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2022 eBird Taxonomy Update for Indian Birds

26 Oct 2022 By eBird India

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Nicobar Megapode Megapodius nicobariensis © Aseem Kothiala

The taxonomy update for eBird for 2022 is complete. We appreciate your patience. 

This update is done once a year, taking into account new taxonomic information on splits, lumps, name changes, and changes in the species lists. eBird is in the process of updating records and this process could take up to a week. These updates includes your My eBird lists, range maps, bar charts, region and hotspot lists.

SHUFFLES OF OTHER TAXA and SUBSPECIES GROUP LUMPS FOR SOUTH ASIA

Revisions to eBird subspecies groups, and occasionally other taxa (like spuhs or slashes), can happen in our taxonomic update as well. This effectively changes the definition for these taxa and also changes how you should use them in reporting. To review your records of any of the subspecies groups below, simply open your Life List on eBird and use a browser search to search for the species name in question. Click the species to open all reports for that species; your subspecies reports will appear in this list and you can review those for accuracy. Selected revisions are listed below; for a complete listing of these changes see the Clements updates.

LUMPS

Himalayan Shrike-Babbler Pteruthius ripleyi is now lumped with Blyth’s Shrike-Babbler Pteruthius aeralatus into: 

Singing Bushlark Mirafra cantillansis now lumped with Australasian Bushlark Mirafra javanica into: 

SPLITS

Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus is split into:

Mountain Imperial-Pigeon Ducula badia is split into:

Green Bee–eater Merops orientalis is split into:

Asian Pied Starling Gracupica contra is split:

Black-throated Prinia Prinia atrogularis is split into:

Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus ferruginosus is split into:

Vivid Niltava Niltava vivida is split into:

Note: All the above links will be updated and active once the taxonomy update is completed. 

See here to know more about the above splits.

NEW SLASHES AND SPUHS

As with hybrids, eBird has a long list of “slashes” and “spuhs”. These are useful in the field if you get a good enough look at a bird to know it, for example, a white Egret, but not to tell if it was a Little Egret, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, or Intermediate Egret. You can use “white egret sp.”, in such instances. If you are able to narrow it down to two (or in rare cases, three or four) species options, we have “slashes”, which mention the full common name (and scientific name) for the species that are potential species for your observation (e.g., Great/Intermediate Egret). This list is being regularly updated as observers let us know what field identification problems they encounter. Slashes and spuhs are unique to the eBird taxonomy; they are not found in the Clements Checklist.

  • corvid sp. Corvidae sp.
  • Horsfield’s/Indian Bushlark Mirafra javanica/erythroptera
  • Common/Dark-necked Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius/atrogularis
  • Spelaeornis sp. Spelaeornis sp.
  • Black-crowned/Brown-crowned Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus ferruginosus/phayrei
  • Brown-crowned/Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus phayrei/ochraceiceps
  • Black-throated/Red-throated Thrush Turdus atrogularis/ruficollis
  • White-browed Bushchat/Siberian Stonechat Saxicola macrorhynchus/maurus
  • White-throated Bushchat/Siberian Stonechat Saxicola insignis/maurus
  • Red-mantled/Blyth’s Rosefinch Carpodacus rhodochlamys/grandis

NEW SUBSPECIES GROUPS

The following new subspecies groups are now available for data entry. When you are certain you have seen representatives of these groups, and ideally have identified them critically based on their field marks, please report them to eBird. Please do not guess based on the name, such as “Western” and “Eastern”; make sure you understand the differences being represented before reporting at so specific a level. Note that a few are adjusted and renamed, but similar groups existing in eBird previously. We are listing only those groups that has resulted in multiple entries within our region.

  • Bar-tailed Godwit (European) Limosa lapponica [lapponica Group]
  • Bar-tailed Godwit (Siberian) Limosa lapponica [baueri Group]
  • White-browed Shrike-Babbler (Himalayan) Pteruthius aeralatus ripleyi
  • White-browed Shrike-Babbler (Chestnut-winged) Pteruthius aeralatus validirostris
  • Chestnut Thrush (Silver-headed) Turdus rubrocanus rubrocanus
  • Chestnut Thrush (Gray-headed) Turdus rubrocanus gouldii
  • House Sparrow (Gray-cheeked) Passer domesticus [domesticus Group]
  • House Sparrow (Indian) Passer domesticus [indicus Group]
  • Mountain Hawk-Eagle (nipalensis) Nisaetus nipalensis nipalensis
  • Great Spotted Woodpecker (cabanisi/stresemanni) Dendrocopos major cabanisi/stresemanni
  • Maroon Oriole (Maroon) Oriolus traillii traillii/robinsoni
  • Horsfield’s Bushlark (Singing) Mirafra javanica [cantillans Group]
  • Crested Lark (Crested) Galerida cristata [cristata Group]
  • Scaly-breasted Cupwing (Himalayan) Pnoepyga albiventer albiventer/pallidior
  • Tickell’s Leaf Warbler (Tickell’s) Phylloscopus affinis affinis/perflavus
  • Asian Brown Flycatcher (Northern) Muscicapa dauurica dauurica
  • Red-flanked Bluetail (Red-flanked) Tarsiger cyanurus cyanurus
  • White-browed Bush-Robin (White-browed) Tarsiger indicus indicus/yunnanensis
  • Radde’s Accentor (Radde’s) Prunella ocularis ocularis

NEW HYBRIDS and INTERGRADES

eBird has a long list of field identifiable hybrids. These are always listed in taxonomic order (the species that comes first sequentially is listed first) and are always followed by “hybrid”. If you identified a hybrid, especially any of the below, please do report it to eBird (hopefully with photos)! eBird also maintains a much shorter lists of intergrades (hybrids between subspecies groups); these are sometimes followed by the phrase “intergrade” and can be identified from the scientific name by the structure of the names which indicates that it is a subspecies (a new intergrade for 2021 is within White Wagtail). Hybrids and intergrades are unique to the eBird taxonomy; they are not found in the Clements Checklist.

With Change Species, eBirders can quickly update their lists if you already have an entry of any of these (e.g., under duck sp.)–just use “add species” to search for these taxa which are available but typically won’t be on default data entry checklists yet.

  • Bar-headed x Graylag Goose (hybrid) Anser indicus x anser
  • Mute x Whooper Swan (hybrid) Cygnus olor x cygnus
  • Baikal x Green-winged Teal (hybrid) Sibirionetta formosa x Anas crecca
  • Mallard x Common Pochard (hybrid) Anas platyrhynchos x Aythya ferina
  • Great x Lesser Crested Tern (hybrid) Thalasseus bergii x bengalensis
  • Buffy x Brown Fish-Owl (hybrid) Ketupa ketupu x zeylonensis
  • Rose-ringed x Plum-headed Parakeet (hybrid) Psittacula krameri x cyanocephala
  • Red-vented x Red-whiskered Bulbul (hybrid) Pycnonotus cafer x jocosus
  • Red-vented x White-eared Bulbul (hybrid) Pycnonotus cafer x leucotis
  • Indian Pied Starling x Chestnut-tailed Starling (hybrid) Gracupica contra x Sturnia malabarica
  • Jungle x Great Myna (hybrid) Acridotheres fuscus x grandis
  • Japanese x Black-breasted Thrush (hybrid) Turdus cardis x dissimilis

NEW FORMS Within eBird, we also have forms for taxa that are field identifiable (or likely potential species) and worth tracking, but are not formally described. These include undescribed species and undescribed subspecies groups (both noted with “undescribed form”), slashes at a level between subspecies group and species (e.g., “Pied Wheatear (vittata)” below) and miscellaneous other options. This year’s update includes three undescribed forms which may be recognized as species in the future. Forms are unique to the eBird taxonomy; they are not found in the Clements Checklist.

  • Whimbrel (White-rumped) Numenius phaeopus [phaeopus Group]
  • Tricolored Munia (Cinnamon-flanked) Lonchura malacca (Cinnamon-flanked)

SCIENTIFIC NAME CHANGES
See the Clements Checklist updates (to be posted here soon) for full discussion of the reasoning behind these name changes. Note that some relate directly to splits discussed above, since some of the taxa that were formerly species may appear here. For example, if a widespread bird that occurs in Africa and Asia that is split into unique species on each continent, the population occurring on both continents might be retained here as a “slash” and appear as a name change (also a downgrade from species to slash). We display the primary (v2021) English name as well (thus, the English name would match the revised Scientific Name in instances of a split).

  • Spotted Dove: Streptopelia chinensis -> Spilopelia chinensis
  • Laughing Dove: Streptopelia senegalensis -> Spilopelia senegalensis
  • Striated Grassbird: Megalurus palustris -> Cincloramphus palustris (Incorrectly changed – shall be reverted in 2023)
  • Chinese Thrush: Otocichla mupinensis -> Turdus mupinensis
  • White-browed Bushchat/Siberian Stonechat Saxicola insignis/maurus -> Saxicola macrorhynchus/maurus

IMPORTANT LINKS

Global eBird taxonomy update 2022 

Downloadable checklist (Clements 2022)