Lynx-BirdLife Taxonomic Checklist (1 Viewer)

[lewis20126]

No, it was in the latest summary that I posted on 13 July.

Thanks, I missed (or had forgotten) that.

cheers, alan

 

[Mysticete]

Of interest to ABA area based birders, proposed splits include Franklin's Grouse, Smithsonian Herring Gull, Scopoli's Shearwater, Northern Harrier, Northern Pygmy Owl, and Red-shafted Flicker, with American Three-toed Woodpecker lumped back with the old world form.

I am surprised that American Three-toed was lumped when Red-shafted Flicker was split.

I am not enough of a world birder to really appraise most of these changes, but I was surprised South Island Oystercatcher got lumped into Eurasian. Whats the nearest distance those taxa normally come into contact with one another? My understanding was that the East Asian population was somewhat range restricted?

 

[lewis20126]

I hope some of these names don't have legs. South Philippine Hawk eagle? Mindanao Lowland Scops Owl?
Des

Des, I agree - lowest common denominator namings. I'll continue to call them Pinsker's H-E and Everett's Scops as I'm sure will many others. I still talk about Steere's and Koch's Pittas!

cheers, alan

 

[aegithalos]

No sign of the automatic incorporation of the changes into HBW Alive, yet...

And still not - next month?

I find it a little odd that the BirdLife spreadsheet does not go down to subspecies level, and nor does the taxonomic discussion of individual species on the BirdLife web site. In the past, I assumed they had consciously chosen not to be interested in that level. But the version of the checklist now being trucked out of Barcelona does go down to subspecies, as does HBW Alive. So, in the case of BirdLife's many splits, we await arrival of the book or the HBW Alive update to be sure what subspecies they have put where, even though this was supposed to have been a joint enterprise.

Keith

 

[Richard Klim]

ABA Area

Of interest to ABA area based birders, proposed splits include Franklin's Grouse, Smithsonian Herring Gull, Scopoli's Shearwater, Northern Harrier, Northern Pygmy Owl, and Red-shafted Flicker, with American Three-toed Woodpecker lumped back with the old world form.

Also notable are the lumps of Green Heron, Black Oystercatcher and Black-necked Stilt, and the split of Coppery-tailed Trogon.

The choice of the name Arctic Herring Gull rather than American or Smithsonian Herring Gull is interesting. Presumably an attempt to be more inclusive of Asian vegae (but European Herring Gull also breeds in the Arctic).

 

[Richard Klim]

Ochre-winged Trumpeter

An error in my summary...

BirdLife has split Ochre-winged Trumpeter Psophia ochroptera from Grey-winged P crepitans, not from White-winged P leucoptera.

[Sherman 1996 (HBW 3), H&M4, IOC and eBird/Clements treat ochroptera as a ssp of P leucoptera, but BirdLife's treatment was more representative.]

 

[dnsallen]

There have been Black-necked and White-headed Stilts breeding on adjacent islands this year in the Philippines.

 

[Dimitris]

Hmm...I wonder if the splitting of the fig parrots will do anything to up the conversations for Coxen's Fig Parrot.

 

[jurek]

Dimorphic Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx margarethae
Moluccan Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx lepidus
Sula Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx wallacii
Buru Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx cajeli
New Guinea Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx solitarius
Manus Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx dispar
New Ireland Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx mulcatus
New Britain Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx sacerdotis
North Solomons Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx meeki
New Georgia Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx collectoris
Guadalcanal Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx nigromaxilla
San Cristobal Dwarf-kingfisher Ceyx gentianus

I thought that had been retracted? - it must be in the book though...

Seeing "all the Kingfishers" is surely now impossible.

The question is rather 'who would want" to see so many near-identical birds? Who feels a novelty in seeing New Britain Dwarf-kingfisher compared to New Guinean one?

I see BirdLife started evaluating distinctive subspecies (groups) but by elevating them into species. Overall great!

But I wonder if my few years old prediction comes true - after some years there will be big lumping back, caused mostly by practical problems (especially obscuring evolutionary distinct species by clusters of very similar forms)?

 

[Papuan birder]

The question is rather 'who would want" to see so many near-identical birds? Who feels a novelty in seeing New Britain Dwarf-kingfisher compared to New Guinean one?

I see BirdLife started evaluating distinctive subspecies (groups) but by elevating them into species. Overall great!

But I wonder if my few years old prediction comes true - after some years there will be big lumping back, caused mostly by practical problems (especially obscuring evolutionary distinct species by clusters of very similar forms)?

I have been birdwatching extensively throughout the region where the Variable Dwarf Kingfisher is found and have been fortunate enough to have seen all but wallacii in the flesh and can tell you that few, if any of them are "near-identical" in appearance. Have a look at the plate in HBW 6 or Birds of Melanesia and you will see exactly what I mean, they are amongst the most colourful and attractive birds of the region.

Aim not sure what to make of all these dwarf kingfisher splits now made, as even though some are surely distinctive enough to warrant being reckognized as seperate species, it would seem not enough data has been provided to fully justify it at this point.

 

[Melanie]

I wonder that they include several non-passerines described in 2013 (e.g. Pincoya storm-petrel, Omani owl) but left others like Nystalus obamai.

 

[Richard Klim]

Western Striolated Puffbird

I wonder that they include several non-passerines described in 2013 (e.g. Pincoya storm-petrel, Omani owl) but left others like Nystalus obamai.

Nystalus (striatus) obamai may have been accepted as a distinct species by eBird/Clements, but AOU-SACC and IOC (and presumably also BirdLife) are not yet convinced.

 

[njlarsen]

Nystalus (striatus) obamai may have been accepted as a distinct species by eBird/Clements, but AOU-SACC and IOC (and presumably also BirdLife) are not yet convinced.

I think there was a "provisionally" missing in front of the accepted by ebird. I guess you will find that the stand now taken by SACC will lead to reversal of that provisional acceptance.

Niels

 

[Richard Klim]

Western Striolated Puffbird

I think there was a "provisionally" missing in front of the accepted by ebird. I guess you will find that the stand now taken by SACC will lead to reversal of that provisional acceptance.

Yes, fair point, Niels. eBird/Clements 2013...

Western Puffbird (Nystalus obamai) is a newly described species, with range "western Amazonia: Ecuador south to Bolivia and east, south of the Amazon, to Brazil west of the Madeira River" (Whitney et al. 2013). Whitney et al. (2013) gave this species the English name "Western Striolated-Puffbird", and elevated both subspecies of Striolated Puffbird (Nystalus striolatus) to species rank as well. This revision of Striolated Puffbird, and the description of Western Puffbird as a species, have not yet been reviewed by SACC. Provisionally we recognize Western Puffbird as a species but refrain from making further revisions in this complex, pending their acceptance by SACC.

 

[aegithalos]

... The choice of the name Arctic Herring Gull rather than American or Smithsonian Herring Gull is interesting. Presumably an attempt to be more inclusive of Asian vegae (but European Herring Gull also breeds in the Arctic).

Indeed. Other examples occur - one I just noticed is the emerald dove, Chalcophaps indica/longirostris, long split by IOC and given English names 'common emerald dove' and 'Pacific emerald dove', respectively. BirdLife are now calling them 'grey-capped emerald dove' and 'brown-capped emerald dove'. These names appear to come from Gibbs' book Pigeons and Doves: A guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World, but virtually no-one else is using them (a Google search on 'Pacific emerald dove' gives ca 6000 results; a search on 'brown-capped emerald dove' gives ca 4 results).

Whatever the merits of the names themselves, I find the kind of gratuitous name proliferation seen with this and smithsonianus rather depressing. The IOC system is now well-established and mature, having been picked over by many interested parties over some years. 'Pacific emerald dove' may not be everyone's choice, but it is pretty harmless, and has survived many updates.

There is only one set of birds out there, even if we struggle to identify exactly how it looks. Creating or resurrecting names for taxa that already have established names increases confusion. BirdLife may have their reasons for a slightly different taxonomy than IOC and eBird/Clements, but we would surely all be better served if these systems made more effort to converge wherever possible rather than diverge for the sake of it.

Keith

 

[Richard Klim]

Common names

Whatever the merits of the names themselves, I find the kind of gratuitous name proliferation seen with this and smithsonianus rather depressing. The IOC system is now well-established and mature, having been picked over by many interested parties over some years. 'Pacific emerald dove' may not be everyone's choice, but it is pretty harmless, and has survived many updates.

There is only one set of birds out there, even if we struggle to identify exactly how it looks. Creating or resurrecting names for taxa that already have established names increases confusion. BirdLife may have their reasons for a slightly different taxonomy than IOC and eBird/Clements, but we would surely all be better served if these systems made more effort to converge wherever possible rather than diverge for the sake of it.

Totally agree. BirdLife seems to have taken an unnecessarily 'not invented here' approach in many cases. (I was also rather disillusioned by H&M4's failure to adopt IOC common names.)

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Puffinus elegans

Attached is a summary of splits and lumps (as trinomials to provide context). For comparison, splits adopted by IOC are indicated.

Puffinus elegans is recognized also by OSNZ 2010. Checklist of the birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica. 4th ed. See this thread.

"Accepted as a full species following Holdaway et. al. (2001) and Onley & Scofield (2007)."

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Psophia (dextralis) interjecta

An error in my summary...

BirdLife has split Ochre-winged Trumpeter Psophia ochroptera from Grey-winged P crepitans, not from White-winged P leucoptera.

[Sherman 1996 (HBW 3), H&M4, IOC and eBird/Clements treat ochroptera as a ssp of P leucoptera, but BirdLife's treatment was more representative.]

I assume Psophia interjecta (proposed as a species by Ribas et al.) will be recognized as a subspecies by HBW-BirdLife checklist.

 

[Richard Klim]

Psophia (dextralis) interjecta

I assume Psophia interjecta (proposed as a species by Ribas et al.) will be recognized as a subspecies by HBW-BirdLife checklist.

The original HBW 3 species account (Sherman 1996) for Psophia viridis sensu lato has been updated in HBW Alive (by Guy Kirwan)...

Proposed race interjecta differs only slightly from races dextralis and obscura and adjoins their ranges; generally thought to represent an intergradation between populations of these two races, but recent comprehensive study of museum specimens suggests that characters associated with interjecta merely reflect individual variation within dextralis [Oppenheimer & Silveira 2009]. Three subspecies usually recognized and these were all elevated to species level, under the Phylogenetic Species Concept, by the same study of geographical variation in specimens, which found no evidence for clinal variation or intergradation, even in the headwaters of rivers where different populations might be in contact.

So I expect that the Illustrated Checklist will continue to treat interjecta as a synonym of dextralis (cf H&M4, IOC, eBird/Clements).

Incidentally, even where HBW Alive species accounts have been extensively updated and expanded (eg, Vols 1 & 2), the subspecies recognised generally seem to be unchanged wrt the original accounts.

 

[aegithalos]

Attached is a summary of splits and lumps (as trinomials to provide context). For comparison, splits adopted by IOC are indicated.

A possible additional split is Coeligena iris (rainbow starfrontlet). The checklist spreadsheet v7 states "Coeligena iris and C. aurora (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as C. iris following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).", and the webpage for C. iris has something similar. But C. aurora is not in the checklist nor is there a webpage for it (unlike all other former lumps that I have looked at). And the split is not listed in the Birdlife list of 2013-14 differences.

The C. iris webpage is at http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22687847

Something appears to be wrong: I have emailed BirdLife to ask.

Keith