Latest IOC Diary Updates (14 Viewers)

[Jacana]

White-breasted Cormorant is my first loss on this version.

 

[opisska]

So finally we can put the question "what species of cormorant we actually see in Western Sahara" to rest

 

[WACCOE]

Dec 12 Lump African Hoopoe with Eurasian Hoopoe.

Dec 12 Lump Red-chested Goshawk with African Goshawk.

 

[CorvusAtrox]

"Red-chested Goshawk Aerospiza toussenelii (including macroscelides, lopezi, toussenelii and canescens) is lumped with African Goshawk A. tachiro based on overlapping morphological features and similarities in vocalizations and behavior, despite DNA divergence (Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire 1991, 1993; Louette & Borrow 2010. See Bremen et al. 2012)."

"African Hoopoe Upupa africana is lumped with Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops based on only minor differences in plumage, a continuum of ranges with other races in Africa, and identical vocalizations (e.g. Dickinson & Remsen 2013; del Hoyo & Collar 2014; HBW/BirdLife)."

 

[James Lowther]

Two species down since this morning!
😢
I am expecting at least another 13 based on gusasp’s list but that doesn’t include Stejneger’s stonechat as noted so there could be more….

Must concentrate more on my percentage of total birds seen!

🤣

Cheers

James

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

"Red-chested Goshawk Aerospiza toussenelii (including macroscelides, lopezi, toussenelii and canescens) is lumped with African Goshawk A. tachiro based on overlapping morphological features and similarities in vocalizations and behavior, despite DNA divergence (Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire 1991, 1993; Louette & Borrow 2010. See Bremen et al. 2012)."

Bad idea, deep divergence according to Catanach & al. (2024) justifying species level. Lol, I don't touch it

 

[Jacana]

Two species down since this morning!
😢
I am expecting at least another 13 based on gusasp’s list but that doesn’t include Stejneger’s stonechat as noted so there could be more….

Must concentrate more on my percentage of total birds seen!

🤣

Cheers

James

Same! Hoopoe has been my second one today... At this rate I'll actually have to go birding to get my total back up!

 

[James Lowther]

for those who are interested, here's the update showing which of the lumps and (few) splits Gusasp identified as coming down the track that have now occurred in IOC 15.1. The only changes in IOC 15.1 that aren't on this list as far as i can see are:-
"Re-lump prematurely split Northern Mouse-colored Tyrannulet with (Southern) Mouse-colored Tyrannulet" and
"Split extinct Amaui from Olomao".

Still a lot of lumps lurking in the wings!!

cheers,
James

LUMPS
IOC ONLY (recognized today by IOC, but not HBW/BLI nor eBird/Clements, lumped in Avilist)
Xenoperdix obscuratus DONE
Arborophila diversa DONE
Pampa pampa
Tachybaptus tricolor
Phalacrocorax lucidus DONE
Leucocarbo stewartia DONE
Egretta dimorpha
Himantopus melanurus
Thalasseus acuflavidus
Accipiter chionogaster
Accipiter ventralis
Accipiter erythronemius
Buteo bannermani
Otus madagascariensis
Upupa africana DONE
Phoeniculus granti
Todiramphus gertrudae
Nystalus striatipectus
Pteroglossus mariae
Melanerpes santacruzi DONE
Elaenia chilensis
Zimmerius minimus
Zimmerius flavidifrons
Pyrocephalus obscurus
Melanopareia bitorquata DONE
Amblyornis germanus
Sericornis virgatus
Philemon novaeguineae DONE
Philemon yorki DONE
Psophodes leucogaster
Vireo approximans DONE
Pachycephala fuliginosus
Pachycephala johni
Manucodia alter
Terpsiphone smithii DONE
Cyanocorax luxuosus
Corvus culminatus
Corvus levaillantii
Certhilauda benguelensis
Certhilauda brevirostris DONE
Alaudala athensis DONE
Galerida macrorhyncha
Nesillas longicaudata
Camaroptera brevicaudata
Prinia melanops DONE
Scepomycter rubehoensis DONE
Phyllastrephus placidus DONE
Phyllastrephus alfredi
Arizelocichla kakamegae
Pycnonotus dodsoni
Pycnonotus somaliensis
Pycnonotus tricolor
Aegithalos sharpei
Phylloscopus floresianus
Pellorneum saturatum
Pellorneum poliogene
Pellorneum macropterum
Gracula enganensis
Lamprotornis Elisabeth DONE
Muscicapa tyrrhenica
Saxicola sibilla
Thamnolaea coronata DONE
Myrmecocichla collaris
Oenanthe halophila
Oenanthe warriae
Pachyglossa aeruginosa
Cinnyris whytei
Cinnyris hofmanni DONE
Erythrura regia
Chloris kittlitzi
Setophaga goldmani
Piranga lutea
Ramphocelus icteronotus

IOC+HBW/BLI ONLY (recognized today by IOC and HBW/BLI not eBird/Clements, lumped in Avilist)
Anas carolinensis
Apus sladeniae
Lampornis cinereicauda
Ramosomyia wagneri
Centropus spilopterus
Treron permagnus
Thalassarche impavida
Aerospiza toussenelii DONE
Milvus aegyptius
Tyto multipunctata
Glaucidium californicum
Glaucidium hoskinsii
Glaucidium cobanense
Otus feae
Trachyphonus usambiro
Aulacorhynchus wagleri
Aulacorhynchus caeruleogularis
Aulacorhynchus atrogularis
Pteroglossus sanguineus
Ramphastos citreolaemus
Campethera cailliautii
Colaptes aeruginosus
Picus dedemi
*Myiopsitta luchsi
Psittacara rubritorquis DONE
Phibalura boliviana
Pachyramphus xanthogenys
Myrmotherula luctuosa
Batis reichenowi DONE
Rhipidura kordensis
Melaniparus pallidiventris DONE
Apalis flavocincta
Aegithalos bonvaloti
Zosterops chrysolaemus
Zosterops crookshanki
Aplonis circumscripta
Taeniopygia castanotis
Rhodopechys alienus DONE
Carpodacus lepidus
Passerella unalaschensis
Passerella schistacea
Passerella megarhyncha
Atlapetes meridae
Geothlypis chiriquensis
Setophaga auduboni
Myiothlypis roraimae
Piranga hepatica
*Dacnis egregia
Kleinothraupis auricularis

CLE ONLY (recognized today by eBird/clements, not by IOC nor HBW/BLI, lumped in Avilist)
Tyto almae

IOC+CLE (recognized today by IOC and eBird/clements, not by HBW/BLI, lumped in Avilist)
Leucocarbo georgianus
Leucocarbo melanogenis
Leucocarbo bransfieldensis
Leucocarbo verrucosus
Leucocarbo nivalis
Leucocarbo purpurascens
Tyto sororcula
Tyto manusi
Ailuroedus melanocephalus
Ailuroedus astigmaticus
Ailuroedus arfakianus
Ailuroedus jobiensis
Colluricincla tappenbecki
Colluricincla rufogaster
Colluricincla discolor
Colluricincla obscura
Colluricincla affinis
Laniarius willardi

SPLITS
IOC ONLY (recognized today by IOC, but not HBW/BLI nor eBird/Clements, split in Avilist)
Lagopus scotica
Butorides sundevalli (and B. atrocapilla!)
Numenius hudsonicus
Silvicultrix spodionota
Pachycephala melanorhyncha
Turdus daguae
Setophaga petechia

IOC+HBW/BLI ONLY (recognized today by IOC and HBW/BLI not eBird/Clements, split in Avilist)
Leptotila battyi
Pterodroma deserta
Pteroglossus erythropygius
*Campephilus splendens
*Pionus seniloides
Pyrrhura emma
Asthenes arequipae
Asthenes huancavelicae
Atlapetes nigrifrons
Cacicus microrhynchus
Molothrus armenti
Dubusia stictocephala
Dubusia carrikeri
*Xenodacnis petersi
*Sphenopsis piurae
*Sphenopsis ochracea

CLE+HBW/BLI ONLY (recognized today by eBird/Clements and HBW/BLI, not IOC, split in Avilist)
Amazona lilacina
*Thamnophilus shumbae
Sakesphorus pulchellus
Myzomela nigriventris DONE
Zoothera atrigena DONE
Stiphrornis xanthogaster DONE
Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus DONE

HBW/BLI ONLY (recognized today by HBW/BLI, not IOC nor eBird/Clements, split in Avilist)

*Piaya mexicana
Gygis candida
Gygis microrhyncha
Pyrrhura subandina
Tunchiornis rubrifrons
Tunchiornis luteifrons
Turdus ardosiaceus
*Arremon axillaris
Melozone occipitalis
*Granatellus paraensis

CLE ONLY (recognized today by eBird/Clements, not IOC nor HBW/BLI, split in Avilist)
Aethopyga tibolii DONE

 

[HH75]

One of the benefits of not having travelled much is there's only two proposed lumps listed there that I've seen, Green-winged Teal and Basalt Wheatear. I've seen a crested lark in Morocco when I wasn't aware of Maghreb Lark possibly being split and I never studied it in detail. On range, it was almost certainly a Maghreb Lark, it was on the edge of the Sahara at a well known Desert Sparrow site whose name escapes me. I don't really keep lists these days, but, if I did, I'd possibly breathe a sigh of relief when or if this gets lumped.
A serious point, however. I don't think that taxonomists should base their decisions on anything else but the actual apparent systematics, but I do hope that lumping won't negatively impact on conservation efforts. For example, Balearic Shearwater is of conservation concern, but the lump with Yelkouan means that the lumped species isn't in the same worrying position. Could this then lead to a reduction in resources directed towards conserving these western birds?

 

[birdboybowley]

Nah, it's better to travel loads, keep yr own list and ignore all this crap!! 🤪

 

[opisska]

Morocco is getting a lot of kills in this process, it gets quite less attractive in number of missing species for me than it used to be. (I've been there but missed a lot of things because we spent a lot of time going to/from WS).

 

[Mike Hunter]

for those who are interested, here's the update showing which of the lumps and (few) splits Gusasp identified as coming down the track that have now occurred in IOC 15.1. The only changes in IOC 15.1 that aren't on this list as far as i can see are:-
"Re-lump prematurely split Northern Mouse-colored Tyrannulet with (Southern) Mouse-colored Tyrannulet" and
"Split extinct Amaui from Olomao".

Still a lot of lumps lurking in the wings!!

cheers,
James

LUMPS
IOC ONLY (recognized today by IOC, but not HBW/BLI nor eBird/Clements, lumped in Avilist)
Xenoperdix obscuratus DONE
Arborophila diversa DONE
Pampa pampa
Tachybaptus tricolor
Phalacrocorax lucidus DONE
Leucocarbo stewartia DONE
Egretta dimorpha
Himantopus melanurus
Thalasseus acuflavidus
Accipiter chionogaster
Accipiter ventralis
Accipiter erythronemius
Buteo bannermani
Otus madagascariensis
Upupa africana DONE
Phoeniculus granti
Todiramphus gertrudae
Nystalus striatipectus
Pteroglossus mariae
Melanerpes santacruzi DONE
Elaenia chilensis
Zimmerius minimus
Zimmerius flavidifrons
Pyrocephalus obscurus
Melanopareia bitorquata DONE
Amblyornis germanus
Sericornis virgatus
Philemon novaeguineae DONE
Philemon yorki DONE
Psophodes leucogaster
Vireo approximans DONE
Pachycephala fuliginosus
Pachycephala johni
Manucodia alter
Terpsiphone smithii DONE
Cyanocorax luxuosus
Corvus culminatus
Corvus levaillantii
Certhilauda benguelensis
Certhilauda brevirostris DONE
Alaudala athensis DONE
Galerida macrorhyncha
Nesillas longicaudata
Camaroptera brevicaudata
Prinia melanops DONE
Scepomycter rubehoensis DONE
Phyllastrephus placidus DONE
Phyllastrephus alfredi
Arizelocichla kakamegae
Pycnonotus dodsoni
Pycnonotus somaliensis
Pycnonotus tricolor
Aegithalos sharpei
Phylloscopus floresianus
Pellorneum saturatum
Pellorneum poliogene
Pellorneum macropterum
Gracula enganensis
Lamprotornis Elisabeth DONE
Muscicapa tyrrhenica
Saxicola sibilla
Thamnolaea coronata DONE
Myrmecocichla collaris
Oenanthe halophila
Oenanthe warriae
Pachyglossa aeruginosa
Cinnyris whytei
Cinnyris hofmanni DONE
Erythrura regia
Chloris kittlitzi
Setophaga goldmani
Piranga lutea
Ramphocelus icteronotus

IOC+HBW/BLI ONLY (recognized today by IOC and HBW/BLI not eBird/Clements, lumped in Avilist)
Anas carolinensis
Apus sladeniae
Lampornis cinereicauda
Ramosomyia wagneri
Centropus spilopterus
Treron permagnus
Thalassarche impavida
Aerospiza toussenelii DONE
Milvus aegyptius
Tyto multipunctata
Glaucidium californicum
Glaucidium hoskinsii
Glaucidium cobanense
Otus feae
Trachyphonus usambiro
Aulacorhynchus wagleri
Aulacorhynchus caeruleogularis
Aulacorhynchus atrogularis
Pteroglossus sanguineus
Ramphastos citreolaemus
Campethera cailliautii
Colaptes aeruginosus
Picus dedemi
*Myiopsitta luchsi
Psittacara rubritorquis DONE
Phibalura boliviana
Pachyramphus xanthogenys
Myrmotherula luctuosa
Batis reichenowi DONE
Rhipidura kordensis
Melaniparus pallidiventris DONE
Apalis flavocincta
Aegithalos bonvaloti
Zosterops chrysolaemus
Zosterops crookshanki
Aplonis circumscripta
Taeniopygia castanotis
Rhodopechys alienus DONE
Carpodacus lepidus
Passerella unalaschensis
Passerella schistacea
Passerella megarhyncha
Atlapetes meridae
Geothlypis chiriquensis
Setophaga auduboni
Myiothlypis roraimae
Piranga hepatica
*Dacnis egregia
Kleinothraupis auricularis

CLE ONLY (recognized today by eBird/clements, not by IOC nor HBW/BLI, lumped in Avilist)
Tyto almae

IOC+CLE (recognized today by IOC and eBird/clements, not by HBW/BLI, lumped in Avilist)
Leucocarbo georgianus
Leucocarbo melanogenis
Leucocarbo bransfieldensis
Leucocarbo verrucosus
Leucocarbo nivalis
Leucocarbo purpurascens
Tyto sororcula
Tyto manusi
Ailuroedus melanocephalus
Ailuroedus astigmaticus
Ailuroedus arfakianus
Ailuroedus jobiensis
Colluricincla tappenbecki
Colluricincla rufogaster
Colluricincla discolor
Colluricincla obscura
Colluricincla affinis
Laniarius willardi

SPLITS
IOC ONLY (recognized today by IOC, but not HBW/BLI nor eBird/Clements, split in Avilist)
Lagopus scotica
Butorides sundevalli (and B. atrocapilla!)
Numenius hudsonicus
Silvicultrix spodionota
Pachycephala melanorhyncha
Turdus daguae
Setophaga petechia

IOC+HBW/BLI ONLY (recognized today by IOC and HBW/BLI not eBird/Clements, split in Avilist)
Leptotila battyi
Pterodroma deserta
Pteroglossus erythropygius
*Campephilus splendens
*Pionus seniloides
Pyrrhura emma
Asthenes arequipae
Asthenes huancavelicae
Atlapetes nigrifrons
Cacicus microrhynchus
Molothrus armenti
Dubusia stictocephala
Dubusia carrikeri
*Xenodacnis petersi
*Sphenopsis piurae
*Sphenopsis ochracea

CLE+HBW/BLI ONLY (recognized today by eBird/Clements and HBW/BLI, not IOC, split in Avilist)
Amazona lilacina
*Thamnophilus shumbae
Sakesphorus pulchellus
Myzomela nigriventris DONE
Zoothera atrigena DONE
Stiphrornis xanthogaster DONE
Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus DONE

HBW/BLI ONLY (recognized today by HBW/BLI, not IOC nor eBird/Clements, split in Avilist)

*Piaya mexicana
Gygis candida
Gygis microrhyncha
Pyrrhura subandina
Tunchiornis rubrifrons
Tunchiornis luteifrons
Turdus ardosiaceus
*Arremon axillaris
Melozone occipitalis
*Granatellus paraensis

CLE ONLY (recognized today by eBird/Clements, not IOC nor HBW/BLI, split in Avilist)
Aethopyga tibolii DONE

Brilliant stuff James - thanks! Like it or lump it, we're going to have to lump it. Mike

 

[edenwatcher]

I suspect a significant number of these will be re-split in the next few years. Which rather begs the question - is this realignment happening too quickly?

Rob

 

[James Lowther]

For example, Balearic Shearwater is of conservation concern, but the lump with Yelkouan means that the lumped species isn't in the same worrying position.

I agree with your overall concern but in actual fact Balearic shearwater doesn't appear on the list of expected splits linked to the harmonisation process (but it is still listed since 2022? as a proposed split by IOC)

James

 

[CorvusAtrox]

I suspect a significant number of these will be re-split in the next few years. Which rather begs the question - is this realignment happening too quickly?

Rob

Admittedly I feel like the speed at which it feels like this is happening is in part down to IOC deciding to have put a bunch of lumps at the end of the realignment process rather than when they were doing the respective species. Maybe some of them are in part them saying "hey, we need more research into these birds" or in some bigger species "hey, we agree there should be a split but we need more info into exactly how." Admittedly this feels like it would be an issue with convergence whenever it happened.

 

[kweetal]

Dec 13 Lump Grant's Wood Hoopoe with Violet Wood Hoopoe

"Grant's Wood Hoopoe Phoeniculus granti is lumped with widely allopatric Violet Woodhoope Phoeniculus damarensis following other major regional and world bird lists (Hockey et al. 2005; Dickinson & Remsen 2013; del Hoyo & Collar 2014; HBW/BirdLife)."

Dec 13 Lump Chaco Puffbird with Caatinga (Spot-backed) Puffbird

"Chaco Puffbird Nystalus striatipectus was formerly split from Caatinga Puffbird N. maculatus (Silva 1991), but vocalizations are similar, and some of the morphological features, formerly used as a justification for the split, are more variable in reassessment (del Hoyo & Collar 2014)."

 

[Mysticete]

I suspect a significant number of these will be re-split in the next few years. Which rather begs the question - is this realignment happening too quickly?

Rob

I'm not sure you can really slow the realignment down much more. Every year brings new taxonomic changes and at some point you have to move the list to focus on those, rather then rehashing cases where the "correct" answer is much more ambiguous. Some of these changes just really come down to different people making these decisions, with different ideas of the level of evidence needed.

 

[Peter Boesman]

Dec 13 Lump Chaco Puffbird with Caatinga (Spot-backed) Puffbird

"Chaco Puffbird Nystalus striatipectus was formerly split from Caatinga Puffbird N. maculatus (Silva 1991), but vocalizations are similar, and some of the morphological features, formerly used as a justification for the split, are more variable in reassessment (del Hoyo & Collar 2014)."

At least vocally, differences between the pair Chaco/Caatinga Puffbird are as large as between the pair Eastern/Western Striolated Puffbird. Maintaining the latter and lumping the former doesn't seem very consistent

 

[YuShan]

Such a waste of money. People have spent thousands of dollars to see birds that now get lumped.
Perhaps the splitting was all a plot to stimulate "growth"!

 

[opisska]

I think the group of people motivated enough to spend thousands of dollars to see birds that are so similar to another bird that they can be easily lumped, must be pretty small. How many people are we talking worldwide, dozens?