Latest IOC Diary Updates (7 Viewers)

[Markus Lagerqvist]

Jul; 26 Post split of Pale-throated Leaflove from Yellow-throated Leaflove

 

[Swindon Addick]

Jul; 26 Post split of Pale-throated Leaflove from Yellow-throated Leaflove

Pale-throated Leaflove Atimastillas flavigula (including soror) is split from Yellow-throated Leaflove A. flavicollis based on differences in morphology and vocalizations (del Hoyo & Collar 2016; HBW/BirdLife).

Atimastillas flavicollis flavicollis Senegal and Gambia to n Cameroon and nw Central African Republic

Atimastillas flavigula soror c Cameroon to wc Ethiopia and c DR Congo
Atimastillas flavigula flavigula Angola, se DR Congo to Uganda, w Kenya and w Tanzania

 

[Mysticete]

Just to clarify:

* The list was obtained by noting the WGAC position in Avibase for each species where recognition differs between IOC, eBird/Clements and BLI. As it was done species by species, I'm sure there are some omissions and errors in there.

* Since the WGAC list initially was based on the IOC list and then tweaked, it's reasonable to presume that species whose status have changed since (split och lumped) will remain so.

* The list is not final and I agree there probably will be adjustments as SACC goes through some of the proposals. The dacnis for instance is at this moment lumped by WGAC, but the SACC-proposal recommends a split, although it hasn't passed yet. However, I would argue it's safe to say most of the WGAC decisions will stand.

* SQ is supposed to mean status quo, i.e. a species split by IOC but not by eBird/Clements probably remains split in the WGAC list.

One odd thing I would note is that if you go through the different versions of WGAC via Avibase (0.01, 0.02, etc), species like African Swamphen or Yellow-billed Kite were always indicated as subspecies. Which is odd if IOC is the baseline and these were all proposals that were voted on. One would assume they would have started out as full species than become subspecies.

 

[Markus Lagerqvist]

Lots of generic changes, don't think they have been mentioned here?
They include changes among the herons:

Ixobrychus		Botaurus	TAX, PHY	mtDNA and UCE genetic studies reveal that Ixobrychus is not monophyletc but is rather paraphyletic relative to Botaurus (Päckert et al. 2014; Hruska et al. 2023). Merge Ixobrychus and its ten species into Botaurus (Chesser et al. 2024).
Bubulcus ibis, Bubulcus coromandus	Western Cattle Egret, Eastern Cattle Egret	Ardea ibis, Ardea coromanda	TAX, PHY	Phylogenetic analysis based on UCE elements reveals that Bubulcus is embedded in Ardea (Hruska et al. 2023). Move Western and Eastern Cattle Egret from Bubulcus to Ardea (Chesser et al. 2024) . Note gender.

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Lots of generic changes, don't think they have been mentioned here?
They include changes among the herons:

Ixobrychus

Botaurus

TAX, PHY

mtDNA and UCE genetic studies reveal that Ixobrychus is not monophyletc but is rather paraphyletic relative to Botaurus (Päckert et al. 2014; Hruska et al. 2023). Merge Ixobrychus and its ten species into Botaurus (Chesser et al. 2024).

I hope it's a temporary decision... Please tell me it's not definitive, the Botaurinae lineage is older than all of the Ardeinae combined

 

[Jacana]

Jul 27 Post extinct Marquesan Swamphen

 

[Andy Adcock]

Pale-throated Leaflove Atimastillas flavigula (including soror) is split from Yellow-throated Leaflove A. flavicollis based on differences in morphology and vocalizations (del Hoyo & Collar 2016; HBW/BirdLife).

Atimastillas flavicollis flavicollis Senegal and Gambia to n Cameroon and nw Central African Republic

Atimastillas flavigula soror c Cameroon to wc Ethiopia and c DR Congo
Atimastillas flavigula flavigula Angola, se DR Congo to Uganda, w Kenya and w Tanzania

One up for me, I'm sure a lot of us will have this one.

What is now being called Pale-throated, I saw in Ghana last November and I remember distinctly, how bright, yellow the throat was?

 

[Jacana]

One up for me, I'm sure a lot of us will have this one.

What is now being called Pale-throated, I saw in Ghana last November and I remember distinctly, how bright, yellow the throat was?

Pale-throated is essentially Central Africa. The furthest west they get is the Cameroon/Nigeria border.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Pale-throated is essentially Central Africa. The furthest west they get is the Cameroon/Nigeria border.

Sorry, yes, I have them the wrong way around.

 

[James Lowther]

Anyone any idea of relative distribution of athi, harterti and tropicalis in Kenya, in particular which is the form that is hyper abundant in the Mara region?
Cheers
James

in case anyone is interested i figured this out from the Alstrom paper and supplementary information

• tropicalis occurs in the Mara (i.e. rufous-naped lark s.s.)
• athi occurs in the Nairobi region, harterti to the south of this (sentinel lark)

that's another tick for me, just a net of -1 for the 14.2 update now, but more lumps to come i fear.....

James

 

[sicklebill]

If erythrostictus is integrated into castaneoventris, richardsii must be too

So distinct makes no sense....

Jul; 26 Post split of Pale-throated Leaflove from Yellow-throated Leaflove

+25 for me now, but -10 so 15 overall

 

[awiner]

in case anyone is interested i figured this out from the Alstrom paper and supplementary information

• tropicalis occurs in the Mara (i.e. rufous-naped lark s.s.)
• athi occurs in the Nairobi region, harterti to the south of this (sentinel lark)

that's another tick for me, just a net of -1 for the 14.2 update now, but more lumps to come i fear.....

James

Much appreciated James! That works out as a tick for me too (and, quite literally, the first time a Lark split has ever been of any numerical benefit to me).

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

So distinct makes no sense....

I found another better option

 

[Ian Lewis]

All a bit of harmless fun. For me the biggest disappointments with this batch have been:-

1. The feeling of excited anticipation after seeing that Sri Lanka Shama had been split, and thinking "ooh great, surely I must have seen one of those and forgotten about it. White-rumped Shama's pretty common innit?", then turning to nail-biting panic as each dog-eared page of a battered old note book failed to contain the words "White-rumped Shama" over a month's worth of bumming round Sri Lanka... until I had to conclude I must have not seen one there 😭.
2. Similar deal with Large-billed Crow on the Philippines, only this was worse, because I had my notebook stolen in China later on the same trip, so had to rely on my BF trip report, in which I didn't bother inputting everything I saw at each site, so several sites I visited where this species occurs had a list of interesting birds ending in "etc" 😆. Would the Philippine Jungle Crow split be among those etcs? I can't remember, and I'll never know! 🤷🤦.

I've been to Philippines twice

1991 - I saw about 5 Philippine Jungle Crows on Luzon & the same on Mindanao
2023 - I saw 5 Philippine Jungle Crows on Mindoro, 3 Camiguin, 2 Negros

So not abundant but I guess you will have seen at least one.

I only saw 2 White-rumped Shamas in a fortnight on Sri Lanka

 

[dnsallen]

I've been to Philippines twice

1991 - I saw about 5 Philippine Jungle Crows on Luzon & the same on Mindanao
2023 - I saw 5 Philippine Jungle Crows on Mindoro, 3 Camiguin, 2 Negros

So not abundant but I guess you will have seen at least one.

I only saw 2 White-rumped Shamas in a fortnight on Sri Lanka

You can check the ebird explore species map function to see how widespread it is

Sign in

ebird.org

There are 11 reports of flocks of 100-500

 

[Markus Lagerqvist]

Moluccan Cicadabird

Edolisoma amboinense

ADD

AS

Common Cicadabird

Moluccan Cicadabird Edolisoma amboinense (including pererratum and grayi) is split from Common Cicadabird E, tenuirostre based on differences in plumage and vocalizations (WGAC 1072).

 

[TomDerutter]

Common Cicadabird

Edolisoma tenuirostre

Move subspecies edithae from Common Cicadabird to Sulawesi Cicadabird.

TAX

Move poorly known subspecies edithae from Common Cicadabird Edolisoma tenuirostre to Sulawesi Cicadabird E. morio (WGAC 1072).

 

[gusasp]

Moluccan Cicadabird

Edolisoma amboinense

ADD

AS

Common Cicadabird

Moluccan Cicadabird Edolisoma amboinense (including pererratum and grayi) is split from Common Cicadabird E, tenuirostre based on differences in plumage and vocalizations (WGAC 1072).

This one I don't get. I'm having a hard time reconciling it with Pedersen 2018, which IOC cites for the other Edolisoma splits. In that study, amboinense is embedded in tenuirostris s.s., very close sister to tenuirostris itself (and also in another part of the tenuirostris s.s. assemblage). Grayi and pererratum instead group with sula and obiense/pelingi (Pedersen group them all in one single species). Is there something wrong with both these amboinense samples? Biogeographically it's kind of weird they group with Australian, Aru and Papua New Guinea lineages, intertwined as well. @l_raty?

 

[gusasp]

Another conundrum I can't wrap my head around, this time concerning the whistler splits/re-shuffles. The decisions seem to be based on Jønsson 2014 and Joseph 2021. The latter reference I don’t understand. I'm guessing it's the following:

• Joseph et al. 2021 How far east can a Western Whistler go? Genomic data reveal large eastward range extension, taxonomic and nomenclatural change, and reassessment of conservation needs, Emu 121: 1–2, 90–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2020.1854047

That one focuses solely on P. occidentalis and P. pectoralis, neither of which are involved on the recent shuffling. There's also a Joseph 2021 on species limits in birds in Australia, but that one doesn't mention whistlers at all.

Turning to Jønsson et al. (2014), I can only find some support for the recent changes, not all. Yes, par and compar in orpheus makes sense, so does sharpei and ornata respectively as distinct species (although based on genetic divergence alone, it would not be inconceivable to instead treat compar as a monotypic species as well). However, based on Jønsson:

• calliope is not part of fulvotincta, rather sister to a larger clade that comprises fulvotincta as well as a number of other species.
• teysmanni (Selayar) groups rather shallowly together with everetti (on nearby Tanahjampea, Kalaotoa and Madu), the ancestor of which is deeply diverged from the subspecies of P. fulvotincta s.s. (nominate, fulviventris, javana). IOC, however, instead leaves everetti in fulvotincta.
• arthuri (Wetar) should also be recognized as a distinct species, a taxon that is currently not even acknowledged by IOC but treated as synonymous with calliope (Rote, Timor, Semau). It sits on a long branch and while the exact placement is somewhat ambiguous, the position based on two nuclear and two mitochondrial markers has it as sister to the clade comprising, among others, phaionota, hyperythra, simplex, sharpei, griseonota, and orpheus. Based on Jønsson’s phylogenetic results, the current taxonomic treatment is inconceivable.

Have I missed something here?

 

[Markus Lagerqvist]

Central Melanesian Cicadabird

Edolisoma erythropygium

ADD

AS

Bismarck (Grey-capped) Cicadabird

Central Melanesian Cicadabird Edolisoma erythropygium (including ssp. rooki, saturatius and nisorium) is split from Common Cicadabird E. tenuirostre based on the integration of genomic DNA data with assessments of plumage and vocalizations supplemented with mtDNA analysis (Pedersen et al. 2018; Eaton et al. 2021; McCullough et al. 2022; WGAC 1072).

North Moluccan Cicadabird	Edolisoma grayi	ADD	AS	Obi Cicadabird	North Moluccan Cicadabird Edolisoma grayi (including pererratum) is split from Common Cicadabird E. tenuirostre based on the integration of genomic DNA data with assessments of plumage and vocalizations supplemented with mtDNA analysis (Pedersen et al. 2018; Eaton et al. 2021; McCullough et al. 2022; WGAC 1072).
South Moluccan Cicadabird	Edolisoma amboinense	ADD	AS	North Moluccan Cicadabird	South Moluccan Cicadabird Edolisoma amboinense is split from Common Cicadabird E, tenuirostre based on differences in plumage and vocalizations (WGAC 1072).