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Great. The Blue Grouse I had in B.C. could be either of the new species. I just got a glimpse of it as I was driving up the Yellowhead Hwy. Now I have to cross it off my list. However, I have benefited from some splits in the past so I guess I can't complain. Don Don MacNeill donmacneill@eastlink.ca ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Wolford" <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> To: "NatureNS" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Monday, 07 August, 2006 9:21 PM Subject: [NatureNS] Gather round, name-change list is now out [A.O.U. bird names] - Daily News, Aug. 6/06 Halifax Daily News, Sunday, August 6, 2006 Gather round, name-change list is now out By Clarence Stevens The Daily News Once a year the American Ornithological Union releases its list of bird-name changes. Of1/2cially, this list is called the Forty-seventh Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds and is the sixth supplement since publication of the 7th edition of the Check-list of North American Birds. Unof1/2cially, birders call it the 2006 edition which covers decisions made by the end of 2005. Besides the name changes, it is packed with juicy details about bird studies that would easily provide fodder for about a dozen of my columns . Today, however, I will just touch upon some highlights. August is when birders start heading off in boats hunting for shearwaters. In Nova Scotia, greater, sooty and manx shearwaters are our three common species. Cory's shearwaters are present every summer, but because they are harder to 1/2nd than the others, they are one of our most sought after species. In 1924, leading seabird expert Robert Cushman Murphy made the decision that Cory's shearwater and the similar-looking Cape Verde shearwater were the same species. However, research completed in 2004 1/2nally proves the Cape Verde shearwater is a separate species and thus that name has been revived from days gone by. This means that from now on, we birders in Nova Scotia are going to have to look at our Cory's shearwaters a whole lot closer, just in case. August is also an excellent month to start looking for seabirds such as skuas. Two species of skuas can be found in Nova Scotian waters, the south polar skua and the great skua. This year's list added no new skua species, but analysis of sequence data in 2003 and 2004 caused the skuas to be elevated into a family of their own, instead of being a sub-family of the gulls. Mitochondrial DNA-sequence data gathered in 2004 by bird researchers led to this year's splitting of the blue Grouse into two species, the Dusky grouse and the sooty brouse. Interestingly enough, since the 1920s, birders have been suggesting the species known as the blue grouse was indeed two separate species because of differences in the use of calls, breeding behaviour and appearance. An analysis of mitochondrial DNA and ribosomal RNA sequences in 2005 has led to major changes in the cuckoo family, including all kinds of names changes. Locally, our two species of cuckoos, the black-billed cuckoo and the yellow-billed cuckoo, have been unaffected, other than the fact that it is now believed they are part of the old world cuckoos family. This is strange as the old world cuckoos make it a habit to lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, thus having those birds raise their young. However our cuckoos build their own nests and raise their own young. In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature passed motion 2027, "that conserved the usage of speci1/2c names based on wild species of mammals that are predated by or contemporary with names based on domesticated forms." The trickle-down affect of that motion means wild populations of the ringed-turtle dove that have established themselves in North America from escaped caged birds will now be know by the name of the their wild ancestors, the African collared dove. One can be found travelling with a 3/4ock of pigeons in the north end of Dartmouth. ---------------- Clarence Stevens operates Natural Wonders, a nature interpretation company, and is the author of Birding Metro Halifax. To pass along your bird reports contact Clarence at dnbirder@yahoo.ca.
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