going by IOC taxonomy. Currently on 697, ten more than the Clements version.

 

[Richard Prior]

A bit like Steve, it’s been a while since I added any species to my WP list (3 years and 5 months since Persian Wheatear in Armenia in fact), so the African and Canary Is. Chaffinches plus the LSP split gives me three armchair ticks!

 

[Ian Lewis]

Some discussion of this on the IOC updates thread but in case it’s passed anyone by the split of common chaffinch into Eurasian, African, Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores chaffinches has been accepted by IOC yesterday.
Anyone get a Valentine’s boost of 4 armchair ticks?
Cheers,
James

Yes, I've seen all five

 

[James Lowther]

Yes, I've seen all five

I might have guessed that Ian!
Cheers,
James

 

[l_raty]

Most half-dedicated WP listers will probably have seen all five ?
I mean : the four splits are easy in classical spots for some other local goodies, thus, if you went for these, you probably saw them as well...
(And, yes, I have seen all five too, despite not being a very dedicated WP lister myself.)

 

[vergan]

only three of them so far...

 

[Owene]

Most half-dedicated WP listers will probably have seen all five ?
I mean : the four splits are easy in classical spots for some other local goodies, thus, if you went for these, you probably saw them as well...
(And, yes, I have seen all five too, despite not being a very dedicated WP lister myself.)

At the proper top end of wp listers this is definitely going to be true. For the more casual ones I just checked bubo and only 11% of WP lists have Azores bullfinch so I’d guess the azores doesn’t get as many holidaying listers (while obviously being THE hardcore lister location)

 

[opisska]

There are also young listers who are not trying to do it all in a year For example I will definitely go to Azores and Madeira at some point (possibly Azores this year), but haven't been yet. I am somewhat driven by our local competition and my wish to stay at first place and so I have been prioritizing places with more species. (Then the crazy people in charge added Greater WP as a category and here I am in the Red Sea 1/3rd of the way from Arabia to Eritrea instead of Macaronesia )

 

[Mysticete]

Yeah...I was going to say...how many European-based birders visit the Azores? I never hear people talk about it here in contrast to locations with the other new Chaffinches. As Opisska alluded to, that's got to be a low priority place to visit for a lot of folks, and I would imagine only hardcore WP listers or listers with a whole lot of free time and money would visit.

 

[Frenchy]

There are already two endemic breeding species on Azores (the bullfinch and Monteiro's Storm Petrel), so throw in a Chaffinch and the high liklihood of American vagrants and rare seabirds at right times of year, mean you can get a lot of bang for your WP listing buck, especially if you based in countries other than UK.

 

[Xenospiza]

Yeah...I was going to say...how many European-based birders visit the Azores? I never hear people talk about it here in contrast to locations with the other new Chaffinches. As Opisska alluded to, that's got to be a low priority place to visit for a lot of folks, and I would imagine only hardcore WP listers or listers with a whole lot of free time and money would visit.

The Canary Islands and Madeira have direct flights from many European airports, the Azores are harder to reach and have fewer species. Choice made!

 

[Owene]

The Canary Islands and Madeira have direct flights from many European airports, the Azores are harder to reach and have fewer species. Choice made!

My wife really wants to see one of the iconic whale species and Azores are probably the easiest European place for sperm whales so we've been checking out Azores options. It's pretty well served by direct charter flights from the UK big holiday companies during the summer but via Lisbon aside harder to do independently. I mean not that hard compared to some countries but but harder than the canaries

 

[Mysticete]

My wife really wants to see one of the iconic whale species and Azores are probably the easiest European place for sperm whales so we've been checking out Azores options. It's pretty well served by direct charter flights from the UK big holiday companies during the summer but via Lisbon aside harder to do independently. I mean not that hard compared to some countries but but harder than the canaries

One of the best places around for beaked whales too! I think the only long-term studies of Mesoplodon biology are based in the Azores because it's one of the few places you can reliably find them

 

[njlarsen]

If not there, Dominica in the Caribbean is one of the better places to see Sperm Whales.
Niels

 

[opisska]

Well let's not forget that Azores also have Corvo, so there is a sizeable group of birders attracted to the archipelago in October, and those presumably will stop at the bigger islands to get the Bullfinch, thus getting the Chaffinch. But I think it's very binary: either you are a rabid yank twitcher and then Corvo is your Mecca, or not and then Azores are pretty obscure.

 

[Ian Lewis]

I've been to the Azores twice.

In 2001 I went on the Birdquest 'reunion' to Madeira and the Azores visiting Sao Miguel and Pico island on the Azores. We saw the endemic bullfinch, chaffinch and Sperm Whale and Sowerby's Beaked Whale.

2014 I joined a group led by Richard Bonser to Sao Miguel, Terceira and Graciosa. The purpose of the trip was to see Monteiro's Storm Petrel but we saw a good variety of other seabirds including Swinhoe's Storm Petrel plus Sperm Whale and several beaked whales, and a variety of north american vagrant waders and also the endemic bullfinch and chaffinch on Sao Miguel.

Getting flights from the UK to Sao Miguel was not difficult at all.

Quite a lot of WP listers visit the outer island of Flores and Corvo every autumn to search for american vagrants.

I'd certainly recommend it for a short break.

 

[l_raty]

I've been to the Azores twice in the early 2000s.

Both were short late-summer breaks with my OH, wholly self-organized, flying with TAP via Lisbõa, staying in small hotels, using ferries to commute between the islands and renting a car on some. This was just a fairly logical continuation after having visited the Canaries and Madeira.
No particular difficulties at all, so far as I can remember. (We did not go to Flores or Corvo, though.)