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New checklist adds species, reorganizes wood-warblers
Which warbler species were moved, which genera were done away, and which bird species were added to the latest checklist published by the American Ornithologists' Union.
Published: August 26, 2011  Cerulean Warbler
Recognizing a recent series of spectacular sightings made by birdwatchers, it added seven birds to the roster of species known to occur in the United States:
• White-chinned Petrel, recorded off California in 2009 and Maine in 2010
• Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, spotted at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, Texas, in December 2009
• Sungrebe, photographed at Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, in 2008
• Amazon Kingfisher, found in Laredo, Texas, in January 2010
• Gray-collared Becard, seen in Cave Creek Canyon, Arizona, in June 2009
• Brown-backed Solitaire, found in Miller and Ramsey Canyons, Arizona, in 2009
• Red-legged Thrush, which delighted viewers at Melbourne Beach, Florida, in May 2010.
The AOU also split two North American species — Common Gallinule and Snowy Plover — from their Eurasian counterparts (Common Moorhen and Kentish Plover, respectively); it split Mexican Jay from Transvolcanic Jay of central Mexico; and it split Yellow-throated Warbler from Bahama Warbler, a resident of the Bahamas.
And in a move that reflects rapid advances in our understanding of the evolutionary relationships of birds, taxonomists thoroughly reorganized the wood-warbler family tree.
The changes affect groupings of wood-warblers in the AOU’s Check-list of North American Birds. Forty species were transferred from one genus to another. Six genera — including familiar Parula, Dendroica, and Wilsonia — were done away with. And species and genera were arranged in a new sequence.
Four species with orange or white on their tails — American Redstart, Northern Parula, Tropical Parula, and Hooded Warbler — were added to the large group of warblers formerly known as Dendroica, and all the birds in the group were assigned to the redstart’s genus, Setophaga.
MacGillivray’s, Mourning, and Kentucky Warblers were grouped with Common Yellowthroat and Gray-crowned Yellowthroat (a species found in Mexico and Central America), leaving larger Connecticut as the lone member of Oporornis.
And long- and plain-tailed Canada and Wilson’s Warblers were grouped with Red-faced Warbler in the genus Cardellina.
The classification committee considered but did not approve splitting either Mountain Chickadee or Yellow-rumped Warbler. But comments posted on the AOU website (aou.org) suggest that committee members may reconsider after more genetic data is published.
The AOU also denied a request by author and tour leader Steve N.G. Howell to rename the Winter and Pacific Wrens. (The species were split from each other, and from Eurasian Wren, in 2010.) Arguing that the name Pacific Wren hadn’t caught on with birders, he had proposed the names Eastern and Western Winter Wren.
The changes raised the number of birds recognized in North America from 2,070 to 2,078. The checklist update appeared in the journal The Auk in July. |
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