The fifty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists\u2019 Union Check-list of North American Birds has recently been published in the ornithological journal, The Auk.\u00a0 This check-list is the standard guide to common and scientific names of the birds of North America.<\/p>\n
The committee reviews the published literature and decides if species should be split, lumped or renamed.\u00a0 The consideration of DNA evidence and morphological evidence may result in changes in the higher taxonomy (such as the family level) of birds.<\/p>\n
This supplement is the tenth one since the publication of the most recent Check-list in 1998.\u00a0 This supplement is based on committee deliberations between January 2009 and March 2010.<\/p>\n
Many of the changes involve tropical species or other species found well outside of Maine.\u00a0 In this column, I will restrict myself to birds that occur in Maine, at least as passage migrants.\u00a0 I will consider birds in the standardized check-list order.\u00a0 You may wish to enter corrections into your field guide.<\/p>\n
First, the common name of Greater Shearwater is changed to Great Shearwater.<\/p>\n
The order Pelecaniformes formerly contained the pelicans, cormorants, gannets and boobies, and the tropicbirds.\u00a0 All of these birds have totipalmate feet; webbing is found between all four toes.\u00a0 All other bird with webbed feet only have webs between three toes.\u00a0 The hind toe has no webbing.<\/p>\n
However, DNA analysis indicates that the tropicbirds are not closely related to other members of the pelecaniforms.\u00a0 Therefore, a new order, the Phaethontiformes, has been erected for the tropicbirds.\u00a0 A new order for the Red-billed Tropicbird that has been seen around Seal Island the past few years during the summer.<\/p>\n
Even with the tropicbirds removed from the pelecaniforms, DNA evidence indicates that the remaining families are a hodge-podge of distantly related groups of birds.\u00a0 In fact, the herons, spoonbills and ibises are very closely related to some families of pelecaniforms.\u00a0 So, now the herons (family Ardeidae) and spoonbills and ibises (family Threskiornithidae) are moved from the Order Ciconiiformes into the Order Pelecaniformes.\u00a0 Now, the Order Ciconiformes contains only the storks (Family Ciconiidae).<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not done with the pelecaniforms yet.\u00a0 The cormorants and frigatebirds are moved from the Order Pelecaniformes to a new order, the Suliformes.<\/p>\n
The species we have been calling Black Scoter occurs on both sides of the Atlantic.\u00a0 However, differences in courtship behavior and feathering of the bill indicate the European and American forms are different species.\u00a0 Now, Black Scoters in North America are described as new species (Melanitta americana<\/em>); the common name of Black Scoter remains the same.\u00a0 The European birds are\u00a0 referred to as Common Scoters (Melanitta nigra<\/em>).<\/p>\n DNA comparisons show that the hawks and falcons, formerly united in the Order Falconiformes, are not closely related.\u00a0 Now the Order Falconiformes includes only the falcons (Family Falconidae).\u00a0 A new order, the Accipitriformes, is erected to contain the New World vultures (Family Cathartidae), hawks. kites and eagles (Family Accipitridae) and the Osprey, now placed in its own family, the Pandionidae.<\/p>\n Whip-poor-wills occur in eastern North America as well as Arizona.\u00a0 The Arizona forms have been split off as a new species, the Mexican Whip-poor-will. \u00a0Our species is now called the Eastern Whip-poor-will.<\/p>\n Our Winter Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes,<\/em> nests in coniferous forests throughout northern North America.\u00a0 This bird also occurs in Europe, the only wren in the Old World.\u00a0 Research indicates there are actually three species in what we called Winter Wren.\u00a0 Two new species are recognized in North America.\u00a0 The Winter Wren occurs in Maine but is now classified as Troglodytes hiemalis<\/em>.\u00a0 The wrens that occur in the west are classified as a new species, the Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus<\/em>).\u00a0 If you have seen Winter Wrens in the Far West, you have just picked up a life bird!<\/p>\n The gnatcatchers are now placed in their own family, the Polioptilidae.<\/p>\n The scientific name of the Blue-winged Warbler is changed from Vermivora pinus<\/em> to Vermivora cyanoptera<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Tennessee Warbler, the Nashville Warbler and the Orange-crowned Warbler are all moved from the genus Vermivora<\/em> to the genus Oreothlypis.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n The Northern Waterthrush and the Louisiana Waterthrush are moved from the genus Seiurus<\/em> to the genus Parkesia<\/em>.<\/p>\n Analysis of the DNA of larkspurs and snow buntings has revealed that they are not very closely related to the sparrow family, the Emberizidae, in which they were formerly classified.\u00a0 A new family, the Calcariidae, is established for these birds.\u00a0 Regularly occurring members of this new family in Maine are Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings.<\/p>\n If you would like to see the full report of the Check-list Committee, the article appears in the July 2010 issue of the Auk, Volume 127, pages 726-744.<\/p>\n\n The fifty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists\u2019 Union Check-list of North American Birds has recently been published in the ornithological journal, The Auk.\u00a0 This check-list is the standard guide to common and scientific names of the birds of North America. The committee reviews the published literature and decides if species should be split, lumped or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1281,4623],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":328,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions\/328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}