American Ornithologists Union - Changes

[Cris Guppy & Aud Fischer]

For those butterflier's who think that bird names are stable and not subject to change ..... see below.

Subject: American Ornithologists Union - Changes


Every now and again The AOU makes decisions that "create" new species, or vice versa, and add new latin names for species .                                 
These are the latest changes I am aware of ..........


"Oldsquaw"   will now be known as   "Long - Tailed Duck" , the long established European name .

The "Black - Billed  Magpie"  is now  "Pica hudsonia" , rather than  "Pica pica" .
    The Black - Billed Magpie was formerly thought to be the same species as The Magpie in Europe .
 If you keep a list ,  and have seen both,  you now can count an extra species .

 The latin name, "Centrocercus urophasianus" is now "Greater Sage Grouse" , one of two species split from the former "Sage Grouse" .

 Strangely, there are also some changes due to spelling errors ....

     "South Polar Skua"   is   "Stercorarius maccormicki"

     "Black - Capped Chickadee"  is  "Poecile atricapilla"

      "Boreal Chickadee"  is  "Poecile hudsonica" .


             Adrian . 
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