[obol] AOU Checklist 54th Supplement
- From: David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
- To: OBOL Oregon Birders Online <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 17:40:23 +0000
Greetings All,
As the latest issue of the Auk (The AOU Journal) has yet to hit the streets, I
got a private query about my "sources" for the latest AOU Checklist changes
(54th Supplement). Both Michael Retter and Rick Wright have posted summaries of
the changes on the American Birding Association blog site. Retter's summary is
the second story down at the link below.
In addition to the Sagebrush/Bell's Sparrow split, note the changes to
shorebirds, with many species being shifted into the genus Calidris.
Flammulated Owl gets assigned to a new genus, and Providence Petrel–a bird
likely and perhaps already seen in Oregon waters–has been accepted and added to
the North American list.
I was happy to see the long-overdue abandonment of Little Shearwater has
finally come about, with the records of small black-and-white shearwaters in
the North Atlantic now more accurately reflected by the addition of Barolo
Shearwater (replaces Little Shearwater on the AOU Checklist), which many
sources (including Howell 2012) have been treating as a separate species. If
I'm remembering this right (can't put my hands on our copy of Howell's book),
mitochondrial DNA studies have shown that both Barolo Shearwater and Boyd's
Shearwater (traditionally treated as Macronesian Shearwater) are more closely
related to Audubon's Shearwater and not closely related to the nominate
Southern Hemisphere Little Shearwater.
http://blog.aba.org/
Dave IronsPortland, OR
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