The information below includes the date and a brief description of each significant change, a link to the relevant page, and that page's new version number. Neither minor spelling corrections nor additions to the references are noted on this page.

Archives of ‘What's New’ Items

The updates for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019-2022, and 2023, have been archived separately.

2024 Additions and Subtractions

Based on scientific names.

2024 Splits (30)

  1. Brown Andean Tinamou, Nothoprocta oustaleti
  2. Stejneger's Scoter, Melanitta stejnegeri
  3. White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi
  4. Philippine Collared-Dove, Streptopelia dusumieri
  5. Burmese Collared-Dove, Streptopelia xanthocycla
  6. Ryukyu Green-Pigeon, Treron permagnus
  7. Malabar Imperial Pigeon, Ducula cuprea
  8. Enggano Imperial Pigeon, Ducula oenothorax
  9. Geelvink Imperial Pigeon, Ducula geelvinkiana
  10. Geelvink Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus speciosus
  11. Purple-capped Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus ponapensis
  12. Kosrae Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus hernsheimi
  13. Raiatea Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus chrysogaster
  14. Cocos Booby / Brewster's Booby, Sula brewsteri
  15. African Striated Heron, Butorides atricapilla
  16. Arabian Striated Heron, Butorides brevipes
  17. Asian Striated Heron, Butorides javanica
  18. Australasian Striated Heron, Butorides macrorhyncha
  19. Great White Heron, Ardea occidentalis
  20. Tibetan Sand-Plover, Eupoda atrifrons
  21. White-faced Plover, Leucopolius dealbatus
  22. Magellanic Snipe, Gallinago magellanica
  23. †New Caledonian Buttonquail, Turnix novaecaledoniae
  24. Common Fairy-Tern, Gygis candida
  25. Little Fairy-Tern, Gygis microrhyncha
  26. Great Eared-Nightjar, Lyncornis cerviniceps
  27. Sulawesi Eared-Nightjar, Lyncornis macropterus
  28. Franklin's Nightjar, Caprimulgus monticolus
  29. Chirruping Nightjar, Caprimulgus griseatus
  30. Siberian House-Martin, Delichon lagopodum

2024 Lumps (2)

  1. Vaurie's Nightjar, Caprimulgus centralasicus, has been merged into the European Nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus
  2. The Ruwenzori Nightjar, Caprimulgus ruwenzorii, is now considered a subspecies of the Montane Nightjar, Caprimulgus poliocephalus

2024 English Name Changes (11)

  1. White-winged Scoter, Melanitta fusca, becomes Velvet Scoter
  2. Removed the alternate English name of Indigo-crowned Quail-Dove from Purple Quail-Dove, Geotrygon purpurata as it is no longer used by IOC.
  3. The English name of Red Turtle-Dove, Streptopelia tranquebarica, is now Red Collared-Dove.
  4. The English name of Japanese Woodpigeon, Columba janthina, is now Black Woodpigeon.
  5. Island Collared-Dove, Streptopelia bitorquata, becomes Sunda Collared-Dove
  6. Whistling Green-Pigeon, Treron formosae, becomes Taiwan Green-Pigeon
  7. The English name of Southern Crowned-Pigeon, Goura scheepmakeri, is Scheepmaker's Crowned-Pigeon.
  8. The English name of Scarlet-capped Fruit-Dove, Ptilinopus insularis), which occurs only near Henderson Island, is now Henderson Fruit-Dove.
  9. Lesser Sand-Pover, Eupoda mongola, becomes Siberian Sand-Pover due a split.
  10. White Tern, Gygis alba, becomes Atlantic Fairy-Tern due to a split.
  11. Common House-Martin, Delichon urbicum, becomes Western House-Martin.

IOC English Names

Although I started with the Howard-Moore list, I am now using the IOC list as a baseline. Every species gets an IOC-style name. That doesn't mean its the only name, or that it exactly matches the IOC name. Four percent of the species have two names. This usually happens because of differences between the IOC name and the AOU name (NACC or SACC). In such cases, I usually give the IOC name second, even in cases where I think the AOU name is stupid (E.g., redstarts for the Myioborus whitestarts). A few other non-IOC names have also been retained.

Some IOC-style names don't exactly match the true IOC name due to differences in taxonomy. For example, the IOC recognizes two species of Laniisoma—Brazilian Laniisoma and Andean Laniisoma. In this case, I currently follow SACC taxonomy which has only one Laniisoma. However, their English name is entirely different (Shrike-like Cotinga). Keeping in mind that the species has been known as the Elegant Mourner, I added the IOC-ish English name Elegant Laniisoma.

The IOC-style names have been fully Americanized (gray, not grey; AOU-style hyphenation). I'm also a little more aggressive than AOU in adding hyphens to break up two-part names that don't scan well. I also favor hyphens when it makes the “last name” of the bird clear. Hyphens greatly improve the results when sorting bird names by last name. I know some people fight flame wars about it, but to me, bird names that differ only in hyphenation and/or American vs. British spelling, such as Grey Pileated Finch and Gray Pileated-Finch, are essentially identical (and are the IOC name).

AOS petition opposing the decision to remove eponymous bird names

Those who are opposed in part or in full to the AOS decision to remove eponymous bird names (or at least those referring to people) may be interested in signing the petition on change.org.

The change.org website includes some comments. I'd like to highlight a comment that Steve Howell linked to in his own comment. I found particularly good: this one,

December 2024

December 21

Dowitchers: The split between the Asian Dowitcher and the two American dowitchers looks pretty old in Černý and Natale (2022). In fact, figure 6 shows it at about 29 mya, too old for all the dowitchers to be in the same genus. Rescaling using Stiller et al. (2024) dates reduces the age of the dowitcher split, but it is still old, around 22 mya. That's way too old for all three species to be in the same genus. As a result, I moved the Asian Dowitcher to the monotypic genus Pseudoscolopax Blyth, 1859. The Asian Dowitcher is now Pseudoscolopax semipalmatus.

Jack Snipe: We still aren't sure where the Jack Snipe fits it. According to Černý and Natale (2022), DNA embeds it in the dowitchers. Morphology puts it sister to the snipe-woodcock clade, and their total evidence tree (fig. 6) has it a distant relative of the woodcocks. Dufour et al. (2024), using DNA only, have it as basal in Scolopacinae. I've put it sister to the snipe-woodcock clade, but have little confidence in this.

Snipe: The Noble Snipe wasn't originally part of Chubbia, and I think it was a mistake on my part to move it there (I think I just carried it along when I moved Chubbia). I'm returning the Noble Snipe to genus Gallinago, and putting it next to the Puna, Pantanal, Magellanic Snipe (G. andina, paraguaiae, and magellanica). Without genetic data on it, I'm reluctant to assume it is their sister taxon.

It may turn out that the Giant Snipe belongs in Chubbia, but it may not. It looks different, and the RAG-1 evidence also suggests it is not. Because of this, I've placed it in Xylocota, Bonaparte 1839 (the name belongs to the nominate subspecies). The name Homoptilura, G.R. Gray 1840 has also been applied to the Giant Snipe. In fact, both names are based on Buffon's illustration of the type. Since Bonaparte's name was proposed first, it gets the nod. It's rather easy to see the illustration is of a Giant Snipe.

Finally, the two remaining Chubbia are placed sister to the Imperial Snipe, which has generally been considered the third member of the Chubbia group. It looks different enough that I've removed it it from Chubbia. The quesion marks in the tree indicate I'm not where the two remaining Chubbia belong.

Also, I'd like thank BirdForum members for the helpful comments they posted.
[Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae, 3.51]

December 13

Brown Boobies: Cocos (or Brewster's) Booby, Sula brewsteri, including etesiaca has been split from Brown Booby, Sula leucogaster. See AOS proposal 2024-B-2, VanderWerf et al. (2023), and Morris-Pocock et al. (2010, 2011) for more.
[Anseriformes, Sulidae, 3.51]

December 11

Sea Ducks: Following the AOU's 60th supplement (2019) and Collinson et al. (2006), I've split the White-winged Scoter, formerly Melanitta fusca, into three species:

  • Velvet Scoter, Melanitta fusca
  • Stejneger's Scoter, Melanitta stejnegeri and
  • White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi

[Anseriformes, Anatidae, 3.51]

Delichon Swallows: Common House-Martin, Delichon urbicum, is split into Western House-Martin, Delichon urbicum, and Siberian House-Martin, Delichon lagopodum. See Leader et al. (2021).
[Sylvioidea II, Hirundinidae, 3.40]

December 11 -- Shorebirds

Higher Taxonomy of Shorebirds: I've used information on the ages of various taxa to set up a standard for Linnaean ranks of shorebird taxa at and above family level. As a result, the taxonomy of the Charadriiformes at and above family level has has been changed as follows:

  • The Charadrii have been split into Chioni and Charadrii.
  • Chionida has been split into Chionida and Burhinida.
  • Ibidorhynchidae (Ibisbill) is now sister to Haematopodidae (Oystercatchers).
  • Turnici and Lari are merged. The combined group is called Turnici. As a result old Turnici and Lari become the parvorders Turnicida and Larida, while the old parvorder Glareolida becomes the superfamily Glareoloidea. The old parvorder Larida has lost its name.
  • The family Glareolidae has been split into Glareolidae and Cursoriidae.
  • The subfamily Rynchopinae has removed from Sternidae and elevated to family status as Rynchopinae. Further, the subfamily Anouinae has been removed from Laridae to Sternidae, becoming the sister group of Gyginae, due to new information from Černý and Natale (2022) and Stiller et al. (2024).

[Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, 3.50]

Pied Lapwing: Since the 2021 updates, I've rethought the situation with The Pied Lapwing (or Plover), Hoploxypterus cayanus. It seems it's not a lapwing. Although we don't have full clarity on its nearest relatives, it seems most likely to be sister to the Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Phegornis mitchellii and Rufous-chested Dotterel (or Plover), Zonibyx modestus.
[Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, 3.50]

Thinornis: The genera "Thinornis", "Afroxyechus", Afroxyechus, and Thinornis have all been merged into Thinornis and rearranged as in Černý and Natale (2022).
[Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, 3.50]

Sand-Plovers: Based on Wei et al. (2022), the Lesser Sand-Plover has been split into two species:

  • Tibetan Sand-Plover, Eupoda atrifrons, which includes pamirensis and schaeferi and
  • Siberian Sand-Pover, Eupoda mongola, including stegmanni.

Interestingly, the Siberian and Greater Sand-Plovers are sister species, and the Tibetan Sand-Plover is sister to the pair, but not directly sister to the Siberian, which was formerly considered conspecific.
[Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, 3.50]

New Zealand Plover: The New Zealand Plover, Pluviorhynchus obscurus, has been slightly repositioned on a separate branch following the Nesoceryx-Anarhynchus clade. See Černý and Natale (2022).
[Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, 3.50]

Kentish and White-faced Plovers: The genus Leucopolius, which contains the Kentish Plover, Leucopolius alexandrinus, has been rearranged based on Černý and Natale (2022).

Further, the White-faced Plover, Leucopolius dealbatus, has been split from the Kentish Plover, Leucopolius alexandrinus. See Bakewell and Kennerly, 2008; Kennerly et al., 2008; Sadanandan et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2019; and the HBW Illustrated Checklist (del Hoyo and Collar, 2014).
[Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, 3.50]

Imperial Snipe: The phylogeny from Černý and Natale (2022) makes clear that the Imperial Snipe must be in a different genus from Chubbia. Fortunately, it is the type of Homoscolopax, Mathews 1913. So the Imperial Snipe becomes Homoscolopax imperalis.
[Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae, 3.50]

Curlews: Numenius has been rearranged based on Černý and Natale (2022).
[Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae, 3.50]

Latham's Snipe: I've updated the position of Latham's Snipe, Telmatias hardwickii, based on Černý and Natale (2022).
[Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae, 3.50]

Actitis Sandpipers: The genus Actitis has been moved up one branch based on Černý and Natale (2022).
[Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae, 3.50]

Calidrini: The genus Ereunetes has been resequenced based on Černý and Natale (2022), Supplementary Figures A.31 and A.33. As a result, it makes sense to include the Sanderling, Pelidna alba, and the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Tryngites subruficolli, in genus Ereunetes.
[Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae, 3.50]

Buttonquail: The order of the Black-rumped Buttonquail, Turnix nanus, and Hottentot Buttonquail, Turnix hottentottus, has been reversed for geographical reasons.

The extinct New Caledonian Buttonquail, Turnix novaecaledoniae, is split from an Australian species, Painted Buttonquail, Turnix varius, based on morphological differences and its remote former range (HBW/BirdLife).
[Charadriiformes, Turnicidae, 3.50]

Pratincoles and Coursers: The family Glareolidae has been split into Cursoriidae (coursers) and Glareolidae (pratincoles). Glareolidae contains the genera Subglareola, Stiltia, Galachrysia, and Glareola. Cursoriidae contains the genera Smutsornis, Rhinoptilus, and Cursorius. I had previously used these genera, but they are now rearranged.
[Charadriiformes, Glareolidae, 3.50]
[Charadriiformes, Cursoriidae, 3.50]

Skuas and Jaegers: All of the skuas except the Long-tailed Jaeger and Parasitic Jaeger have been transferred from Stercorarius to Catharacta. Černý and Natale (2022) estimate that the common ancestor of these two genera lived will over 10 million years ago.
[Charadriiformes, Stercorariidae, 3.50]

Auks: The Alcide (auks) have been updated based on Černý and Natale (2022). The genus Aethia has been rearranged. Further, Alle and Uria are now considered sister genera, causing a slight rearrangement of the Alca clade.
[Charadriiformes, Alcide, 3.50]

Skimmers: The skimmers have been placed in their own family, Rynchopidae, due to the distinctiveness and age of the family (26 million years)
[Charadriiformes, Rynchopidae, 3.50]

Gyginae: The Common Fairy-Tern, Gygis candida, has been split from Atlantic Fairy-Tern, Gygis alba, as has the Little White-Tern, Gygis microrhyncha, renamed Little Fairy-Tern. See SACC #1032 for more info.

Anouinae: The noddies have been moved from the Laridae to the Sternidae based on Černý and Natale (2022) and Stiller et al. (2024).

Sternidae:

  1. The order of Gray-backed Tern, Onychoprion lunatus, and Bridled Tern, Onychoprion anaethetus, has been reversed.
  2. The Least Tern,, Sternula antillarum, now follows Saunders Tern, Sternula saundersi.
  3. The Australian Tern, Gelochelidon macrotarsa has been split from Gull-billed Tern, Gelochelidon nilotica, based on morphological and life history differences. What little DNA evidence is available could be construed either to support or oppose the split.
  4. The order of White-winged Tern, Chlidonias leucopterus, and Black Tern, Chlidonias niger, has been reversed.
  5. The Sandwich Tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis, now follows Cabot's Tern, Thalasseus acuflavidus.
  6. The West African Crested Tern, Thalasseus albididorsalis, has been split from the Royal Tern, Thalasseus maximus. DNA (Collinson et al., 2017) shows it is sister to the Lesser Crested Tern, Thalasseus bengalensis. Thalasseus have been rearranged as a result.
  7. The order of Antarctic Tern, Sterna vittata, and Kerguelen Tern, Sterna virgata, has been reversed.
  8. The White-cheeked Tern, Sterna repressa, was moved to follow the Common Tern, Sterna hirundo.

[Charadriiformes, Sternidae, 3.50]

June 2024

June 25

Summary of June changes

I've changed the higher taxonomy to conform to the Stiller et al. arrangement. As part of this I've added a webpage discussing the main problems of avian higher taxonomy. So far, I've also updated the pages starting with the Palaeognathae and ending with the Columbidae. The Columbidae have undergone a major revision.

Higher Taxonomy

Bird Orders The old higher taxonomy on the TiF list had been frozen for about 8 years. Papers studying it were often mutually inconsistent, and it seemed likely that there was a hard polytomy that just couldn't be resolved. No longer!

I'm adopting the new Stiller et al. (2024) phylogeny of the bird orders. I had been planning to switch to Kuhl et al. (2021), which also uses a new method. I changed my mind after Stiller et al. appeared. Both seem to have broken though the polytomy that had left the modern avian tree of life in a state of confusion. Mirarab et al. (2024) explains that the problem wasn't just incomplete lineage sorting.

There are some differences between the two trees, but at at ordinal level, most of those involve branches where the support is a little soft (i.e., less than 100%). I think these papers (and the companion piece Mirarab et al.) have taken a big step forward. I don't have much reason to prefer one over the other, but I had choose one, and figured I'd rather bet on Stiller et al.

I've kept the same 47 orders that represent most of the avian lineages that became separate by the very early Eocene. (Yes, I know I left out the Odontopterygiformes. No DNA.) In fact, most of these lineages were already distinct in the Paleocene, and a few, perhaps only 3, survived the rock that crashed into the Yucatan near Chicxulub about 66.8 million years ago, killing the dinosaurs (except a few bird lineages) and many other organisms.

Both phylogenies use TiF orders (unlike the original papers). The red stars on the Stiller tree indicate places where the two trees differ and the numbers are the number of species in each order.

It will take a while to put in all the changes into effect, especially those below the ordinal level. Nonetheless, all of the non-passerine pages now conform to the new order. Other than changing the order, I've only updated the pages themselves through the Columbiformes. The pages numbered 3.49 have been reordered as need to conform to the Stiller phylogeny. The pages numbered 3.50 or higher have had additional changes. I've added a new page to TiF that tries to explain the breaking of the polytomy. It also compares the Stiller et al. (2024) and Kuhl et al. (2021) phylogenies.
[Modern Birds, 47 Orders, 3.50]

Waterfowl

The species trees for the sea ducks (Mergini) and diving ducks (Aythyini) were rearranged based on Buckner et al. (2018) and Rawlence et al. (2024). The TiF list has been updated to follow that order.
[Anatidae, Galloanserae I, 3.50]

Pigeons and Doves

Columbidae: The biggest change in Columbidae involves the Blue-headed Quail-Dove, Starnoenas cyanocephala. It's NOT a quail-dove. Olson and Wiley (2016) found it had a number of features in common with Australasian doves, and argued it belonged there. They called it an “Australasian dove marooned in Cuba.” They didn't have DNA, but Bruxaux (2018) was able to get some DNA of the Blue-headed Quail-Dove. She analyzed it with other dove and pigeon DNA several different ways. The results are described in Figures 18--22. It makes it very clear that Olson and Wiley were right that it was not a Quail-Dove. Indeed, we don't know where it goes. It's likely on its own branch within the doves, but where remains uncertain. Of all the doves, it may even be their most distant relation possible, or it may be sister to the Phabini, echoing Olson and Wiley.

So what kind of pigeon or dove is it? Well, Bruxaux's (2018) phylogenetic trees gave different answers. All but one had it on a very old branch of the Columbidae tree. The one that didn't, Figure 22 still had it basal in its group. I wasn't happy choosing any of them. I put Starnoenas in its own subfamily, Starnoenadinae (Bonaparte, 1855) at listed it outside the tree at the beginning of the list.

The new arrangement of the Columbidae is mainly based on a blend of the high level studies of Prum et al. (2015) and Stiller et al. (2024) and the BEAST tree in Figure S-2 of Oliver et al. (2023), with a dash of Nash et al. (2024). This means that the Columbinae and Claravinae are considered sister taxa. The resulting treatment differs somewhat from the IOC, even though we both use the same list of species.

Columbidae Changes

New Tree Diagrams: I've updated the genus tree for the family Columbidae.

I've also created a full set of species trees, covering everything but the enigmatic Blue-headed Quail-Dove. In order, the trees cover:

[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

English Name Changes:

  • Removed the alternate English name of Indigo-crowned Quail-Dove from Purple Quail-Dove, Geotrygon purpurata as it is no longer used by IOC.
  • The English name of Red Turtle-Dove, Streptopelia tranquebarica, is now Red Collared-Dove.
  • The English name of Japanese Woodpigeon, Columba janthina, is now Black Woodpigeon.
  • The English name of Southern Crowned-Pigeon, Goura scheepmakeri, is Scheepmaker's Crowned-Pigeon.
  • The English name of Scarlet-capped Fruit-Dove, Ptilinopus insularis), which occurs only near Henderson Island, is now Henderson Fruit-Dove.

[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

Genus Changes: The distinctive Sulawesi Ground-Dove, Gallicolumba tristigmata, moves to the genus Diopezus, Riley 1921. Based on the BEAST tree in Fig. S2 of Oliver et al. (2023), I estimate that Diopezus separated from Gallicolumba around 14 million years ago. (their actual number is about 22 mya, but I think that is an overestimate).
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

The Purple Quail-Dove, Geotrygon purpurata, and Sapphire Quail-Dove, Geotrygon saphirina, both move to genus Osculatia, Bonaparte 1855, type saphirina. They not only look different from the other Geotrygon species, but there is substantial genetic distance separating them.
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

Based on Gibb and Penny (2010) and Cibois et al. (2014) I have added genera to split up the basal part of Ptilinopus. These include:

  • Megaloprepia, Reichenbach 1852, type magnifica
  • Ramphiculus, Bonaparte 1854, type occipitalis
  • Chrysoena, Bonaparte 1854, type luteovirens
  • Drepanoptila, Bonaparte 1825, type holosericea
  • Alectroenas, GR Gray 1840, type nitidissima

I've also added a genus for the Black-naped Fruit Dove, which becomes Spilotreron melanospilus. Spilotreron was created by Salvadori in 1882. Nash et al. (2024) placed it on its own branch. They also put the Negros Fruit-Dove on its own branch. I don't think there's an available genus name for it, so I'm using a temporary name. It has some similarity to the Black-naped, so I'm calling the Negros Fruit-Dove ``Spilotreron'' arcanus for now.

I've also added the genus Aplopelia, Bonaparte 1855, type larvata, for the Lemon Dove and the Bronze-naped Pigeons.

All of the pigeons and doves have been rearranged based on HBW plus Oliver et al. (2023), Bruxaux (2018), Cibois et al. (2014, 2015), and Nash et al. (2024). See the species trees.

Genus Name Change: Pampusana, Bonaparte 1855 (type xanthonura) has priority over Alopecoenas, Sharpe 1899. There were some issues concerning the name that had to be sorted out. See Bruce, Bahr, and David (2015).

Streptopelia Collared Doves: Both subspecies of Island Collared-Dove, Streptopelia bitorquata, are elevated to species rank. They become Philippine Collared-Dove, Streptopelia dusumieri, and and Sunda Collared-Dove, Streptopelia bitorquata. See Eaton et al. (2016) and Allen (2020).
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

The monotypic Burmese Collared-Dove, Streptopelia xanthocycla, is split from the now monotonic Eurasian Collared-Dove, Streptopelia decaocto. Burmese Collared-Dove can be distinguished by its yellow eye ring, darker overall, and different song. It seems amazing that the very widespread Euraisan Collared-Dove has only one subspecies, but then I recall that even the range expansion in Europe is recent, and in North America even more recent.
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

Treron Green Pigeons: The Whistling Green-Pigeon, Treron formosae, is split into Taiwan Green-Pigeon, Treron formosae, which includes filipinus and Ryukyu Green-Pigeon, Treron permagnus, including medioximus. See Brazil (2009) and Allen (2020).
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

Ducula Imperial Pigeons: The monotypic Malabar Imperial Pigeon, Ducula cuprea is split from Mountain Imperial-Pigeon, Ducula badia. See Niranjana & Praveen (2021).
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

The monotypic Enggano Imperial Pigeon, Ducula oenothorax is split from Green Imperial-Pigeon, Ducula aenea, based on plumage. See Eaton et al. (2021), del Hoyo & Collar (2014).
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

The monotypic Geelvink Imperial Pigeon, Ducula geelvinkiana is split from Spice Imperial-Pigeon, Ducula myristicivora, based on voice and plumage. See Beehler & Pratt (2016), Gregory (2017).
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

Ptilinopus Fruit Doves: The English name of the Scarlet-capped Fruit-Dove, Ptilinopus insularis, has been changed to Henderson Fruit-Dove, which is in use.
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

The monotypic Geelvink Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus speciosus is split Yellow-bibbed Fruit-Dove, Ptilinopus solomonensis, which includes the other 8 subspecies. See Gregory (2017).
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

The monotypic Purple-capped Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus ponapensis and the monotypic Kosrae Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus hernsheimi are split from the Crimson-crowned Fruit-Dove, Ptilinopus porphyraceus, which still includes fasciatus. See Cibois et al. (2014) and Hayes et al. (2016).
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

The monotypic Raiatea Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus chrysogaster, is split from Gray-green Fruit-Dove, Ptilinopus purpuratus, which includes frater. See Cibois et al. 2014.
[Columbidae, Columbiformes II, 3.50]

February 2024

February 25

Tinamous: The new arrangement of the Tinamidae follows Figure 2 of Musher et al. (2024). The current species tree marks the species with new DNA data using bright red asterisks. Only one species was not sampled, the Slaty-breasted Tinamou, Tinamus boucardi. Its placement reflects hybridization in Honduras with the Thicket Tinamou, Tinamus cinnamomeus (Monroe, 1968).

Besides reordering the tinamous, the Musher et al. tree suggests that the Andean Tinamou, Nothoprocta pentlandii, represents two non-sister species. In Birds of the High Andes, Fjeldså and Krabbe (1990) noted that the Andean Tinamou consists of a brownish group of subspecies and a grayish group. Accordingly, I've split the Andean Tinamou, Nothoprocta pentlandii, into two species:

  • Brown Andean Tinamou, Nothoprocta oustaleti, containing subspecies fulvescens, oustaleti, niethammeri, and ambiguua and
  • Gray Andean Tinamou, Nothoprocta pentlandii, containing the remaining subspecies: pentlandii, patriciae, doeringi, and mendozae.

[Tinamiformes, Palaeognathae: Ratites and Tinamous, 3.04]

February 20

South American Snipe: I needed to make an adjustment to the TiF list because of my trip to Tierra del Fuego in late January. Specifically, I recognized the SACC split of South American Snipe, Gallinago paraguaiae into Pantanal Snipe, Gallinago paraguaiae and Magellanic Snipe, Gallinago magellanica (which I saw). See Miller et al. (2019) and SACC Proposal #843.
[Scolopacidae, Charadriiformes, Gruae II, 3.07]

January 2024

January 20

Agami Heron: The Agami Heron, Agamia agami, is once again placed in its own subfamily, Agamiinae. See Hruska et al. (2023). The name Unfortunately, Kushlan and Hancock did not provide a description of Agamiinae when they proposed it in 2005. Sangster et al. (2023) recently did so, and it is now Agamiinae Sangster, Kushlan, Gregory, and Dickinson, 2023.
[Ardeiformes, Ardeae II, 3.10]

Forest Bittern: Hruska et al. (2023) found that the Forest Bittern, Zonerodius heliosylus, is most likely sister to Ardeola.
[Ardeiformes, Ardeae II, 3.10]

Stripe-backed Bittern: The Stripe-backed Bittern, Ixobrychus involucris, has been moved to the genus Botaurus. See Päckert et al. (2014), Huang et al. (2016) and Hruska et al. (2023). Not sure why it took me so long to notice. The Stripe-backed Bittern had been ambiguously placed in some analyses.
[Ardeiformes, Ardeae II, 3.10]

Striated Herons: I've split the Striated Heron, Butorides striata into five taxa:

  • American Striated Heron, Butorides striata
  • African Striated Heron, Butorides atricapilla
  • Arabian Striated Heron, Butorides brevipes
  • Asian Striated Heron, Butorides javanica
  • Australasian Striated Heron, Butorides macrorhyncha.

[Ardeiformes, Ardeae II, 3.10]

Casmerodius expanded: Casmerodius has been expanded to include Mesophoyx and the White-necked Heron, formerly Ardea pacifica.
[Ardeiformes, Ardeae II, 3.10]

Great White Heron: I've split the Great White Heron, Ardea occidentalis, from the Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias. I had been on the fence about splitting them for some time. One thing that bothered me was how the two taxa could remain separate in spite of breeding in close proximity. I didn't appreciate that they used the method used by a number of seabirds. They don't breed at the same time of the year. This helps keep them separate, and has pushed me off the fence.
[Ardeiformes, Ardeae II, 3.10]

Approximate Species Tree: I've provided an approximate species tree for the herons, egrets, and bitterns. There are still some taxa that are uncertainly placed, but I think we know enough to make constructing the tree a useful exercise. I've reordered the species list to match it.
[Ardeiformes, Ardeae II, 3.10]

January 12

Nightjars: Families Because of both the age of certain nightjar genera and biogeographic considerations, I've split Caprimulgidae into 4 families: Eurostopodidae, Lyncornithidae, Gactornithidae, and a restricted Caprimulgidae. The first three each include only a single genus.

The now restricted Caprimulgidae includes many genera which fall into 4 subfamilies: Neotropical nighthawks and nightjars (Nyctidrominae), an American subfamily containing the poorwills and paruaques (Antrostominae), the nighthawks (Chordeilinae), and a complex group of Old World nightjars (Caprimulginae). [Caprimulgiformes, Strisores I, 3.04]

Eurostopodidae: I've reordered the Eurostopodidae based on a partial phylogeny combined with geography.
[Eurostopodidae, Strisores I, 3.04]

Lyncornithidae: Sangster et al. (2022) argued that the Great Eared-Nightjar, Lyncornis macrotis, should be split into 4 species. I'm not convinced by one of those splits due to the similarity of the sonograms, but have accepted the other two. This means that the Great Eared Nightjar is split into three species:

  • Great Eared-Nightjar, Lyncornis cerviniceps
  • Philippine Eared-Nightjar, Lyncornis macrotis
  • Sulawesi Eared-Nightjar, Lyncornis macropterus

[Lyncornithidae, Strisores I, 3.04]

Nightjars: Splits and Lumps Schweizer et al. (2020) showed that Vaurie's Nightjar, Caprimulgus centralasicus, is a form of the European Nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus, likely of subspecies plumipes.

The Ruwenzori Nightjar, Caprimulgus ruwenzorii, has been merged into the Montane Nightjar, Caprimulgus poliocephalus. See Jackson (2014).

Based on Sangster et al. (2021c), both Franklin's Nightjar, Caprimulgus monticolus (including amoyensis and stictomus) Chirruping Nightjar, Caprimulgus griseatus (including mindanensis), are split from Savanna Nightjar, Caprimulgus affinis (including propinquus and timorensis).
[Caprimulgidae, Strisores I, 3.04]

Caprimulgus: I've reordered the narrow genus Caprimulgus based on a partial phylogeny combined with geography.
[Caprimulgidae, Strisores I, 3.04]

Rufous Potoo: The Rufous Potoo is rather divergent from the other potoos. As a result it gets its own new genus, Phyllaemulor. The genus was established by Costa et al. (2018).
[Nyctibiidae, Strisores I, 3.04]

Short-tailed Frogmouth: I changed the English name of Batrachostomus poliolophus, which previously split from Bornean Frogmouth, Batrachostomus mixtus. It is now Sumatran Frogmouth, not Short-tailed Frogmouth.
[Podargidae, Strisores I, 3.04]

Owlet-nightjars: I've elevated the owlet-nightjars to their own order, Aegotheliformes, as on the IOC list. This means that Apodiformes is restricted to the treeswifts, swifts, and hummingbirds. It also means there are now 47 orders on the TiF list.
[Aegotheliformes, Strisores I, 3.04]

New Zealand Owlet-nightjar: I've included the extinct New Zealand Owlet-nightjar, Aegotheles novaezealandiae. See Holdaway et al. (2002) for more about this species. Dumbacher et al. (2003) were able to obtain DNA, hence the position on the tree.
[Aegothelidae, Strisores I, 3.04]