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The updates for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019-2022, have been archived separately.

2019-2022 Additions and Subtractions

Based on scientific names.

2021 Splits (122)

  1. Short-billed Gull, Larus brachyrhynchus
  2. Far Eastern Oystercatcher, Haematopus osculans
  3. Ecuadorian Rail, Rallus aequatorialis
  4. Cuban Hawk, Accipiter fringilloides
  5. Hispaniolan Hawk, Accipiter striatus
  6. Puerto Rican Hawk, Accipiter venator
  7. Ornate Pitta, Pitta concinna
  8. Banda Sea Pitta, Pitta vigorsii
  9. Andean Laniisoma, Laniisoma buckleyi
  10. Atlantic Royal-Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus swainsoni
  11. Northern Royal-Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus mexicanus
  12. Pacific Royal-Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus occidentalis
  13. Western White-throated Spadebill, Platytriccus albogularis.
  14. Western Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Leptopogon tranandinus
  15. White-bellied Flycatcher, Leptopogon albidiventer
  16. Western Olive-striped Flycatcher, Mionectes galbinus
  17. Eastern Olive-striped Flycatcher, Mionectes venezuelensis
  18. Junin Flycatcher, Pipromorpha peruana
  19. Yellow-winged Flycatcher / Yellow-margined Flatbill, Tolmomyias flavotectus
  20. Olive-faced Flatbill, Tolmomyias viridiceps
  21. Swallow Flycatcher, Hirundinea bellicosa inc. pallidior
  22. Santa Marta Cinnamon-Flycatcher, Pyrrhomyias assimilis
  23. Paria Cinnamon-Flycatcher, Pyrrhomyias pariae
  24. Venezuelan Cinnamon-Flycatcher, Pyrrhomyias vieillotioides
  25. Eastern Ornate-Flycatcher, Myiotriccus phoenicurus
  26. Bahia Wagtail-Tyrant, Stigmatura bahiae
  27. Caatinga Wagtail-Tyrant, Stigmatura gracilis
  28. Tawny-fronted Pygmy-Tyrant, Euscarthmus fulviceps
  29. Western Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma sclateri
  30. Central American Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma flaviventre
  31. Colombian Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma pusillum
  32. Olive Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma olivaceum
  33. Choco Gray Elaenia, Myiopagis parambae
  34. Amazonian Gray Elaenia, Myiopagis cinerea
  35. West Mexican Elaenia, Myiopagis minima
  36. Small-headed Elaenia, Elaenia sordida
  37. Peruvian Elaenia, Elaenia modesta
  38. Chilean Elaenia, Elaenia chilensis
  39. Northern Brown-crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus cooperi
  40. Southern Streaked-Flycatcher, Myiodynastes solitarius
  41. Haughty Flycatcher, Scotomyias superciliosus
  42. Kalinowski's Chat-Tyrant, Silvicultrix spodionota
  43. White-rumped Black-Tyrant, Knipolegus heterogyna
  44. Costa Rican Tufted-Flycatcher, Mitrephanes aurantiiventris
  45. Choco Tufted-Flycatcher, Mitrephanes berlepschi
  46. Northern Tropical Pewee, Contopus bogotensis
  47. Tumbes Pewee, Contopus punensis
  48. Northern Wing-banded Antbird, Myrmornis stictoptera
  49. Rufescent Antshrike, Thamnistes rufescens
  50. Guianan Rufous-rumped Antwren, Euchrepomis guianensus
  51. Eastern Ornate Stipplethroat, Epinecrophylla hoffmannsi
  52. Purus Antwren, "Myrmotherula" heteroptera
  53. Bamboo Antwren, "Myrmotherula" oreni
  54. Western White-fringed Antwren, Formicivora alticincta, including hondae and fumosa
  55. Northern White-fringed Antwren, Formicivora intermedia, including tobagensis and orenocensis
  56. Western Great Antshrike, Taraba transandeanus
  57. Eastern Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus frater
  58. Western Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus scapularis
  59. Streak-fronted Antshrike, Sakesphorus pulchellus
  60. Northern Rufous-capped Antshrike, Thamnophilus subfasciatus
  61. Cordillera Azul Antbird, Myrmoderus eowilsoni
  62. Western Fire-eye, Pyriglena maura
  63. Tapajos Fire-eye, Pyriglena similis
  64. Ochre-vented Antbird, "Hypocnemis" ochraceiventris
  65. Rufous-breasted Antpitta, Grallaricula leymebambae
  66. Tapajos Antpitta, Myrmothera subcanescens
  67. Southern Variegated Antpitta, Grallaria imperator
  68. Sierra Nevada Antpitta, Oropezus spatiator
  69. Perija Antpitta, Oropezus saltuensis
  70. Oxapampa Antpitta, Oropezus centralis
  71. Ayacucho Antpitta, Oropezus ayacuchensis
  72. Urubamba Antpitta, Oropezus occabambae
  73. Puno Antpitta, Oropezus sinaensis
  74. Bolivian Antpitta, Oropezus cochabambae
  75. Cajamarca Antpitta, Oropezus cajamarcae
  76. Chami Antpitta, Oropezus alvarezi
  77. Equatorial Antpitta, Oropezus saturatus
  78. Graves's Antpitta, Oropezus gravesi
  79. O'Neill's Antpitta, Oropezus oneilli
  80. Junin Antpitta, Oropezus obscurus
  81. White-winged Tapaculo, Scytalopus krabbei
  82. Jalca Tapaculo, Scytalopus frankeae
  83. Ampay Tapaculo, Scytalopus whitneyi
  84. Loja Tapaculo, Scytalopus androstictus
  85. Utcubamba Tapaculo, Scytalopus intermedius
  86. Mayan Antthrush, Formicarius moniliger
  87. Northern Black-faced Antthrush, Formicarius hoffmanni
  88. Eastern Striated Antthrush, Chamaeza fulvipectus
  89. Roraiman Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza fulvescens
  90. Colombian Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza columbiana
  91. Venezuelan Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza venezuelana
  92. Peruvian Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza olivacea
  93. Dusky Leaftosser, Sclerurus pullus
  94. Little Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Deconychura typica
  95. Southern Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Deconychura pallida
  96. Amazonian Woodcreeper, Sittasomus amazonus
  97. Reiser's Woodcreeper, Sittasomus reiseri
  98. Chaco Woodcreeper, Sittasomus griseicapillus
  99. Grayish Woodcreeper, Sittasomus griseus
  100. Pacific Woodcreeper, Sittasomus aequatorialis
  101. d'Orbigny's Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla atrirostris
  102. Amazonian Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Xiphocolaptes orenocensis
  103. Central American Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Xiphocolaptes emigrans
  104. Ceara Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus atlanticus
  105. Line-crowned Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus beauperthuysii
  106. Xingu Scythebill, Campylorhamphus multostriatus
  107. Tapajos Scythebill, Campylorhamphus probatus
  108. White-throated Xenops, Xenops minutus
  109. Northwestern Plain Xenops, Xenops mexicanus
  110. Cinnamon-throated Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus cinnamomeigula
  111. Dusty Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus obscurus
  112. Black-tailed Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus nigricauda
  113. Tricolored Hornero, Furnarius tricolor
  114. Western Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Automolus cervinigularis
  115. Pallid Tit-Spinetail, Leptasthenura pallida
  116. Buffy Tit-Spinetail, Leptasthenura berlepschi
  117. White-tailed Canastero, "Asthenes" usheri
  118. Slender-billed Spinetail, Cranioleuca debilis
  119. Chinchipe Spinetail, Synallaxis chinchipensis
  120. Merida Rufous Spinetail, Synallaxis meridana
  121. Perija Rufous Spinetail, Synallaxis munoztebari
  122. Colombian Rufous Spinetail, Synallaxis ochrogaster

2021 Lumps (1)

  1. Zimmer's Antpitta, Hylopezus dilutus

2020 Splits (2)

  1. Ethiopian Thrush, Psophocichla simensis
  2. Dagua Thrush, Turdus daguae

2019 Splits (4)

  1. Dry Forest Sabrewing, Campylopterus calcirupicola
  2. Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner, Automolus exsertus
  3. Baird's Junco, Junco bairdi
  4. Morellet's Seedeater / White-collared Seedeater, Sporophila morelleti

2019 Lumps (1)

  1. Thayer's Gull, Larus thayeri

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).

Spreadsheets

Stephen Nawrocki has updated his enhanced excel spreadsheet of the TIF world list to Version 2.79. Numbering now matches the csv files.

October 2021

October 25

Emberizidae — Old World Buntings: I'm now using the phylogeny of Päckert et al. (2020b), rather than Päckert et al. (2015). As a result, I've divided Emberizidae into 4 subfamilies. Of them, only Emberizinae has a name under ICZN rules. I'm using the informal terms Melophinae, Fringillariinae, and Schoeniclinae for the other three. These subfamilies have the same composition as the same clades previously had. However, their order has changed.
[Emberizidae, Core Passeroidea, 3.06]

New Emberizid genera: With genera becoming subfamilies, more genera are in order. The generic divisions are based on three principles. They must be (1) based on the phylogeny, (2) roughly 5-10 million years old, and (3) form groups that are as coherent as possible. This involved adding 11 genera. Two lack names, and have been given temporary designations in quotes. Here are the new genera:

  • "Melophus": Brown-rumped Bunting, Melophus affinis, is transferred from Melophus to "Melophus".
  • Granativora: Black-headed Bunting, Melophus melanocephalus, and Red-headed Bunting, Melophus bruniceps, are transferred from Melophus to Granativora (GR Gray, 1855, type melanocephalus).
  • Miliaria: Corn Bunting, Emberiza calandra, is transferred from Emberiza to Miliaria (Brehm 1828, monotypic).
  • Spina: Chestnut-eared Bunting, Emberiza fucata, is transferred from Emberiza to Spina (Kaup 1829, monotypic).
  • "Emberiza": Tibetan Bunting, Emberiza koslowi, is transferred from Emberiza to "Emberiza".
  • Cia: Jankowski's Bunting, Emberiza jankowskii, through Godlewski's Bunting, Emberiza godlewskii, are transferred from Emberiza to Cia (Kaup 1829, type cia).
  • Glycyspina: Gray-necked Bunting, Emberiza buchanani, through Cretzschmar's Bunting, Emberiza caesia, are transferred from Emberiza to Glycyspina (Cabanis 1851, type hortulana).
  • Polymitra: Cabanis's Bunting, Fringillaria cabanisi, Golden-breasted Bunting, Fringillaria flaviventris, and Somali Bunting Fringillaria poliopleura, are transferred from Fringillaria to Polymitra (Cabanis 1851, type flaviventris).
  • Cristemberiza: Yellow-throated Bunting, Schoeniclus elegans, is transferred to Cristemberiza (Momiyama 1928, monotypic).
  • Latoucheornis: Slaty Bunting, Schoeniclus siemsseni, is transferred to Latoucheornis (Bangs 1931, monotypic).
  • Orospina: Rustic Bunting, Schoeniclus rustica, through Gray Bunting, Schoeniclus variabilis, are transferred to Orospina (Kaup 1829, type rustica).

[Emberizidae, Core Passeroidea, 3.06]

Sharpe's Bunting: I added the second English name Yunnan Bunting (HBW Illustrated Checklist) to Sharpe's Bunting, Cia yunnanensis.
[Emberizidae, Core Passeroidea, 3.06]

October 6

Magellanic Plover: The Magellanic Plover family, Pluvianellidae, has been demoted to a subfamily (Pluvianellinae) of the sheathbill family Chionidae.
[Chionidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Thick-knees: Based on Paton et al. (2003) and Černý and Natale, (2021), the genus Burhinus is divided into three genera:

  • An unnamed genus designated "Burhinus", which includes the Double-striped Thick-knee, "Burhinus" bistriatus, and the Peruvian Thick-knee, "Burhinus" superciliaris
  • Burhinus itself is now reduced to a single species, the Bush Stone-Curlew, Burhinus grallarius
  • Oedicnemus (Temminck 1815), type oedicnemus, the Eurasian Stone-Curlew. This genus includes all four other species formerly included in Burhinus.

[Burhinidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Stilts and Avocets: The Banded Stilt, Cladorhynchus leucocephalus, is basal in family Recurvirostridae, which has been rearranged accordingly.
[Recurvirostridae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Far Eastern Oystercatcher, Haematopus osculans: Based on Senfeld et al. (2020b), the Far Eastern Oystercatcher, Haematopus osculans, has been split from the Eurasian Oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus.
[Haematopodidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Oystercatchers: Based on Senfeld et al. (2020b), the American Oystercatchers have been separated in genus Prohaematopus (Matthews 1913), type ater.
[Haematopodidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Charadriidae Genus Changes:

  • The Hooded Dotterel is referred to as "Thinornis" cucullatus
  • Forbes's Plover is referred to as "Afroxyechus" forbesi
  • The Pied Lapwing / Pied Plover is transferred to the monotypic genus Hoploxypterus (Bonaparte, 1856)
  • Vanellus is restricted to the Northern Lapwing
  • Southern Lapwing and Andean Lapwing are transferred to Belonopterus (Reichenbach 1852, type chilensis)
  • Until we know more, the other 20 lapwings have been placed in Hoplopterus (Bonaparte 1831, type spinosus). I did not find the total evidence tree useful here as it contradicts the available genetic data. I retained the previous arrangement of the Vanellinae, with the above genera pulled out.
  • The Double-banded Plover, Anarhynchus bicinctus, is transferred to the monotypic genus Nesoceryx (Mathews, 1920).
  • The New Zealand Plover, Anarhynchus obscurus, is transferred to the monotypic genus Pluviorhynchus (Bonaparte 1856).
  • Finally, Ochthodromus is divided into Leucopolius (Bonaparte 1856), type marginatus, Helenaegialus (Mathews 1913), type sanctaehelenae, and Ochthodromus (Reichenbach 1852), type wilsonia.

[Charadriidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Buttonquails: The buttonquail tree was constructed by combining the species groups described by Debus (1996) with the 7-species phylogeny of Černý and Natale (2021). I was surprised there were no conflicts.
[Turnicidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Coursers and Pratincoles:

  • The Double-banded Courser, previously Rhinoptilus africanus, has been transferred to Smutsornis (Roberts 1922, monotypic).
  • The Gray Pratincole, Glareola cinerea, and Small Pratincole, Glareola lactea have been transferred to Galachrysia (Bonaparte 1856, type lactea). The movement that prompted this was based on DNA analyzed by Černý and Natale (2021).
  • The Rock Pratincole, Glareola nuchalis, and Madagascan Pratincole, Glareola ocularis, have been transferred to Subglareola (Mathews 1913, type ocularis).
  • I have restored the monotypic genus Stiltia (G.R. Gray, 1855, type isabella) which I had previously submerged in Glareola.

[Glareolidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Jaegers and Skuas: The Stercorariidae have been rearranged slightly to conform with Černý and Natale (2021).
[Stercorariidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Tropical Murrelets: The three tropical murrelets, Craveri's Murrelet, Synthliboramphus craveri, Scripps's Murrelet, Synthliboramphus scrippsi, and Guadelupe Murrelet, Synthliboramphus hypoleucus, have been transferred to genus Endomychura (Oberholser 1899, type hypoleuca).
[Alcidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Terns and Skimmers: The Terns have been promoted to a family, Sternidae, with two subfamilies, Rynchopinae (skimmers) and Gyginae (white terns). The gull and tern families form the superfamily Laroidea.
[Sternidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Gulls and Noddies: The Noddies (Anous = Anouinae) are treated as a subfamily of the gulls (Laridae) based on the genetic trees from Černý and Natale (2021). The relevant material can be found in Figures A-3 and A-5 of the supplementary material.
[Laridae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

New Larid Genera: Based on Černý and Natale (2021), I've recognized three additional genera in the gulls:

  • The Slender-billed Gull, Chroicocephalus genei, is separated from the other Chroicocephalus by about 10 million years. It is also distinctive, and I've moved it to genus Gelastes (Bonaparte 1856, monotypic).
  • The division between Dolphin and Gray Gulls on one hand, and Laughing, Franklin's, and Lava Gulls on the other is about 6 million years, enough to support different genera. Moreover, they obviously form two, or even three groups. Accordingly, the Laughing, Franklin's and Lava Gulls have been moved to Atricilla (Bonaparte 1854, type atricilla). It would not be unreasonable to also split the Gray Gull, Leucophaeus modestus. In that case it would be genus Blasipus (Bruch 1853).
  • The band-tailed gulls (4 species) are transferred to genus Gabianus (Bruch 1853, type pacificus).

The TiF list has adopted Figs. A-5 and A-6 from Černý and Natale for the Larus gulls.
[Laridae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

Mew Gull: As in the AOS Supplement #62, the Mew Gull, Larus canus, is split into:

  • Common Gull, Larus canus
  • Short-billed Gull, Larus brachyrhynchus

[Laridae, Charadriiformes, 3.06]

September 2021

September 10

Antpittas: The family name has been changed from Grallariidae to Myrmotheridae because the latter has priority. See Gaudin et al. (2021a).
[Myrmotheridae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

August 2021

August 28

For those who are wondering, I am working on the shorebirds, and currently up to the plovers. However, the Fall semester has started, and work takes priority over taxonomy.

I didn't think to include this information about the Rallidae before, but after some email discussions with John Croxall, I decided I had better say more concerning the following two issues.

Woodford's Rail Complex: While studying Garcia-R and Matzke (2021) and related papers, I noticed a small problem concerning the Woodford's Rail complex in the Garcia-R and Matzke phylogeny. So let's consider Woodford's Rail, Hypotaenidia woodfordi. Like IOC, TiF treats as a single species with three subspecies: woodfordi, immaculata and tertia. In contrast, HBW elevates the subspecies to full species status yielding

  • Bougainville Rail, Hypotaenidia tertia
  • Santa Isabel Rail, Hypotaenidia immaculata
  • Guadalcanal Rail, Hypotaenidia woodfordi

Garcia-R. and Matzke seem to follow this too, but use Gallirallus rather than Hypotaenidia. In any event, both G. woodfordi and G. immaculatus appear on their tree.

So what's the problem? Garcia-R et al. (2014a) had previously sampled DNA from a specimen at the Burke Museum in Seattle, with the results submitted to GenBank in 2013 as Nesoclopeus woodfordi. It is also referred to that way in the nex files for Garcia-R. and Matzke (2021). It wasn't noted originally that the DNA sample was actually immaculatus, from Isabel, Solomon Islands. They listed it as woodfordi from the Solomons. This is clear in the supplementary data for the 2014a paper. In fact, the very same specimen together with another at the Burke was previously sampled by Kirchman (2009), who correctly listed them as immaculatus from Isabel, Solomon Islands.

So what this means is that for Garcia-R and Matzke, G. immaculatus has the means morphological characteristics of immaculatus, but no DNA, and their G. woodfordi is an odd type of chimera, with the morphological characteristics of G. woodfordi but DNA of G. immaculatus. Opps!

Since woodfordi seems to be in roughly the right place, genetically speaking, this has an easy fix. I put Woodford's Rail (including the subspecies) where G. woodfordi was, and supressed G. immaculatus as an error.
[Woodford's Rail, Rallidae, Gruae I, 3.07a]

I've also added several paragraphs on why I arranged Laterallus and related species as I did. For details, follow the link below.
[Laterallini, Rallidae, Gruae I, 3.07a]

August 20

Rails: We start with a split. Based on Ridgely and Greenfield (2001) and the fact that the birds in Ecuador sound quite different from those in North America, the Virginia Rail, Rallus limicola, is split into:

  • Virginia Rail, Rallus limicola
  • Ecuadorian Rail, Rallus aequatorialis, including meyerdeschauenseei

[Virginia Rail, Rallidae, Gruae I, 3.07]

I've reorganized the rails using Garcia-R. and Matzke (2021), Kirchman et al. (2021), Garcia-R. et al. (2020), Boast et al. (2019) and an number of other papers. Details are in the rail section. Please consult it if you are curious why the TiF tree differs from Garcia-R. and Matzke (2021). The only other thing I'll list here are the changes of genus.

  • The Colombian Crake, Mustelirallus colombiana and Paint-billed Crake, Mustelirallus erythrops are transferred to genus Neocrex (Sclater and Salvin, 1869), type erythrops.
  • The Zapata Rail, Mustelirallus cerverai returns to the monotypic genus Cyanolimnas (Barbour and JL Peters, 1927).
  • The African Crake, Crex egregia, is not sister to the Corn Crake, so it moves to the monotypic genus Crecopsis (Sharpe, 1893).
  • The Snoring Rail, Lewinia plateni has moved away from Lewinia to become the monotypic genus Aramidopsis (Sharpe, 1893).
  • The Invisible Rail, Gallirallus wallacii is now in the monotypic genus Habroptila (Gray, 1861).
  • Hawkins's Rail, Gallirallus hawkinsi has become the monotypic genus Diaphorapteryx (Forbes, 1892).
  • The Calayan Rail, Gallirallus calayanensis becomes genus Aptenorallus (Kirchman et al., 2021).
  • The Chestnut Rail, Gallirallus castaneoventris becomes genus Eulabeornis (Gould, 1844).
  • The New Caledonian Rail, Gallirallus lafresnayanus becomes Tricholimnas (Sharpe, 1893).
  • The Chatham Rail, Gallirallus modestus joins Aphanapteryx (Frauenfeld, 1868), type bonasia.
  • The Okinawa Rail, Gallirallus okinawae, Barred Rail, Gallirallus torquatus, and Pink-legged Rail, Gallirallus insignis are all moved to Habropteryx (Stresemann, 1932), type insignis.
  • The rest of Gallirallus is transferred to genus Hypotaenidia (Reichenbach, 1853), type philippensis.
  • The American purple gallinules: Allen's Gallinule, Porphyrio alleni, Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio martinica, and Azure Gallinule, Porphyrio flavirostris, have been transferred to genus Porphyrula (Blyth, 1852), type alleni.
  • The Rusty-flanked Crake, Laterallus levraudi, joins Rufirallus (Bonaparte, 1856), type viridis.
  • The Ascension Crake, Mundia elpenor joins the black rail genus Creciscus (Cabanis, 1857), type jamaicensis.
  • The White-throated Crake, Limnocrex albigularis, is transferred to Laterallus (GR Gray, 1855), type melanophaius.
  • The Gray-breasted Crake, Laterallus exilis is sister to the Yellow-breasted Crake, Hapalocrex flaviventer. However, they are distant relations, so a new genus is needed. I don't know of any with exilis as type, so a temporary name must be used. Gray-breasted Crake becomes "Hapalocrex" exilis.
  • The Isabelline Bush-hen, Amaurornis isabellina, seems a bit distant from the other Amaurornis and becomes the monotypic genus Oenolimnas (Sharpe, 1853).
  • The Brown Crake, Zapornia akool, is transferred to Limnocorax (W Peters, 1854), type flavirostra.
  • Finally, a group of former Zapornia (and before that Porzana) have been separated as the genus Pennula (Dole, 1878), type sandwichensis. They are:
    • Sakalava Rail, Zapornia olivieri
    • Black-tailed Crake, Zapornia bicolor
    • Hawaiian Rail, Zapornia sandwichensis
    • Red-eyed Crake, Zapornia atra
    • Spotless Crake, Zapornia tabuensis
    • Kosrae Crake, Zapornia monasa
    • Tahiti Crake, Zapornia nigra

[Rallidae, Gruae I, 3.07]

August 10

Flufftails: The genus Canirallus has been split as it was found that part of the genus belonged to the Sarothruridae, and part to the Raillidae. See Boast et al. (2020), Kirchman et al. (2021), and Oswald et al. (2021). According, one species is retained in Canirallus, the Gray-throated Rail, Canirallus oculeus. The other two move to Mentocrex (Peters 1932, type kioloides). Canirallus moves back to the Rallidae, while Mentocrex remains in Sarothruridae.

Finally, recently discovered ancient DNA evidence indicates that both the extinct cave-rails of the Caribbean (Nesotrochis) and the extinct adzebills of New Zealand (Aptornis) are in the flufftail clade. Given their ancientness, I've ranked them both as subfamilies in Sarothruridae. See Oswald et al. (2021) and Boast (2020). Although these lineages are ancient, the final extinctions happened fairly recently.
[Sarothruridae, Gruae I, 3.06]

August 8

Cranes: A combination of genetic distance and overall distinctiveness has led me to adopt the placement of the Wattled Crane in the monotypic genus Bugeranus (Gloger 1842) and its closest relatives, the Demoiselle and Blue Cranes in genus Anthropoides (Vieillot 1816, type virgo).
[Gruidae, Gruae I, 3.05]

"Philydor" Foliage-gleaners: Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner and Chestnut-winged Foliage-gleaner are transferred to Dendroma (Swainson 1837, type rufa), becoming Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, Dendroma rufa, and Chestnut-winged Foliage-gleaner, Dendroma erythroptera. See SACC #819. [Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07a]

August 7

New Name for Hieraspiza: Sangster et al. (2021) showed that the genus name Hieraspiza does not apply to the Tiny Hawk. According, it and the Semicollared Hawk are transferred to Microspizias, becoming Tiny Hawk, Microspizias superciliosus and Semicollared Hawk, Microspizias collaris. They also endorse Lophospiza for the Crested Goshawk, Lophospiza trivirgata, and Sulawesi Goshawk, Lophospiza griseiceps, as long used by TiF.
[Accipitridae, Hawks, Kites, Eagles, 3.03]

Sharp-shinned Hawk complex: Catanach et al. (2021) found that the Sharpies of the Greater Antilles are related to the a clade consisting of North and South American Sharp-shinned Hawks. The distances suggest species-level taxa, so I've added the three island species to the complex, bringing it to seven species.

  • Rufous-thighed Hawk, Accipiter erythronemius
  • Plain-breasted Hawk, Accipiter ventralis
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter velox
  • White-breasted Hawk, Accipiter chionogaster
  • Cuban Hawk, Accipiter fringilloides
  • Hispaniolan Hawk, Accipiter striatus
  • Puerto Rican Hawk, Accipiter venator

The oldest named subspecies of the Sharp-shinned Hawk was striatus. As that is now the Hispaniolan Hawk, we have to turn to the next oldest name for the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter velox. This paper has also led me to rearrange the South American species.

They also note an intriguing connection between the Rufous-thighed Hawk, Accipiter erythronemius and the Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus.

Unfortunately for me, the only Sharpie I've seen in the Greater Antilles was in Jamaica, where they are wintering Sharp-shinned Hawks, not breeders.
[Accipitridae, Hawks, Kites, Eagles, 3.03]

Manakins: Included Leite et al.'s (2021) analysis of the manakins. It doens't really change anything, but the paper provides more details on the manakin tree, particularly the parts where some of the details of the tree are not 100% clear.
[Pipridae, Tyrannida I, 3.06c]

August 4

We have completed the Harvey et al. (2020) changes, for now. That means its time for the first post Harvey et al. change, redoing the Plain-brown Woodcreeper complex.

Plain-brown Woodcreeper complex: Based on Schultz et al. (2019) and Weir and Price (2011), with some help from Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Plain-brown Woodcreeper complex has been reorganized. The complex, which included only three species (Plain-winged, Tawny-winged, Plain-brown) in H&M-4, is now comprised of four species:

  • Tawny-winged Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla anabatina, including typhla and saturata
  • Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla fuliginosa, including rufoolivacea, trumaii (deprecated); ridgwayi, lafresnayei (both parts); meruloides, barinensis, deltana; phaeochroa, and neglecta (deprecated)
  • d'Orbigny's Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla atrirostris
  • Plain-winged Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla turdina, including taunayi

The subspecies taunayi is transferred to the Plain-winged Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla turdina. Those who are sharp-eyed will notice that the Line-throated Woodcreeper has disappeared. It may eventually return. More details can found on the Furnariida II page.
[Dendrocolaptinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Furnariinae: The subfamily Xenopinae has been demoted to Xenopini, the basal tribe of Furnariinae. Moreover, the tribes of Furnariinae have been rearranged a bit, to conform to Harvey et al. (2020).
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Plain Xenops: Based on Harvey and Brumfield (2015) and the HBW Checklist, the Plain Xenops, Xenops minutus, is split into:

  • White-throated Xenops, Xenops minutus
  • Northwestern Plain Xenops, Xenops mexicanus, includes ridgwayi, littoralis, olivaceus, and neglectus
  • Southeastern Plain Xenops, Xenops genibarbus, includes remoratus, ruficaudus, obsoletus, and alagoanus

[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Sharp-billed Treehunter: This has been moved from Heliobletus to Philydor. Also, note that one of the subspecies currently doesn't have a name! The problem is that contaminatus and camargoi refer to the same subspecies! See Penhallurick (2011) for details. For years we've heard there will be a replacement… we're still waiting.

Also, there seems to be a sister species in Bahia. It hasn't been described yet, but is included as such in Harvey et al. (2020).
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Ancistrops: Two species of Ancistrops are placed in the temporary genus "Philydor" because they are sufficiently different from Ancistrops itself, both in appearance and genetics. They are the Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, "Philydor" rufum, and the Chestnut-winged Foliage-gleaner, "Philydor" erythropterum.
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Ruddy Foliage-gleaner complex: Both the Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner, Clibanornis rufipectus, and Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner, Clibanornis erythrocephalus, are embedded in the complex. We first transfer all of these species to Hylocryptus (Chapman 1919, type erythrocephalus).

Based on Harvey et al. (2020), Claramunt et al. (2013), and the HBW Checklist, the Ruddy Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus rubiginosus, is split into:

  • Rusty Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus rubiginosus, including guerrerensis, veraepacis, and fumosus
  • Cinnamon-throated Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus cinnamomeigula
  • Dusky Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus obscurus, including venezuelanus, caquetae, brunnescens,, and watkinsorum
  • Black-tailed Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus nigricauda, including saturatus and sasaimae

Here watkinsorum has replaced watkinsi. It must take this form because Hellmayr intended it to refer to both the Watkins brothers, not just one of them. They were the ones who collected the type specimen. See Costas (2017).
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07b]

Automolus: The two basal species in Automolus are transferred to Cryptomolus (Claramunt et al. 2013, type rufipileatus).
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner: In Supplement 59 (2018) the NACC split the Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner, Automolus exsertus, from the Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Automolus ochrolaemus. Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the HBW Checklist, and Freeman and Montgomery (2017), I've redone the complex as follows:

  • Western Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Automolus cervinigularis, including hypophaeus and pallidigularis
  • Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner, Automolus exsertus
  • Eastern Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Automolus ochrolaemus, including turdinus and auricularis

Part of the point is that it seems clear from Freeman and Montgomery that exsertus is vocally different from the Western forms. NACC are clearly of the opinion that it is also different from those to the east, as if on an island (sky island?). Harvey et al. (2020) found 2 million years distance between the Costa Rican birds and those from Loreto, Peru, which are in the ochrolaemus group. This gives us the three species solution above. Yes, it is a bit speculative.
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Pale-legged Hornero: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Pale-legged Hornero, Furnarius leucopus, is split into:

  • Tricolored Hornero, Furnarius tricolor, including araguaiae and assimilis
  • Pale-legged Hornero, Furnarius leucopus

[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, Leptasthenura aegithaloides, is split into:

  • Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, Leptasthenura aegithaloides, including grisescens
  • Pallid Tit-Spinetail, Leptasthenura pallida
  • Buffy Tit-Spinetail, Leptasthenura berlepschi

[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Asthenes: Divided Asthenes into three genera, ``Asthenes'', Siptornoides, and the Asthenes thistletails.
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Rusty-vented Canastero: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Rusty-vented Canastero, "Asthenes" dorbignyi, is split into:

  • White-tailed Canastero, "Asthenes" usheri
  • Rusty-vented Canastero, "Asthenes" dorbignyi

[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Ash-browed Spinetail: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the subspecies debilis is sister to the Creamy-crested Spinetail, Cranioleuca albicapilla. As a result, Ash-browed Spinetail, Cranioleuca curtata, is split into:

  • Slender-billed Spinetail, Cranioleuca debilis
  • Ash-browed Spinetail, Cranioleuca curtata, including cisandina

As you can see from tree, these are not sister taxa. The name Slender-billed has been used in the past for debilis, e.g., by Cory and Hellmayr.
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Undescribed Spinetail: On a Field Guides trip we Bret Whitney and Marcello Barreiros, Bret pointed out an undescribed Certhiaxis spinetail on a river island. As we were in the Araguaia drainage, this must be the unnamed Certhiaxis mentioned in the Harvey et al. (2020) tree. It's pretty similar to a Yellow-chinned Spinetail, without a yellow chin. I didn't add it to the list, but Harvey et al. (2020) included it in their analysis and you can find it in the species tree next to the Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Certhiaxis cinnamomeus.

Necklaced Spinetail: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), Stopiglia et al. (2020), SACC #882 and the HBW Checklist, the Necklaced Spinetail, Synallaxis stictothorax, is split into:

  • Necklaced Spinetail, Synallaxis stictothorax
  • Chinchipe Spinetail, Synallaxis chinchipensis

[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

White-lored Spinetail: Harvey et al. (2020) found that a subspecies of Plain-crowned Spinetail, Synallaxis gujanensis is closer to White-lored Spinetail, Synallaxis albilora than to the rest of gujanensis. The race in question is present in Santa Cruz, Boliva, near El Tuná and I infer it is certhiola. Apparently it looks a lot like albilora.
[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

Rufous Spinetail: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Rufous Spinetail, Synallaxis unirufa, is split into:

  • Merida Rufous Spinetail, Synallaxis meridana
  • Perija Rufous Spinetail, Synallaxis munoztebari
  • Colombian Rufous Spinetail, Synallaxis ochrogaster
  • Peruvian Rufous Spinetail, Synallaxis unirufa

[Furnariinae, Furnariida II, 3.07]

July 2021

July 29

Sclerurinae: The two genera in Sclerurinae, leaftossers and miners, are quite different. Even a beginner will not mistake one for the other. They are also separated by about 17.7 million years of evolution, according to Harvey et al. (2020). To emphasize this, I have placed them in separate tribes, as has been done for other such taxa. The tribes are Sclerurinini (leaftossers) and Geosittini (miners).
[Sclerurinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Tawny-throated Leaftosser: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the HBW Checklist, and d'Horta et al. (2013), the Tawny-throated Leaftosser, Sclerurus mexicanus, is split into:

  • Mexicqn Leaftosser, Sclerurus mexicanus
  • Dusky Leaftosser, Sclerurus pullus

The SACC currently considers this complex two species with the South Amerian birds collectively called South American Leaftosser. See the SACC Proposals 603, 752, and 860.
[Sclerurinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Woodcreeper Tribes: I've divided the woodcreeper subfamily Dendrocolaptinae into three tribes: Glyphorynchini (for the Wedge-billed Woodcreeper), Sittasomini, and Dendrocolaptini. Harvey et al. (2020) has Glyphorynchini as the basal woodcreeper, increasing the case that it really is basal. This concurs with Derryberry et al. (2012), but disagrees with Derryberry et al. (2011), Moyle et al. (2009b), and Ohlsen et al. (2013), which have it sister to Sittasomini.
[Dendrocolaptinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Long-tailed Woodcreeper: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), Barbosa (2010), and the HBW Checklist, the Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Deconychura longicauda is split into:

  • Little Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Deconychura typica, including darienensis and minor
  • Northern Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Deconychura longicauda
  • Southern Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Deconychura pallida, including connectens and zimmeri

This complex also contains an undescribed species (Barbosa, 2010).
[Dendrocolaptinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Olivaceous Woodcreeper: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the HBW Checklist, and Boseman (2006), the Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Sittasomus sylviellus is split into:

  • Amazonian Woodcreeper, Sittasomus amazonus, including axillaris, transitivus, and viridis
  • Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Sittasomus sylviellus, including olivaceus
  • Reiser's Woodcreeper, Sittasomus reiseri
  • Chaco Woodcreeper, Sittasomus griseicapillus
  • Grayish Woodcreeper, Sittasomus griseus, including jaliscensis, sylvioides, gracileus, perijanus, and tachirensis
  • Pacific Woodcreeper, Sittasomus aequatorialis

[Dendrocolaptinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Plain-brown Woodcreeper: NB: This corrected version of this entry is superseded by the August 4 entry on the Plain-brown Woodcreeper complex. Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the HBW Checklist, and Weir and Price (2011), the Line-throated Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla fuliginosa is spliit into:

  • Line-throated Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla fuliginosa, including atrirostris, rufoolivacea, and trumali
  • Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Dendrocincla meruloides, including ridgwayi, lafresnayei, barinensis, deltana, phaeochroa, and neglecta

[Dendrocolaptinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Strong-billed Woodcreeper: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Xiphocolaptes promeropirhynchus, is split into:

  • Amazonian Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Xiphocolaptes orenocensis, including berlepschi, paraensis, carajaensis, and obsoletus
  • Central American Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Xiphocolaptes emigrans, including omiltemensis, sclateri, costaricensis, and panamensis
  • Andean Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Xiphocolaptes promeropirhynchus, including sanctaemartae, rostratus, virgatus, procerus, macarenae, neblinae, tenebrosus, ignotus, crassirostris, compressirostris, phaeopygus, lineatocephalus, and solivagus

[Dendrocolaptinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Lesser Woodcreeper: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), SACC #809, and the HBW Checklist, the Lesser Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus fuscus, is split into:

  • Ceara Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus atlanticus
  • Lesser Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus fuscus, including pintoi and tenuirostris

Ocellated Woodcreeper: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), Sousa-Neves, Aleixo, and Sequeira (2013), and the HBW Checklist, the Ocellated Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus ocellatus is split into:

  • Ocellated Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus ocellatus, including perplexus
  • Line-crowned Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus beauperthuysii, including lineatocapilla

This builds on the previous split of Tschudi's Woodcreeper, Xiphorhynchus chunchotambo from Ocellated Woodcreeper. I found the map in Sousa-Neves et al. to be very helpful for understanding the distribution of this complex. Their area A is the Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper, areas B and C, which are south of the Amazon are Ocellated Woodcreeper, area D is Line-crowned Woodcreeper (north of the Amazon and west of the Rio Negro), and area E and the unlabelled yellow zone is Tschudi's Woodcreeper. Both Line-crowned and Tschudi's are present in the cross-hatched area.
[Dendrocolaptinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Curve-billed Scythebill: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), Aleixo et al. (2013), Portes et al. (2013), and the HBW Checklist, the Curve-billed Scythebill, Campylorhamphus procurvoides, is split into:

  • Xingu Scythebill, Campylorhamphus multostriatus
  • Tapajos Scythebill, Campylorhamphus probatus, including cardosoi
  • Curve-billed Scythebill, Campylorhamphus procurvoides, including sanus and gyldenstolpei

[Dendrocolaptinae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

July 24

At this point, all of the suboscines except the Ovenbirds (Furnariidae) have been updated using Harvey et al. (2020). The Ovenbirds will get their turn shortly, but for the moment, I have not touched that section .

Antpitta Subfamilies: I've used three subfamilies to organize the antpittas: Myrmotherinae, Grallariinae, and Hypsibemonidae. Each corresponds to a split that occurred over 20 million years ago. I have not added tribes, which could be reasonably assigned to coincide with the genera.
[Grallariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Genus changes: I have made several changes to the genera in order to make sure that the deepest divisions are reflected in the generic structure as much as possible. More precisely, each side of any division deeper than 16 mya gets at least one genus. In fact, there is only one genus that spans a division deeper than 13 mya (Hylopezus).

To accomplish this, we have transferred three Hylopezus antpittas to Myrmothera, many of the Grallaria are now in Hypsibemon (Cabanis 1847, type ruficapilla), and the first four Hypsibemon have been moved to Oropezus.
[Grallariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Speckle-breasted Antpitta: Based on Carneiro, Bravo and Aleixo (2019), the Speckle-breasted Antpitta, Hylopezus nattereri, has been transferred to the genus Cryptopezus.
[Grallariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Rusty-breasted Antpitta: Based on Van Doren et al. (2018) and SACC #784 and SACC #801, the Rusty-breasted Antpitta, Grallaricula ferrugineipectus, is split into:

  • Rusty-breasted Antpitta, Grallaricula ferrugineipectus
  • Rufous-breasted Antpitta, Grallaricula leymebambae

[Grallariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Thrush-like Antpitta: Based on Carneiro et al. (2018) and SACC #785, the Thrush-like Antpitta, Myrmothera campanisona, has been split into:

  • Thrush-like Antpitta, Myrmothera campanisona
  • Tapajos Antpitta, Myrmothera subcanescens

[Grallariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Zimmer's Antpitta: Zimmer's Antpitta, Hylopezus dilutus, has been lumped into H. macularius. See SACC #622.
[Grallariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Variegated Antpitta: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Variegated Antpitta, Grallaria varia, has been split into:

  • Northern Variegated Antpitta, Grallaria varia, including cinereiceps and distincta
  • Southern Variegated Antpitta, Grallaria imperator, including intercedens

[Grallariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Rufous Antpitta complex: The Rufous Antpitta project has finally paid off. Based on SACC #883, Chesser et al. (2020a) and Isler et al. (2020) the Rufous Antpitta complex (Rufous, Bicolored, Chestnut) is split as follows: Chestnut Antpitta, Oropezus blakei, is split into:

  • Oxapampa Antpitta, Oropezus centralis
  • Ayacucho Antpitta, Oropezus ayacuchensis
  • Chestnut Antpitta, Oropezus blakei

Rufous Antpitta, Oropezus rufulus, is split into 12 species:

  • Sierra Nevada Antpitta, Oropezus spatiator
  • Perija Antpitta, Oropezus saltuensis
  • Muisca Antpitta, Oropezus rufulus
  • Urubamba Antpitta, Oropezus occabambae, including marcapatensis
  • Puno Antpitta, Oropezus sinaensis
  • Bolivian Antpitta, Oropezus cochabambae
  • Cajamarca Antpitta, Oropezus cajamarcae
  • Chami Antpitta, Oropezus alvarezi
  • Equatorial Antpitta, Oropezus saturatus
  • Graves's Antpitta, Oropezus gravesi
  • O'Neill's Antpitta, Oropezus oneilli
  • Junin Antpitta, Oropezus obscurus

This involved the naming of several new taxa: alvarezi (Cuervo, Cadena, Isler, & Chesser), gravesi (Isler, Chesser, Robbins & Hosne), oneilli (Chesser & Isler), centralis and ayacuchensis (Hosner, Robbins, Isler, & Chesser), marcapatensis (Isler & Chesser), and sinaensis (Robbins, Isler, Chesser, & Tobias).
[Grallariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Tapaculo Subfamilies: There are several deep division within Rhinocryptidae. The subfamilies Pteroptochinae, Lioscelinae, Rhinocryptinae, and Scytalopodinae represent the deepest divisions in the tapaculo family, which occurred between 20 and 24 million years ago. I also divided the relatively speciose subfamily Scytalopodinae into two tribes, Merulaxini and Scytalopodini, each with an age of about 17.4 million years. I did not divide the smaller subfamiles into tribes. There's no deep division within Pteroptochinae, and in the other two subfamilies, tribes would coincide with the genera.
[Rhinocryptidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

New Scytalopus Tapaculo Species: All three are described in Krabbe et al. (2020), which also provides a phylogenetic analysis. See also SACC #852, SACC #853, and SACC #854, respectively.

  • White-winged Tapaculo, Scytalopus krabbei
  • Jalca Tapaculo, Scytalopus frankeae
  • Ampay Tapaculo, Scytalopus whitneyi

[Rhinocryptidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Paramo Tapaculo: Based on Krabbe and Cadena (2010), Cadena et al. (2020), Krabbe et al. (2020), and SACC #855, the Paramo Tapaculo, Scytalopus opacus, is split into:

  • Paramo Tapaculo, Scytalopus opacus
  • Loja Tapaculo, Scytalopus androstictus

See also SACC #446.
[Rhinocryptidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Blackish Tapaculo: Based on Cadena et al. (2020) and and SACC #858, the Blackish Tapaculo, Scytalopus latrans, is split into:

  • Blackish Tapaculo, Scytalopus latrans
  • Utcubamba Tapaculo, Scytalopus intermedius

[Rhinocryptidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Antthrush Subfamilies: The structure of the Formicariidae is quite simple. There are two genera, Formicarius and Chamaeza. But these two genera are separated by 23.2 million years! It makes sense to rank them as subfamilies: Formicariinae and Chamaezinae. One thing that distinguishes them are the smooth colors on the underparts of the Formicariinae and the patterns (scallops, bars, etc.) under the Chamaezinae.
[Formicariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Black-faced Antthrush: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the NACC decision 2020-B11 on the Mayan Antthrush, and the HBW Checklist, the Black-faced Antthrush, Formicarius analis is split into:

  • Mayan Antthrush, Formicarius moniliger, including pallidus and intermedius
  • Northern Black-faced Antthrush, Formicarius hoffmanni, including umbrosus, panamensis, virescens, and griseoventris
  • Southern Black-faced Antthrush, Formicarius analis, including connectens, zamorae, crissalis, and paraensis

[Formicariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Striated Antthrush: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Striated Antthrush, Chamaeza nobilis is split into:

  • Western Striated Antthrush, Chamaeza nobilis, including rubida
  • Eastern Striated Antthrush, Chamaeza fulvipectus

[Formicariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

Short-tailex Antthrush: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, which notes 5 song grous, the Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza campanisona is split into:

  • Brazilian Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza campanisona, including tshororo
  • Roraiman Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza fulvescens, including obscura, yavii, and huachamacarii
  • Colombian Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza columbiana, including punctigula
  • Venezuelan Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza venezuelana
  • Peruvian Short-tailed Antthrush, Chamaeza olivacea, including berlepschi and boliviana

[Formicariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06b]

July 21

Part 4 of the suboscine revisions has been posted (1 to go).
[Furnariida I, 3.03]

Rufous-winged Antwren (revised): Based on Bravo et al. (2021), Harvey et al. (2020), and the HBW Checklist, the Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus rufimarginatus, is split into:

  • Eastern Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus frater, including exiguus
  • Western Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus scapularis
  • Southern Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus rufimarginatus

I had previously split Rufous-winged Antwren into two species, based on the HBW Checklist, and a misreading of Harvey et al. (2020). But a closer look at Harvey et al. made me realize it was a mistake. The split did not match the phylogeny. In fact, Bravo et al. (2021) generated two phylogenies, one identical to Harvey et al., and the split doesn't match either one. What is clear is that frater and exiguus are sister taxa. The main phylogeny has scapularis is sister to rufimarginatus, and more distantly related to the frater–exiguus pair. The alternative has scapularis basal, then rufimarginatus, and finally the frater–exiguus pair. There is also substantial genetic distance (3 million years) between scapularis and frater–exiguus.

The HBW Checklist tells us that the vocalizations of rufimarginatus are distinctive, indicating a separate species. In contrast, scapularis has vocalizations that are apparently similar to frater and exiguus. So what are we to make of all this?

I think the best option is to also consider scapularis a separate species, and I have done so above. Given the disjunct ranges of the subspecies, I think we can live with the similarity in vocalizations.
[Thamnophilini, Furnariida I, 3.03]

July 19

Antbirds: Interim Update. This update includes most of the taxonomic changes for the Thamnophilidae (Antbirds), as well as the Crescent-chests and Gnateaters. I still need to run through Thamnophilini one more time, and rewrite the main Antbird page. That should be available in a couple of days.

Wing-banded Antbird: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and HBW Checklist, the Wing-banded Antbird, Myrmornis torquata, is split into:

  • Northern Wing-banded Antbird, Myrmornis stictoptera
  • Southern Wing-banded Antbird, Myrmornis torquata

[Myrmornithinae, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Russet Antshrike: Based on SACC decisions #758 and #792.2, the Russet Antshrike, Thamnistes anabatinus, is split into:

  • Rufescent Antshrike, Thamnistes rufescens
  • Russet Antshrike, Thamnistes anabatinus

[Myrmornithinae, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Rufous-rumped Antwren: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), Rufous-rumped Antwren, Euchrepomis callinota, has been split into:

  • Guianan Rufous-rumped Antwren, Euchrepomis guianensus
  • Western Rufous-rumped Antwren, Euchrepomis callinota

[Euchrepomidinae, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Rondonia Bushbird: The Rondonia Bushbird, Clytoctantes atrogularis, has been transferred to Neoctantes based on Harvey et al. (2020).
[Microrhopiini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Epinecrophylla: The English names of all the Epinecrophylla antwrens have been changed from Stipple-throated Antwren to Stipplethroat. See SACC #696.2.
[Microrhopiini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Ornate Stipplethroat: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and HBW Checklist the Ornate Stipplethroat, Epinecrophylla ornata, is split into:

  • Western Ornate Stipplethroat, Epinecrophylla ornata
  • Eastern Ornate Stipplethroat, Epinecrophylla hoffmannsi

[Microrhopiini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Rio de Janeiro Antwren: The Rio de Janeiro Antwren, Myrmotherula fluminensis, has been transferred to genus Neorhopias.
[Formicivorini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Ihering's Antwren: Ihering's Antwren is sister to Neorhopias, but not closely, with 7 million years separation. Accordingly, I'm using a temporary genus for it, "Myrmotherula".
[Formicivorini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, Ihering's Antwren, "Myrmotherula" iheringi is split into:

  • Purus Antwren, "Myrmotherula" heteroptera
  • Bamboo Antwren, "Myrmotherula" oreni
  • Ihering's Antwren, "Myrmotherula" iheringi

The SACC had previously rejected splitting oreni (SACC proposal #618). The new information is that all three taxa are separated by over 2 million years, suggesting they act as species.
[Formicivorini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

White-fringed Antwren: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), with and without the HBW Checklist, the White-fringed Antwren, Formicivora grisea into:

  • Southern White-fringed Antwren, Formicivora grisea, including rufiventris
  • Western White-fringed Antwren, Formicivora alticincta, including hondae and fumosa
  • Northern White-fringed Antwren, Formicivora intermedia, including tobagensis and orenocensis

[Formicivorini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Parana Antwren: The the SACC English name of Parana Antwren, Formicivora acutirostris, to Marsh Antwren, matching IOC. See SACC #892.
[Formicivorini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Myrmopagis unified: Myrmopagis has grown. In the Harvey et al. (2020), the species previously designated as Myrmopagis2 (except fluminensis) and Myrmopagis3 can be and have been merged with Myrmopagis.
[Formicivorini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Silvery-flanked Antwren: The HBW Checklist considered Myrmopagis axillaris lucutosa and Neorhopias fluminensis to be the same bird and split it from the White-flanked Antwren, Myrmopagis axillaris. This turned out to be a mistake. Harvey et al. (2020) included both taxa. Measuring off the tree, their most recent common ancestor dates to about 11.7 mya. Not exactly conspecific! See also this web page from Regua.

Moreover, Harvey et al. found lucutosa embedded in the White-flanked Antwren, Myrmopagis axillaris. It could be that more sampling would reveal they are sister taxa, but even so, it's premature to split the White-flanked Antwren this way. The Harvey et al. tree suggests some other splits might work. The most divergent subspecies are heterozyga and fresnayana, with nearly 4 million years separation from the other subspecies. They may represent two species. The next clade consists of albigula and melaena, separated from the axillaris claded by 3 million years.
[Formicivorini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Great Antshrike: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and HBW Checklist, the Great Antshrike, Taraba major, is split into:

  • Western Great Antshrike, Taraba transandeanus
  • Eastern Great Antshrike, Taraba major

[Thamnophilini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Rufous-winged Antwren: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and HBW Checklist, the Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus rufimarginatus, is split into:

  • Northern Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus scapularis
  • Southern Rufous-winged Antwren, Herpsilochmus rufimarginatus

[Thamnophilini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Black-crested Antshrike: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and HBW Checklist, the Black-crested Antshrike, Sakesphorus canadensis, is split into:

  • Streak-fronted Antshrike, Sakesphorus pulchellus (monotypic)
  • Black-crested Antshrike, Sakesphorus canadensis

[Thamnophilini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Rufous-capped Antshrike: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and HBW Checklist, the Rufous-capped Antshrike, Thamnophilus ruficapillus, is split into:

  • Northern Rufous-capped Antshrike, Thamnophilus subfasciatus
  • Southern Rufous-capped Antshrike, Thamnophilus ruficapillus

Note that these are not sister species.
[Thamnophilini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Cordillera Azul Antbird: The newly discovered Cordillera Azul Antbird, Myrmoderus eowilsoni, has been added to the list. See Moncrieff et al. (2018) and SACC #763.
[Pyriglenini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

White-backed Fire-eye: Based on Isler and Maldonado-Coelho (2017), SACC #759, and Harvey et al. (2020), the White-backed Fire-eye, Pyriglena leuconota, is split into three species:

  • Western Fire-eye, Pyriglena maura, including pacifica, picea, castanoptera, marcapatensis, and hellmayri
  • Tapajos Fire-eye, Pyriglena similis, monotypic
  • East Amazonian Fire-eye, Pyriglena leuconota, including interposita and pernambucensis

Given Isler and Maldonado-Coelho (2017), and their conclusion that castanoptera should be merged into picea, I didn't think there was enough evidence to recognize all of the subspecies groups in the HBW Checklist.
[Pyriglenini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Akletos: Three species of Akletos have been transferred to Hafferia.
[Pyriglenini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Scaled Antbird: Transfered Scaled Antbird, Drymophila squamata to unnamed genus designated "Drymophila".
[Drymophilini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

Yellow-browed Antbird: The Yellow-browed Antbird, Hypocnemis hypoxantha, is transferred from Hypocnemis to a new genus, temporarily designated "Hypocnemis". Although it is sister to all of Hypocnemis, it is a distant relative which separated about 8 mya.

Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the Yellow-browed Antbird is split into:

  • Yellow-browed Antbird, "Hypocnemis" hypoxantha
  • Ochre-vented Antbird, "Hypocnemis" ochraceiventris

There is a further complication. There is at least one undescribed population in areas not on the range map. We got good looks at one on a Bret Whitney led trip several years ago. He pointed it out as undescribed. I don't know if it will eventually be considered a species or subspecies.
[Drymophilini, Furnariida I, 3.02b]

July 17

Spadebills: There are also substantial divisions within Platyrinchus itself, which divided into three groups about 14-15 mya. There appear to be available genus names for each clade, as pointed out by Acanthis on BirdForum. Accordingly:

  1. The Golden-crowned Spadebill, Platyrinchus coronatus, has been transferred to genus Placostomus (Ridgway, 1905, type P.c. superciliaris). Thanks to
  2. Three spadebills,
    • Stub-tailed Spadebill, Platytriccus cancrominus
    • Cinnamon-crested Spadebill, Platytriccus saturatus
    • White-throated Spadebill, Platytriccus mystaceus
    have been transferred to Platytriccus (Ridgway, 1905, type cancrominus).
  3. Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the White-throated Spadebill, Platytriccus mystaceus, has been split into:
    • Eastern White-throated Spadebill, Platytriccus mystaceus
    • Western White-throated Spadebill, Platytriccus albogularis.
    Yes, they're Platytriccus now.

[Platyrinchidae, Tyrannida I, 3.06]

Updating Furnariida: I'm going to try a slightly different method for updating the remaining two files, with incremental updates. For Furnariida I, these will be Versions 3.02a, 3.02b, etc. This will introduce some inconsistencies in the text and diagrams. Please ignore them until I reach Version 3.03.
[Furnariida I, 3.02a]

Crescent-chests: The Elegant Crescent-chest, Melanopareia elegans, and Maranon Crescent-chest, Rhoporchilus maranonica, are transferred to Rhoporchilus (Ridgway 1909, type Formicivora speciosa Salvin = Synallaxis elegans Lesson, in other words, the Elegant Crescent-chest. Although they look pretty similar, the genera Melanopareia and Rhoporchilus separated about 12.7 mya.
[Melanopareiidae, Furnariida I, 3.02a]

Gnateaters: The arrangement of taxa is based on Harvey et al. (2020). They found that Pittasoma and Conopohaga split 17.7 mya. To highlight this deep division, I've separated then in two subfamilies: Pittasomatinae and Conopophagiane.

Bock (1994) attributes Pittasomatidae to Ridgway (1911). Remsen relates in SACC #235 that he searched for it, and could not find it. I used Google, which has apparently scanned all of the volumes of Ridgway's The Birds of North and Middle America. I searched for family, subfamily, and tribe for both Pittasomidae and Pittasomatidae. Nada. Bock strikes again!
[Conopophagidae, Furnariida I, 3.02a]

July 15

Gray-capped Tyrannulet: Given that its common ancestor with the Zimmerius tyrannulets was about 8.7 mya, my first reaction was to list its genus as "Phyllomyias". I had only seen one once, back in 2010, and couldn't recall what it looked like. The illustration in the HBW Checklist didn't help, so I checked photos via Birds of the World. They didn't look much like the illustration, and showed a Zimmerius-like wing pattern. That impressed me enough to put it in Zimmerius instead. There are more details in the list.
[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07a]

Streaked Flycatchers: Thanks to Dan for his response to my implicit question about the Island Streaked-Flycatcher.
[Tyranninae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

July 13

This is part 3 of the ongoing suboscine revisions (2 to go). There are quite a few splits this time (26). Almost all of these involve adding (1) existing splits or subspecies groups from the HBW Checklists that are (2) supported by Harvey et al. (2020). By this I usually mean that Harvey et al. found roughly 2 million years divergence or more.

Ornate Flycatcher Split: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), who appear to have sampled phoenicurus and ornatus, and the comments in the HBW Checklist, the Ornate Flycatcher, Myiotriccus ornatus, is split into

  • Eastern Ornate-Flycatcher, Myiotriccus phoenicurus + aureiventris
  • Western Ornate-Flycatcher, Myiotriccus ornatus + stellatus

[Hirundineinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Cliff Flycatcher Split: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) showing about 2 million years separation and the comments in the HBW Checklist, Cliff Flycatcher, Hirundinea ferruginea is split into

  • Cliff Flycatcher, Hirundinea ferruginea inc. sclateri
  • Swallow Flycatcher, Hirundinea bellicosa inc. pallidior

[Hirundineinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Cinnamon Flycatcher Split: Harvey et al. (2020) found distances of 5-7 million years between three subspecies of Cinnamon Flycatcher (Pyrrhomyias cinnamomeus), including the two subspecies in Sucre, Venezuela. When combined with the information in the HBW Checklist, Cinnamon Flycatcher has been split into

  • Santa Marta Cinnamon-Flycatcher, Pyrrhomyias assimilis
  • Paria Cinnamon-Flycatcher, Pyrrhomyias pariae
  • Venezuelan Cinnamon-Flycatcher, Pyrrhomyias vieillotioides + spadix
  • Andean Cinnamon-Flycatcher, Pyrrhomyias cinnamomeus + pyrrhopterus

[Hirundineinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Gray-capped Tyrannulet: The Gray-capped Tyrannulet, formerly Phyllomyias griseocapilla, has been transferred to Zimmerius.
[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Wagtail-Tyrants Split: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, there are two splits in the wagtail-tyrants (Stigmatura):

  • The Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant, Stigmatura napensis, is split into
    1. Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant, Stigmatura napensis
    2. Bahia Wagtail-Tyrant, Stigmatura bahiae.
  • Greater Wagtail-Tyrant, Stigmatura budytoides, is split into
    1. Greater Wagtail-Tyrant, Stigmatura budytoides
    2. Caatinga Wagtail-Tyrant, Stigmatura gracilis.

[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant: Following SACC #898 and Franz et al. (2020), the Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant, Euscarthmus meloryphus, has been split into

  • Tawny-fronted Pygmy-Tyrant, Euscarthmus fulviceps
  • Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant, Euscarthmus meloryphus.

[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Beardless-Tyrannulets: Based on Fitzpatrick (2004a), Rheindt et al. (2008d), Harvey et al. (2020), and the HBW Checklist, the Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma obsoletum, has been split into five species:

  • Western Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma sclateri, including maranonicum and griseum
  • Central American Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma flaviventre, including orphnum and majus
  • Colombian Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma pusillum, including napaeum and perhaps caucae
  • Olive Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma olivaceum, monotypic
  • Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma obsoletum, including bolivianum and cinerascens

Ever since I saw them in different parts of South America, I've wondered whether the Southern Beardless-Tyrannulets were all the same species. Looks unlikely now! If you examine the tree, you'll see that the Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Camptostoma imberbe is embedded in this group. I've used names from the HBW Checklist. Of them, the name Colombian Beardless-Tyrannulet is somewhat misleading as its range extends far eastward, including the Guianas and adjacent regions of Brazil north of the Amazon. Beardless-Tyrannulets in Maranhão east and south (cinerascens) are in the Southern group. Concerning caucae, see the speculation by Rheindt et al. (2008d). This group could use more study.
[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Gray Elaenia: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Gray Elaenia, Myiopagis caniceps has been split into three species:

  • Choco Gray Elaenia, Myiopagis parambae, includes absita
  • Amazonian Gray Elaenia, Myiopagis cinerea
  • Atlantic Gray Elaenia, Myiopagis caniceps

[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Greenish Elaenia: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Greenish Elaenia, Myiopagis viridicata has been split into two species:

  • West Mexican Elaenia, Myiopagis minima, including jaliscensis
  • Greenish Elaenia, Myiopagis viridicata, all other subspecies

[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Small-headed Elaenia: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), SACC #806, and SACC #813, the Highland Elaenia, Elaenia obscura, has been split into

  • Small-headed Elaenia, Elaenia sordida
  • Highland Elaenia, Elaenia obscura

[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

White-crested Elaenia: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the White-crested Elaenia, Elaenia albiceps, has been split into three species:

  • White-crested Elaenia, Elaenia albiceps
  • Peruvian Elaenia, Elaenia modesta
  • Chilean Elaenia, Elaenia chilensis

I've gone back and forth on the Chilean Elaenia. Harvey et al. made clear that is it is genetically quite different from albiceps. I don't have any genetic information on the Peruvian Elaenia, but it seems like a good bet.
[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Ridgwayornis: I've separated two Serpophaga in genus Ridgwayornis (Bertoni 1925), type nigricans.

  • Torrent Tyrannulet, Serpophaga cinerea
  • Sooty Tyrannulet, Serpophaga nigricans

[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

The two Tachuri (Polystictus): The Bearded Tachuri, Polystictus pectoralis, and Gray-backed Tachuri, Polystictus superciliaris, are not sister species. This forces the removal of the Gray-backed Tachuri to Serpophaga. Given the tree in Harvey et al. (2020), it makes sense to transfer both Polystictus to Serpophaga.
[Elaeniinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Tyranninae: I added three tribes to the subfamily Tyranninae: Ramphotrigonini, Myiarchini, and Tyrannini.
[Tyranninae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Pale-bellied Mourner: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the Pale-bellied Mourner, Rhytipterna immunda has been transferred to the genus Casiornis.
[Tyranninae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Grayish Mourner: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), the Grayish Mourner, Rhytipterna simplex, is split into:

  • Amazonian Grayish Mourner, Rhytipterna frederici
  • Atlantic Grayish Mourner, Rhytipterna simplex

The reason for the split is that the Atlantic Grayish Mourner's closest relative is the Rufous Mourner, Rhytipterna holerythra.
[Tyranninae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Rufous Flycatcher: The Rufous Flycatcher, Myiarchus semirufus, has been transferred to the monotypic genus Muscifur (Bangs and Penard, 1921). While the other Myiarchus have a common ancestor a bit over 4 million years ago, their common ancestor with the Rufous Flycatcher is close to 8 mya. Moreover, with its dark cap and rufous coloration, the Rufous Flycatcher looks a little bit like a Casiornis and a little bit like a Sirystes. I'm happier having it in its own genus.
[Tyranninae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Nutting's Flycatcher: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, Nutting's Flycatcher, Myiarchus nuttingi, has been split into:

  • Nutting's Flycatcher, Myiarchus nuttingi, including inquietus
  • Ridgway's Flycatcher, Myiarchus flavidior

[Tyranninae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Brown-crested Flycatcher: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), Joseph et al. (2004), and Sari and Parker (2012), I've split the Brown-crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus tyrannulus, into two species:

  • Northern Brown-crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus cooperi, including magister, cozumelae, insularum, and brachyurus.
  • Southern Brown-crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus tyrannulus, including bahiae

The HBW Checklist mentions three subspecies groups within cooperi. Combining Joseph et al. and Sari and Parker suggests that the northern group forms a clade (neither paper includes all the pieces). The splits made are due to the relation with the Granada and Galapagos Flycatchers per Harvey et al. The genetic distance is in the ambiguous range for splits, so I have not adopted any others.
[Tyranninae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Streaked Flycatcher: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, and presuming their maculatus sample from Loreto is a wintering solitarius (otherwise, even more revision is needed), the Streaked Flycatcher, Myiodynastes maculatus, is split into two species:

  • Northern Streaked-Flycatcher, Myiodynastes maculatus
  • Southern Streaked-Flycatcher, Myiodynastes solitarius (monotypic)

PS. Still waiting for the Island Streaked-Flycatcher to be described…
[Tyranninae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

"Myiophobus": The temporary genus name "Myiophobus" has been replaced by Scotomyias (Ohlson et al., 2020).
[Fluvicolinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Flavescent Flycatcher: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW CHecklist, the Flavescent Flycatcher, Scotomyias flavicans, is split into:

  • Flavescent Flycatcher, Scotomyias flavicans
  • Haughty Flycatcher, Scotomyias superciliosus (monotypic)

Yes, I made up the name Haughty Flycatcher. It seemed too good to resist.
[Fluvicolinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Chat-Tyrants: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW CHecklist, the Crowned Chat-Tyrant, Silvicultrix frontalis, has been split into

  • Crowned Chat-Tyrant, Silvicultrix frontalis, including albidiadema
  • Kalinowski's Chat-Tyrant, Silvicultrix spodionota, including boliviana

Tufted Flycatcher: Based on Harvey et al., (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Tufted Flycatcher, Mitrephanes phaeocercus, has been split into:

  • Mexican Tufted-Flycatcher, Mitrephanes phaeocercus, including tenuirostris
  • Costa Rican Tufted-Flycatcher, Mitrephanes aurantiiventris
  • Choco Tufted-Flycatcher, Mitrephanes berlepschi including eminulus

Two of the three species were included in Harvey et al. (2020).
[Fluvicolinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Pewees: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW CHecklist, the Tropical Pewee, Contopus cinereus, has been split into

  • Northern Tropical Pewee, Contopus bogotensis
  • Tumbes Pewee, Contopus punensis
  • Southern Tropical Pewee, Contopus cinereus.

[Fluvicolinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Taeniopterini replaces Xolmiini/Xolmini: The type species for Bonaparte's Taeniopterinae is Nengetus cinereus = Tyrannus cinereus Vieillot 1816 = Muscicapa taenioptera Bonaparte 1825. This means Taeniopterini has priority over Xolmini (Xolmiini).
[Fluvicolinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Muscigrallinae demoted: Muscigrallinae has been demoted to a tribe Muscigrallini within Fluvicolinae.
[Fluvicolinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Little Ground-Tyrant: The Little Ground-Tyrant, Muscisaxicola fluviatilis, has been transferred to genus Syrtidicola, (Chesser et al., 2020b).
[Fluvicolinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

Black-Tyrants: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW CHecklist, the White-winged Black-Tyrant, Knipolegus aterrimus, has been split into:

  • White-rumped Black-Tyrant, Knipolegus heterogyna (monotypic)
  • White-winged Black-Tyrant, Knipolegus aterrimus

Harvey et al. (2020) found that they are not even sister species.
[Fluvicolinae, Tyrannida II, 3.07]

July 9

Phibalura: Based on Hennessey (2011) and SACC #494 the Swallow-tailed Cotinga, Phibalura flavirostris is split into two species:

  • Palkachupa Cotinga, Phibalura boliviana
  • Swallow-tailed Cotinga, Phibalura flavirostris

Although the SACC proposal failed, it did gain a majority of the votes (a supermajority is required to pass). The Palkachupa or Apolo Cotinga is also recognized by the IOC and HBW Checklists. I suspect it really is a separate species, and so have split it.
[Cotingidae, Tyrannida I, 3.05]

Laniisomas: Based on Harvey et al. (2020) and the HBW Checklist, the Shrike-like Cotinga, Laniisoma elegans, has been split into

  • Andean Laniisoma, Laniisoma buckleyi, including venezuelense and cadwaladeri
  • Brazilian Laniisoma, Laniisoma elegans (monotypic)

[Tityridae, Tyrannida I, 3.05]

Purpletufts: There is a deep division in Tityridae between the purpletufts (Iodopleura) and the remaining Tityridae. Accordingly, we separate the purpletufts as their own subfamily (Iodopleurinae, Bonaparte 1854). The original form of the name was Iodopleureae.

July 5

Piprites: The Black-capped Piprites is only very distantly related to the other two Piprites. Harvey et al. (2020) estimate that their common ancestor lived over 18.5 mya. Because of this, the other two Pipirtes have been placed in the genus Hemipipo (Cabanis, 1847), type chloris.
[Pipritidae, Tyrannida I, 3.04]

July 3

This is part 2 of the suboscine revisions (3 to go). All of today's changes are part of the project to incorporate Harvey et al. (2020) into the TiF list. Today focuses on the first part of Tyrannida — all but the tyrant flycatchers, Tyrannidae. Although the family tree has changed a bit, the only change to the linear order of the Tyrannida families is to move Tityridae before Oxyruncidae. We now turn to the individual families. Many genera have been internally reordered. For the most part, I won't mention those changes. What I do mention are species splits and changes at or above the generic level.

What do the stars mean? You'll notice stars on some of the species trees. If you look closely, there is only one star per genus. It denotes the type species of that genus. I found this handy for deciding how to delimit genera, and decided to keep it. Expect these to show up on more of the pdf lists in the future.

Manakins: The Serra do Mar Tyrant-Manakin, Neopelma chrysolophum, is not closely related the other Neopelma. An alternate genus name is not available and I designate it "Neopelma" until one is available. The change in the tree has allowed me to return to a narrow Tyranneutes and a broad Neopelma. Also, Chloropipo has been repositioned. Other genera have not been affected, other than some internal reordering.
[Pipridae, Tyrannida I, 3.03]

Cotingas: The clade Gymnoderini, previously considered sister to Cotinga is now on an independent branch. This lead to some generic shuffling in the subfamily Cotinginae. Also, Phibalura has switched places with Phytotoma. Again, there has been some reordering with the genera.

Capuchinbird: The Capuchinbird, Cephalopterus tricolor, repositioned in the tree. This allows me to return it to the monotypic genus Perissocephalus. Although the genetic distance between the Capuchinbird and umbrella-birds is small, they are distintive, justifying a separate genus.
[Cotingidae, Tyrannida I, 3.03]

Schiffornis, Tityras, and Becards: There are no changes at the generic level, but some genera have had internal reordering.
[Tityridae, Tyrannida I, 3.03]

Royal-Flycatchers: Whether the Royal-Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus coronatus, is one species or four has long been disputed. Harvey et al. (2020) sampled one each of all four of them. The closest pair of taxo, mexicanus and occidentalis, have been separated for about a million years. In view of this, I think it makes sense to recognize four species in the complex.

  • Atlantic Royal-Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus swainsoni
  • Amazonian Royal-Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus coronatus
  • Northern Royal-Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus mexicanus
  • Pacific Royal-Flycatcher, Onychorhynchus occidentalis

[Onychorhynchidae, Tyrannida I, 3.03]

Mionectine Flycatchers and allies: The most obvious changes on the tree are at the generic level. Ceratotriccus has moved to a new place on the tree, sister to Poecilotriccus. Needless to say, this involved a change in membership for Ceratotriccus.

Idoptilon and Microcochlearius have disappeared into an expanded Oncostoma and Hemitriccus, respectively. In exchange, we added Perissotriccus (2 species removed from Myiornis) and Euscarthmornis (4 species that were in Ceratotriccus in the previous list).

Pipromorphinae — Mionectine flycatchers: Based on Harvey et al. (2020), I've moved the Serra do Mar Tyrannulet, Phylloscartes difficilis, and Sao Paulo Tyrannulet, Phylloscartes paulista, to genus Pogonotriccus.

There are also some splits in the Mionectine flycatchers. The following are based on Harvey et al. (2020), usually with the assistance of the HBW Checklist (i.e., del Hoyo and Collar, 2016).

The Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Leptopogon superciliaris, has been split into

  • Western Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Leptopogon transandinus, including hellmaryi, and if needed, troglodytes for the Darien population.
  • Eastern Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Leptopogon superciliaris
  • White-bellied Flycatcher, Leptopogon albidiventer

Although eBird recognizes L. transandinus as a species group. They did not give it an English name, so I have given it and L. superciliaris temporary English names. Harvey et al. (2020) tested hellmayri and found it 2 million years distant from L. albidiventer, and more like 3 million from L. s. superciliaris (sensu stricto, from Loreto, Peru). I wouldn't have to write this way if they hadn't lumped many of the subspecies. For a fuller explanation (added 7/18/21) see:
[Pipromorphinae, Tyrannida I, 3.03]

The Olive-striped Flycatcher, Mionectes olivaceus has been split into

  • Olive-streaked Flycatcher, Mionectes olivaceus
  • Western Olive-striped Flycatcher, Mionectes galbinus
  • Eastern Olive-striped Flycatcher, Mionectes venezuelensis

The English names are from the HBW Checklist (volume 2, del Hoyo and Collar, 2016).

Finally, the Junin Flycatcher, Pipromorpha peruana has been split from McConnell's Flycatcher, Pipromorpha macconnelli.

[Pipromorphinae, Tyrannida I, 3.03]

Rhynchocyclinae — Flatbills Everyone knows Tolmomyias is a mess. Harvey et al. (2020) sampled some of them, but I'm not ready for a full reorganization. I do recognize two splits based on Harvey et al. (2020), and the IOC and HBW Checklists.

  • The Yellow-margined Flycatcher / Yellow-margined Flatbill, Tolmomyias assimilis is split into
    1. Yellow-winged Flycatcher / Yellow-margined Flatbill, Tolmomyias flavotectus (monotypic)
    2. Zimmer's Flatbill, Tolmomyias assimilis.
    This separates the most divergent known Tolmomyias (flavotectus) as a separate species.
  • The Yellow-breasted Flycatcher, Tolmomyias flaviventris is split into
    1. Ochre-lored Flatbill, Tolmomyias flaviventris, including aurulentus and dissors
    2. Olive-faced Flatbill, Tolmomyias viridiceps, including subsimilis and zimmeri.

Well, Tolmomyias is still a mess, but perhaps slightly less so. For one, the position of T. sulphurescens on the tree represents the nominate subspecies. They don't all belong there. At the very least, T.s. cinericeps, sometimes called Gray-headed Flatbill, is sister to Gray-crowned Flatbill, Tolmomyias poliocephalus. I don't have any idea whether other subspecies group with it or not, so I'm not splitting it at this time.
[Rhynchocyclinae, Tyrannida I, 3.03]

Triccinae — Genus Changes: A number of genera in the Triccinae subfamily have been realigned based on Harvey et al. (2020). Here is a summary:

  1. Two species have moved from Poecilotriccus to Ceratotriccus.
    • Black-and-white Tody-Flycatcher (Ceratotriccus capitalis
    • White-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher (Ceratotriccus albifacies
  2. The Boat-billed Tody-Tyrant, Microcochlearius josephinae, has been returned to Hemitriccus.
  3. The following have been transferred back to Hemitriccus from Ceratotriccus:
    • Buff-throated Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus rufigularis,
    • Black-throated Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus granadensis,
    • Cinnamon-breasted Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus cinnamomeipectus,
    • Kaempfer's Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus kaempferi,
    • Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus orbitatus,
    • Buff-breasted Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus mirandae.
  4. The following have been transferred to Euscarthmornis from Ceratotriccus:
    • Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus margaritaceiventer,
    • Hangnest Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus nidipendulus,
    • Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus striaticollis,
    • Johannes's Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus iohannis.
  5. Two species have been transferred to Perissotriccus from Myiornis:
    • Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant, Myiornis atricapillus,
    • Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant, Myiornis ecaudatus.
  6. Two species have been transferred to Myiornis from Ceratotriccus:
    • Zimmer's Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus minimus,
    • Pelzeln's Tody-Tyrant, Ceratotriccus inornatus.
  7. Three species have been transferred to Oncostoma from Idioptilon and Poecilotriccus:
    • Buff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher, Poecilotriccus senex,
    • White-eyed Tody-Tyrant, Idioptilon zosterops,
    • White-bellied Tody-Tyrant, Idioptilon griseipectum.

There was substantial genetic distance (almost 3 million years) in the various Eared Pygmy-Tyrants, Myiornis auricularis, and White-bellied Pygmy-Tyrants, Myiornis albiventris tested by Harvey et al. (2020). Further, albiventris was nested within the auricularis clade. I've not made any changes based on this.

[Triccinae, Tyrannida I, 3.03]

June 2021

June 26

Suboscines: Inspired by Harvey et al. (2020), I've started making changes to the suboscines. It's a long process, and although I now have a complete suboscine tree, it will still take a while to prepare the other new pages (5 total).

Old World Suboscines: The Sapayoa, Sapayoa aenigma, has been moved to be sister to the Pittidae. See Oliveros et al. (2019) and Harvey et al. (2020).
[Sapayoidae, Passeriformes I, 3.03]

Broadbills: Hose's Broadbill, Calyptomena hosii, has been moved to be sister to the other Calyptomena, based on Harvey et al. (2020).
[Calyptomenidae, Passeriformes I, 3.03]

Pittas The pittas are now arranged based on Harvey et al. (2020). As part of this, the Eared Pitta, formerly Hydrornis phayrei, has been moved to the monotypic genus Anthocincla (Blyth 1862).

Based on Yue et al. (2020) the Ornate Pitta, Pitta concinna, and Banda Sea Pitta, Pitta vigorsii, have been split from Elegant Pitta, Pitta elegans. Per Erritzoe and de Juana (2020), hutzi is merged into concinna.
[Pittidae, Passeriformes I, 3.03]

February 2020

February 29

I'm celebrating Leap Day by updating the list. I was unhappy with the previous treatment of Turdus, and a couple of new papers have helped matters.

It's still the case that I don't have the time necessary to do regular updates, so it will probably be a while before the next one.

Thrushes: There have been several taxonomic changes, as well as a general rearrangement of Turdus using Batista et al. (2020) and Nagy et al. (2019), as well as some adjustments to Catharus based on Everson et al. (2019).

  • The Groundscraper Thrush, Turdus litsitsirupa, has been returned to genus Psophocichla.
  • Ethiopian Thrush, Psophocichla simensis, has been split from from Groundscraper Thrush, Psophocichla litsitsirupa, based on Nylander et al. (2008) and the HBW Checklist.
  • The Chinese Thrush, Turdus mupinensis, has been moved to the monotypic genus Otochichla based on Nylander et al. (2008), Nagy et al. (2019), and the HBW Checklist.
  • Split Dagua Thrush, Turdus daguae, from White-throated Thrush, Turdus assimilis (Ridgely and Greenfield, 2001; IOC).

[Turdidae, Muscicapoidea II, 3.14]

August 2019

August 9

Piculets: The Latin American piculets have been rearranged based on Shakya et al. (2017). Their results suggest that some adjustment of species limits will be needed, but that awaits further studies. A hybrid piculet I saw in Minas Gerais (Brazil) earlier this year suggests the issues go beyond found by Shakya et al.

Surprisingly, they found that the Olive-backed Woodpecker, Dinopium rafflesii, is sister to Gecinulus. As a result, I've placed it in the monotypic genus Chloropicoides (Malherbe 1848-49).

Other changes prompted by Shakya et al., include rearranging Piculus and Yungipicus and adjusting the position of the Red-headed Flameback, Chrysocolaptes erythrocephalus and of the Helmeted Woodpecker, Celeus galeatus. Even though Shakya et al. (2017) and Dufort et al. (2016) have differences in the overall arrangement of the woodpeckers, I continue to follow Dufort et al. (2016) which seems to use more data.
[Picidae, Piciformes, 3.08]

August 6

Rails: The former Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Aramides cajaneus now goes as Gray-cowled Wood-Rail / Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Aramides cajaneus, with the former English name used by both the AOS NACC and SACC, and the latter used by IOC.

I've also rearranged the Laterallini based on tree B in Stervander et al. (2019). As a result, Atlantisia is merged into Creciscus and the Gray-breasted Crake returns to Laterallus as Laterallus exilis. [Rallidae, Gruae I, 3.04]

August 5

Dry Forest Sabrewing: The Dry Forest Sabrewing, Campylopterus calcirupicola, is recognized as a separate species related to the Gray-breasted Sabrewing, Campylopterus largipennis. See SACC #756 and Lopes et al. (2017). Lopes et al. and SACC #755 suggest there are additional species in this complex. I saw this bird in June at Lapa Grande State Park (Minas Gerais, Brazil).
[Trochilidae, Apodiformes, 3.10]

Cupwings: Pnoepygidae is now referred to as the Cupwing family. The English last names have been changed to reflect this. [Pnoepygidae, Paroidea & Sylvioidea I, 3.11a]

August 2

Today's changes are from AOS Supplements #58 and #59. These changes are NOT included in the latest CSV files. I did not adopt the Cassia Crossbill split because I have skepticism about it, even though it seems to have the strongest case of all potential North American Red Crossbill splits.

Thayer's Gull: Thayer's Gull, Larus thayeri, has been lumped into Iceland Gull, Larus glaucoides in accordance with the AOS 58th supplement.
[Laridae, Charadriiformes, 3.05]

Automolus Foliage-gleaners: The Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner, Automolus exsertus, has been split from the Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Automolus ochrolaemus. See AOS Supplement #59, which is based on the analysis of their response to calls by Freeman and Montgomery (2017).
[Furnariidae, Furnariida II, 3.06]

Baird's Junco: Baird's Junco, Junco bairdi has been split from the Yellow-eyed Junco, Junco phaeonotus as per the AOS 58th Supplement. The phylogeny follows Friis et al., 2016), where Baird's Junco is not even sister to the Yellow-eyed Junco.
[Arremonidae, Core Passeroidea III, 3.05]

White-collared Seedeater: The White-collared Seedeater, Sporophila torqueola has been split into Morellet's Seedeater / White-collared Seedeater, Sporophila morelleti and and Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater, Sporophila torqueola based on the AOS 59th Supplement and Mason et al. (2018). As with the Juncos above, they are not sister taxa.
[Thraupidae, Core Passeroidea V, 3.06]

July 2019

July 27

Comparison Spreadsheet: Richard Jackson has provided an updated TiF-based spreadsheet cross-referenced to the IOC list, the 16 volumes of HBW, and the two volume HBW/BirdLife Illustrated Checklist (ICBW).

CSV Files: The CSV files have now been updated to version 3.10. These updates reflect changes to my personal list that have not been posted yet.

Subspecies List These changes are reflected in two speadsheets provided by Dale Mitchell. These are a subspecies list and family-genus finder (both of which I have slightly edited).