[va-bird] Re: Wilson's and Common Snipe

After seeing David's query about Wilson's Snipe, I did a bit of scrabbling 
around in my library, and discovered the April 2003 issue of Birding 
(Volume 35 #2), where there's a report of the ABA Checklist Committee.  The 
report verifies that the AOU no longer considers Wilson's and Common Snipe 
to be the same.
On Page 141 of this issue of Birding, there's a summary of changes in the 
AOU checklist (a specific reference is given to the original material in 
The Auk, which I never see) that affect the ABA checklist.

The relevant quote is "The bird formerly known as Common Snipe (Gallinago 
gallinago) is now considered to be two species.  The widespread bird in 
North America is now known as Wilson's Snipe (G. delicata), and the Old 
World species retains the name Common Snipe (G. gallinago). . . .. " The 
article goes on to say that the split (actually a re-split, since the 
species were separate before they were lumped!) was based on differences in 
display vocalizations.

Mike Bowen
Bethesda, MD




t 04:24 PM 1/31/2004 -0500, David Johnston wrote:

>Mike, I don't know where you got your information about the snipes, but the
>American Ornithologists' Union considers them to be the same species.  This,
>despite some of the differences you mentioned.
>David W. Johnston
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Michael Bowen" <dhmbowen@xxxxxxxxx>
>To: <bubo-bubo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Cc: <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 5:05 PM
>Subject: [va-bird] Re: Short-eared Owls
>
>
> > Re George's query on snipe, I believe that Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago
> > delicata) has been split from Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), the
> > latter being the one that's in Europe.
> > Having seen both these species - in the U.S. and the U.K. respectively, I
> > can observe that they are very, very alike to look at, in their habits and
> > in their calls.  Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus) is a good one to get in
> > Europe, if you can, and it sure does look different!
> >
> > Mike Bowen
> > Bethesda, MD
> >
> >
> >
> > At 12:07 PM 1/30/2004 -0500, George Harris wrote:
> > >Birders,
> > >
> > >snip . . . . . .
> > >
> > >Does anyone out there in birdland know if Wilson's Snipe was split from
> > >Common Snipe?  Maybe I can pick up another life bird for Europe without
> > >leaving home.
> > >
> > >Happy birding,
> > >
> > >
> > >George Harris
> > >Orange County

D. H. Michael Bowen (Mike)
8609 Ewing Drive
Bethesda MD 20817-3845
Tel/Fax: (301) 530-5764
e-mail: dhmbowen@xxxxxxxxx  

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