Clements 2024 checklist update (1 Viewer)

[Steve Lister]

Back to Clements....
Unless I am mistaken, in the past each update has been accompanied by a simplish basic treatment of the changes without all the background detail. Has anyone been able to find anything similar this time? Does it exist?

 

[njlarsen]

Back to Clements....
Unless I am mistaken, in the past each update has been accompanied by a simplish basic treatment of the changes without all the background detail. Has anyone been able to find anything similar this time? Does it exist?

There is column D in the spreadsheet I downloaded. Additionally, try these

https://science.ebird.org/en/use-ebird-data/the-ebird-taxonomy/2024-ebird-taxonomy-update?__hstc=161696355.dc90f6d31685757ba37156dafbf36c56.1709320265392.1725561138148.1730988006923.4&__hssc=161696355.2.1730988006923&__hsfp=3304905545&_gl=1%2a9uglhh%2a_gcl_au%2aMTQ2NDI0MjU3My4xNzI1NTYxMTM3%2a_ga%2aMTE1NjUwMDE3Mi4xNzA5MzIwMjY1%2a_ga_QR4NVXZ8BM%2aMTczMDk4ODAwNi40LjEuMTczMDk4ODA2OC42MC4wLjA.&_ga=2.155721019.1898180187.1730988007-1156500172.1709320265

Updates and Corrections—October 2024 – Clements Checklist

www.birds.cornell.edu

 

[Paul Chapman]

In past taxonomy updates many of observations have appeared obviously incorrect for brief periods. They were always fixed eventually. You just have to be patient.

It remains the case that my Northern Yellow White-eye sightings now appear as Green White-eye....

The various Merlin Birdpacks now also contain various absurdities like Siberian Pipit appearing as an outstanding bird in the British Birdpack and American Barn Owl as an outstanding bird in the Middle East one.

Whilst I suspect that the Bird Packs will play catch up in due course, are the changes to lists now complete?

Many thanks

Paul

 

[raymie]

It remains the case that my Northern Yellow White-eye sightings now appear as Green White-eye....

The various Merlin Birdpacks now also contain various absurdities like Siberian Pipit appearing as an outstanding bird in the British Birdpack and American Barn Owl as an outstanding bird in the Middle East one.

Whilst I suspect that the Bird Packs will play catch up in due course, are the changes to lists now complete?

Many thanks

Paul

Merlin will take a bit longer (and need to be manually updated).

eBird's updates are complete now, so if your white-eye observations remain changed, I'd suggest that perhaps that's now the correct identification...

 

[Paul Chapman]

Merlin will take a bit longer (and need to be manually updated).

eBird's updates are complete now, so if your white-eye observations remain changed, I'd suggest that perhaps that's now the correct identification...

A pretty bold conclusion that they can geographically assign Northern Yellow White-eye from Green White-eye in Uganda with precision according to their own range maps in the Merlin birdpack! It looks like they have produced neat simplistic absolute geographic divides when I understood that there were habitat differences.

My point on the Birdpacks ia that the nature of the changes has been to create splits that simply do not occur as species in a number of geographic regions. By any assessment, that is simply erroneous and they should with care and thought be able to implement it better so American Barn Owl has not colonised globally. 😀

Oh well....

All the best

Paul

 

[Paul Clapham]

Merlin will take a bit longer (and need to be manually updated).

eBird's updates are complete now, so if your white-eye observations remain changed, I'd suggest that perhaps that's now the correct identification...

I just got Merlin updates (including taxonomy updates) for my US/Canada and Europe packs yesterday.

The Europe pack has "Western Barn Owl" but not "American Barn Owl"... although I'm not in Europe at the moment so I don't know what it had before.

 

[Paul Chapman]

I just got Merlin updates (including taxonomy updates) for my US/Canada and Europe packs yesterday.

The Europe pack has "Western Barn Owl" but not "American Barn Owl"... although I'm not in Europe at the moment so I don't know what it had before.

It is certainly there in mine after I updated?

All the. Esg

PUl

 

[pbjosh]

It remains the case that my Northern Yellow White-eye sightings now appear as Green White-eye....

This does sound odd, given that N Yellow White-eye was only effected in that Angolan White-eye was split. In the region, Heuglin’s White-eye was also split. Might be worth contacting eBird folks directly to see if there wasn’t an error in the working over of records. Nothing is mentioned in the 2024 taxonomy update about Green White-eye.

The various Merlin Birdpacks now also contain various absurdities like Siberian Pipit appearing as an outstanding bird in the British Birdpack and American Barn Owl as an outstanding bird in the Middle East one.

Whilst I suspect that the Bird Packs will play catch up in due course, are the changes to lists now complete?

eBird states that the taxonomic changes are complete. And yes, I imagine Merlin will lag some on updating. Particularly the maps (many of which still date back to map data inherited from HBW) tend to lag and many post-split species still don’t have maps at all in Merlin… things that I imagine will eventually be remedied but generating maps is pretty tedious and labor intensive so I am not surprised when there are long delays with that part.

 

[Paul Chapman]

eBird states that the taxonomic changes are complete. And yes, I imagine Merlin will lag some on updating. Particularly the maps (many of which still date back to map data inherited from HBW) tend to lag and many post-split species still don’t have maps at all in Merlin… things that I imagine will eventually be remedied but generating maps is pretty tedious and labor intensive so I am not surprised when there are long delays with that part.

Maps I get. Even aggregates I get. The appearance of additional splits as duplicates in areas where they do not occur I find odd. 😀

All the best

Paul

 

[Steve Lister]

Back to Clements....
Unless I am mistaken, in the past each update has been accompanied by a simplish basic treatment of the changes without all the background detail. Has anyone been able to find anything similar this time? Does it exist?

It seems there is nothing simple this time.

 

[kweetal]

FWIW, here is a list with names from the Clements 2024 October list. I've added the 2023b Author+Date (column 'authority') onto the newer list (which doesn't have that Authority information). It turns out some names/taxa without parentheses have a Publication Year that is earlier (=lower) than the Publication Year of the Genus according to IOC 14.2. I sent this list to BOW two months ago (from 2023b data) but I don't hear anything back and the errors are still in the new list (and on the BOW/Cornell site, for that matter), so I'll put them here. Maybe someone is interested.

If I've made a mistake in this list please let me know - thanks! It's possible the Genus year of IOC 14.2 is off, of course, but that seems a little less likely.

(Some of these species names also have a nominate subspecies with of course the same error)

                          Species                           |  Genus year IOC 14.2
------------------------------------------------------------+-----------
 Oreortyx pictus Douglas, 1829                              | 1858
   Megascops asio naevius Gmelin, 1788                      | 1848
 Halcyon cyanoventris Vieillot, 1818                        | 1821
 Dysithamnus plumbeus Wied-Neuwied, 1831                    | 1847
 Anabacerthia striaticollis de Lafresnaye, 1840             | 1841
 Leptasthenura fuliginiceps d'Orbigny & de Lafresnaye, 1837 | 1853
 Amytornis striatus Gould, 1840                             | 1885
 Culicicapa helianthea Wallace, 1865                        | 1871
   Tricholestes criniger sericeus Blyth, 1865               | 1874   
 Crithagra flaviventris Gmelin, 1789                        | 1827
 Cyanerpes caeruleus Linnaeus, 1758                         | 1899

 

[l_raty]

Oreortyx pictus Douglas, 1829 | 1858
Megascops asio naevius Gmelin, 1788 | 1848
Halcyon cyanoventris Vieillot, 1818 | 1821
Dysithamnus plumbeus Wied-Neuwied, 1831 | 1847
Anabacerthia striaticollis de Lafresnaye, 1840 | 1841
Leptasthenura fuliginiceps d'Orbigny & de Lafresnaye, 1837 | 1853
Amytornis striatus Gould, 1840 | 1885
Culicicapa helianthea Wallace, 1865 | 1871
Tricholestes criniger sericeus Blyth, 1865 | 1874
Crithagra flaviventris Gmelin, 1789 | 1827
Cyanerpes caeruleus Linnaeus, 1758 | 1899

Oreortyx Baird 1858 v.9=pt.2 (1853-1858) - Reports of explorations and surveys - Biodiversity Heritage Library , v.9=pt.2 (1853-1858) - Reports of explorations and surveys - Biodiversity Heritage Library , v.9=pt.2 (1853-1858) - Reports of explorations and surveys - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Ortyx picta Douglas 1829 v.16 (1833) - Transactions of the Linnean Society of London - Biodiversity Heritage Library
(Parentheses are needed.)

Megascops Kaup 1848 1848 - Isis von Oken - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Strix naevia Gmelin 1788 v. 1, pt. 1 - Caroli a Linné ... Systema naturae per regna tria naturae - Biodiversity Heritage Library
(Parentheses are needed.)

Halcyon Swainson 1821 v.1 (1820-1821) - Zoological illustrations, or, Original figures and descriptions of new, rare, or interesting animals - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Alcedo cyanoventris Vieillot 1818 t.19 (1818) - Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle - Biodiversity Heritage Library
(Parentheses are needed.)

Dysithamnus Cabanis 1847 Jahrg.13:Bd.1 (1847) - Archiv für Naturgeschichte - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Myiothera plumbea Wied 1831 3 - Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte von Brasilien - Biodiversity Heritage Library
(Parentheses are needed.)

Anabacerthia Lafresnaye 1840 Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle
Anabates (Anabacerthia) striaticollis Lafresnaye 1840 Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle
(The genus is misdated in the IOC list -- parentheses are NOT needed. The species and genus were described simultaneously, in 1840, but the description ended up in a volume dated 1841. For dating, see Evenhuis 1990 http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/op30p219.pdf )

Leptasthenura Reichenbach 1853 Abt.3:Bd.6 [Text] (1836) - Die vollständigste Naturgeschichte der Vögel - Biodiversity Heritage Library , Abt.3:Bd.6 [Text] (1836) - Die vollständigste Naturgeschichte der Vögel - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Synallaxis fuliginiceps d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye 1837 v.7 (1837) - Magasin de zoologie. - Biodiversity Heritage Library
(Parenthese are needed.)

Amytornis Stejneger 1885 v.4 [Birds] (1885) - The standard natural history - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Dasyornis striatus Gould 1840 pt.4-8 (1836-1840) - Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London - Biodiversity Heritage Library
(Parenthese are needed.)

Culicicapa Swinhoe 1871 1871 - Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Muscicapa helianthea Wallace 1865 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28497451
(Parenthese are needed.)

Tricholestes Salvadori https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29877031
Criniger sericea Blyth 1865 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29877031
(Parenthese are needed.)

Crithagra Swainson 1827 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27485874
Serinus flaviventris Gmelin 1789 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656351
(Parenthese are needed.)

Cyanerpes Oberholser 1899 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15935243
Certhia caerulea Linnaeus 1758 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727023
(Parenthese are needed.)

FWIW...

 

[Steve Lister]

Today I had an email from eBird providing me with a personal slant on the taxonomic changes - a great idea, especially as I had overlooked a new bird in the form of Red-throated Crag Martin, part of the three-way split of Rock Martin.

Great idea.

 

[awiner]

Today I had an email from eBird providing me with a personal slant on the taxonomic changes - a great idea, especially as I had overlooked a new bird in the form of Red-throated Crag Martin, part of the three-way split of Rock Martin.

Great idea.

Only eBird reviewers got that - they'd love to do it for everyone, but it's computationally expensive.

 

[njlarsen]

Only eBird reviewers got that - they'd love to do it for everyone, but it's computationally expensive.

My understanding was that it might happen for all regular eBird submitters if there is enough positive feedback from this trial run.
Niels

 

[Paul Chapman]

So what does this email look like and what are its contents?

I spent a while looking at a few of my records like the Red-rumped Swallow & Cory's Shearwater complexes after the changes as well as sorting out my Northern Yellow White-eyes but I do confess that I did then lose some faith in such things when I saw the increased randomness of some exotic designations with individual records of the same species treated differently.

Example one of maybe 15 or so species with this type of randomness amongst the United Kingdom dataset attached. Other random designations in the United Kingdom on Spur-winged Lapwing, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Southern Masked-Weaver, Chestnut-flanked White-eye, Village Weaver & Atlantic Canary as well as randomness on various other Provisionals.

I was cheered up though when a friend pointed out that 71 of my images had been used in the Bird Packs so far so maybe I am regular enough if it is rolled out. I am sure that overall, on balance, the functionality is excellent and it is worthwhile. 😀

https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/media-contributors/

Harmonisation of the taxonomy will help but hopefully that will not be on the basis of IOC splits reversed that are then re-implemented again in future years. I find the change not the different total more disruptive.

All the best

Paul

 

[Matt Slaymaker]

I am a reviewer and I didn't receive one. Maybe just those in North America?

 

[njlarsen]

I am a reviewer and I didn't receive one. Maybe just those in North America?

I got the impression that they made a lottery to determine who to send it to, limited number.
Niels

 

[Paul Chapman]

Maybe they didn't want to upset people who may have been reviewers for years but had recently given it up when more people volunteered when the original efforts had made eBird more popular. 😀

More seriously, the email is excellent. Thanks to Steve for giving me a look at his personal copy. Nothing really surprised me but I was amazed at the number of scientific name changes & amendments.

Excellent functionality that I would like to see rolled out. Maybe the use of English (US) names has restricted its roll out or the sheer scale and nature of the effort required. I have not reconciled my meagre list changes yet but will do after I finish my photographic exercises.... Big effort needed.

It answered my Green/Northern Yellow White-eye query upthread. I do remain happy with my own identifications, having reviewed my unprocessed pics, based on habitat and morphology in areas that I had always considered to be in overlap zones. My surprise remains that my dataset was changed without any form of attention being drawn to it that I had previously seen.

"In some rare cases, additional changes from eBird Central will show. These are cases where we corrected taxonomic or nomenclatural errors in your records. For example, Black Magpie Platysmurus leucopterus from Canada, which should be Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia, or
Northern Yellow White-eye Zosterops senegalensis reported within the range of Green White-eye Zosterops stuhlmanni (e.g., southern Uganda). In these cases, the species are listed in [brackets] to indicate that they were not formally part of the split but were part of our data cleanup process, and may have affected your lists."

On the United Kingdom dataset, a friend is compiling a more comprehensive analysis on the Exotic lottery than I had dipped into above so hopefully progress on that at some point.

All the best

Paul