Taxonomic update -- June 2010

The global expansion means that we have nearly doubled the number of species that you can enter in eBird. The new taxonomy includes 11920 taxa which break down as follows:

species      -- 10005        (previously 4809)
issf*         -- 1333          (previously 841)
form         -- 24              (previously not in taxonomy)
spuh         -- 317            (previously 152)
slash        -- 118             (previously 94)
hybrid       -- 113             (previously 100)
intergrade -- 7                 (previously not in taxonomy)
domestic   -- 3                 (no change)
total          -- 11920          (previously 5999)

*issf = identifiable sub-specific form. These are eBird "groups" which may be subspecies or groups of subspecies that are identifiable in the field. Read more on our categories.

But the taxonomic revision does not simply involve an increase in the number of options you can report, it also involves correcting common and scientific names to the most current ones (e.g., Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow is now Nelson's Sparrow), adjusting the taxonomic order of the species, and populating these changes throughout the eBird database (not as easy as it sounds -- thanks to Tom Fredericks for his hard work here!).

A major change in this taxonomic update is that we now follow the Clements 6.4 taxonomy, which now includes all the changes from the 2009 (50th) supplement of the North American Classification Committee. We are also now up to speed with the South American Classification Committee through March 2010, although the Clements 6.4 checklist is up to date only through December 2009. Read our taxonomy page for more details and links to details of the changes made. Our entire taxonomy can be downloaded for your use.

UPDATES TO YOUR RECORDS

One of the greatest challenges is dealing with species splits. When species are split, we provide a service to our eBird users by updating the records on your behalf. This also ensures that our data exploration tools continue to show the most accurate information. Thus, several thousand records were checked and changed manually with this update, so that we are now showing accurate range maps for five species of motmots, where we were previously showing just the wide-ranging Blue-crowned Motmot.

Since we do not typically change people's data, we ask that you all check your observations to make sure your records were correctly assigned. If you have seen any of the species mentioned below, please inspect your records by opening your life list and clicking on the species name. If anything is amiss, feel free to correct it and please let us know, in case the issue is more widespread. 

Below is a summary of the changes made. All of these are detailed further in our story on the eBird taxonomy.

SPLITS

Speckled Teal (split into Andean Teal and Yellow-billed Teal):

• All records from Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador were changed to Andean Teal.
• All records from Chile, Argentina, the Falklands (Malvinas), Brazil, and Bolivia were changed to Yellow-billed Teal. All records from Peru were from the range of Yellow-billed Teal, so were changed to that taxon.

Shy Albatross (split into White-capped, Salvin's, and Chatham Albatrosses): 

• Certain United States records were changed to White-capped Albatross; otherwise we were unable to change these records since the three species overlap and could occur anywhere. If you have reported Shy Albatross in eBird, please check your records carefully and revise them as needed. All such records are currently being shown as "White-capped/Salvin's/Chatham Albatross".
  

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (split into Monteiro's Storm-Petrel and Cape Verde Storm-Petrel):

• No changes were made to records, but eBirders need to be aware of this split. We expect at least three further divisions within Band-rumped Storm-Petrel in the coming years. A helpful new spuh was added as well, which we encourage eBirders to use as needed: Oceanodroma sp. (Band-rumped complex). Debate continues about which form(s) occur(s) in United States waters. While this has no effect on current lists, it is worth keeping in mind that the eBird/Clements definition of Band-rumped Storm-Petrel is different from that of the AOU.

Audubon's Shearwater (split into Galapagos Shearwater and Audubon's Shearwater):

• All records from Pacific waters of North America were considered Galapagos Shearwater
  
• All records from Atlantic waters of North America were considered Audubon's Shearwater.
• Records from elsewhere around the world should be entered with care: Audubon's Shearwater is now restricted to the Caribbean basin and adjacent  waters, but Tropical Shearwater and Persian Shearwater were formerly lumped with Audubon's as well as occur in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, respectively.

Little Shearwater (split into Barolo Shearwater, Boyd's Shearwater, and Little Shearwater):

• The one eBird record of Little Shearwater off Massachusetts is now considered Barolo Shearwater.
  
• All records from the southern oceans remain as Little Shearwater
• Boyd's Shearwater, from northwestern Africa, is not yet known from the New World.

Painted Parakeet (split into Painted, Rose-fronted, and Santarem Parakeets):

• all records from southwestern Brazil and adjacent Bolivia are now Santarem Parakeet
  
• All records from southeastern Peru and western Bolivia are now Rose-fronted Parakeet
• We had no records from west central Brazil, but these would have pertained to Bonaparte's Parakeet
• All records from the remainder of South America remain as Painted Parakeet

White-tailed Trogon (split into White-tailed Trogon and Green-backed Trogon):

• Records from Panama, western and northern Colombia, western Ecuador, and western Peru are now White-tailed Trogon
• Records from the rest of South America, including the Amazon Basin of eastern Colombia and eastern Ecuador are now Green-backed Trogon

Violaceous Trogon (split into Gartered Trogon and Violaceous Trogon):

• Records from Central America, western and northern Colombia, western Ecuador, and western Peru are now Gartered Trogon.

• Records from the rest of South America, including the Amazon Basin of eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, and eastern Peru are now Violaceous Trogon.

Black-tailed Trogon (split into Ecuadorian Trogon and Black-tailed Trogon):

• Records from western Ecuador and northwestern Peru are now Ecuadorian Trogon.

• Records from the rest of South America and Middle America are Black-tailed Trogon.

Blue-crowned Motmot (split into Blue-crowned, Whooping, Trinidad, Andean, and Amazonian Motmots): 

• Records from western Panama northward are now Blue-crowned Motmot
• Records from central Panama east to northern and western Colombia are now Whooping Motmot
• Records from western Ecuador and western Peru are now Whooping Motmot (argenticinctus).
• Records from highland areas of Peru, Bolivia (no records), Ecuador, and Colombia are now Andean Motmot
• Records from Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and the Amazon basin portions of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia are now Amazonian Motmot
• Records from Trinidad and Tobago converted to Trinidad Motmot

Bar-winged Cinclodes (split into Buff-winged, Cream-winged, and Chestnut-winged Cinclodes):

• All records from the southern and eastern portions of the range in central and southern Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, were changed to Buff-winged Cinclodes
  
• All records from northern Chile, northwestern Argentina, western Bolivia, and Peru were changed to Cream-winged Cinclodes
  
• All records from Ecuador north were changed to Chestnut-winged Cinclodes

Red-eyed Thornbird (split into Orange-breasted and Orange-eyed Thornbird)

• Since the range of this species overlaps in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero provinces in Brazil, we were unable to assign most records to subspecies. Records from west of there were assigned to Orange-breasted Thornbird.

Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher (split into Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher and Whiskered Flycatcher)

• All records from Central America, northern and western Colombia and western Ecuador, were converted to Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher
• The remainder of South American records were converted to Whiskered Flycatcher

Dusky Thrush (split into Dusky Thrush and Naumann's Thrush)

• All records from North America were converted to Dusky Thrush. NOTE: Naumann's Thrush has been reported 2-3 times in North America, but there are no fully documented records. If you have seen a Dusky Thrush in North America that you identified as Naumann's, please alter your record and get in touch with us so we can put you in touch with experts who would have an interest in your report.

Red-rumped Warbling-Finch (split into Buff-throated Warbling-Finch and Gray-throated Warbling-Finch)

• All records from the Brazilian states of Rio de Janiero and Sao Paulo have been converted to the range-restricted Buff-throated Warbling-Finch.

• All records from Uruguay, Argentina, and southern Brazil (away form the states mentioned above) have been converted to Gray-throated Warbling-Finch.

Warbler Finch (split into Green Warbler-Finch and Gray Warbler-Finch):

•  Green Warbler-Finch restricted in its range, occurring only on Santa Cruz and Seymour, Santiago (James), Rábida (Jervis), Pinzon (Duncan), Isabela, and Fernandina Is, so records from those islands were changed to Green Warbler-Finch.
  
• The other eBird records from the Galapagos are now converted to Gray Warbler-Finch.

LUMPS

• Ashy-tailed Swift (Chaetura andrei) now lumped with Vaux's Swift, but maintained as a group: Vaux's Swift (Ashy-tailed).
• Gray-breasted Parakeet was lumped with White-eared Parakeet under the joint name Maroon-faced Parakeet. Both are maintained as groups: Maroon-faced Parakeet (Gray-breasted) and Maroon-faced Parakeet (White-eared), which is fortunate, because SACC has already reversed course and considered them separate species again. We will likely follow this (re)split in the fall update!
  

SUBSPECIES CHANGES

American Robin (American) is now split into American Robin (Eastern) and American Robin (Western)

• Records from the Eastern USA converted to American Robin (Eastern)
• Records from the Western USA converted to American Robin (Western)

Canada Goose (Giant) is now lumped with Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima)

• All records of Canada Goose (Giant) converted to Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima)

NEW SPECIES

Four new species were described and are available within eBird for the first time. Details on all of these can be found on the SACC proposal tracking website. Please enter your records if you have been lucky enough to see these species!

• Sulphur-breasted Parakeet (Aratinga pintoi)
• Rio Orinoco Spinetail (Synallaxis beverlyae)
• Gray-crowned Tyrannulet (Serpophaga griseicapilla)
  
• Yungas Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias weedeni)

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The newly described species, Serpophaga griseicapilla, appears in our taxonomy as Gray-crowned Tyrannulet but is named Straneck's Tyrannulet by SACC. We will likely make this change in the fall.
  
• Several other eBird taxa had name changes that affected the meaning of the name (e.g., Red-winged Blackbird (Bicolored) and goldfinch sp.) but no changes in the records were needed.
  
• A significant error was corrected for Boat-tailed Grackle subspecies too, so please check those records if you have reported them at the subspecies level, especially from Florida.