The Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia (OSME) The OSME Region List of Bird Taxa, Part C: Passerines. Version 5.2: February 2020 The scale of illegal bird killing annually in the OSME Region is significant in conservation terms: Brochet et al 2016 (also cited as 2017) provide estimates for Mediterranean countries !11-36 million birds) & Brochet et al 2019 for Arabia, Iran & Iraq (879,000-31,000,000 passerines). Relevant changes in IOC10.1 list are included A fuller explanation is given in Explanation of the ORL, but briefly, Bright green shading of a row (eg Syrian Ostrich) indicates former presence of a taxon in the OSME Region. Light gold shading in column A indicates sequence change from the previous ORL issue. For taxa that have unproven and probably unlikely presence, see the Hypothetical List. Red font indicates added information since the previous ORL version or the Conservation Threat Status (Critically Endangered = CE, Endangered = E, Vulnerable = V and Data Deficient = DD only). Not all synonyms have been examined. Serial numbers (SN) are merely an administrative convenience and may change. Please do not cite them in any formal correspondence or papers. NB: Compass cardinals (eg N = north, SE = southeast) are used. Rows shaded thus and with yellow text denote summaries of problem taxon groups in which some closely-related taxa may be of indeterminate status or are being studied. Rows shaded thus and with yellow text indicate recent or data-driven major conservation concerns. Rows shaded thus and with white text contain additional explanatory information on problem taxon groups as and when necessary. A broad dark orange line, as below, indicates the last taxon in a new or suggested species split, or where sspp are best considered separately. The Passerine Reference List follows as Part D, & includes References for Hypothetical non-passerines [List in Part E]. It explains Abbreviated References cited in the species accounts. Notes↓ & Status abbreviations→ BM=Breeding Migrant, SB/SV=Summer Breeder/Visitor, PM=Passage Migrant, WV=Winter Visitor, RB=Resident Breeder 1. PT=Parent Taxon (used because many records will antedate splits, especially from recent research) – we use the concept of PT with a degree of latitude, roughly equivalent to the formal term sensu lato, ‘in the broad sense’. 2. The term 'report' or ‘reported’ indicates the occurrence is unconfirmed or not yet formally accepted. 3. English names. We use the recommended names in the International Ornithological Congress World List (see www.worldbirdnames.org) with very few exceptions. The OSME preference is always listed first. We suggest that national lists for countries in the OSME Region adopt the OSME preference, but there is no compulsion to do so! Please note that unused IOC names appear in curly brackets {…}, alternative names in round brackets (…), superseded (re-allocated) names in square brackets […]. 4. Scientific names: we use square brackets […] to indicate superspecies that comprise two or more allospecies – we use the same convention for semispecies and we use round brackets (…) where the status of a taxon is not entirely clear-cut; eg the evidence may not be wholly convincing and subject to debate, it may not yet be fully available, we may have overlooked it or not found it, or the evidence on one part of a taxon’s range may differ from that in another. In its simplest form this is our ‘Don’t know’ category. (Terms such as ‘superspecies’ are explained in the Ornithological Basis of the ORL, where examples are given). 5. As more information is received, the use of abbreviations for countries concerned will increase. See the Country and Territory Abbreviations for details. 6. Many distributions will be diminished by continuing habitat loss, but note that many local extensions occur subsequent to construction of canal, dam and other irrigation works, and that the breeding and wintering distributions are likely to change, often radically, with climate change (Huntley et al 2007). We seek information backed by references to develop and improve any part of the OSME Region List of bird taxa. SN English Name Family, Species or Taxon Working Notes █ Malaconotidae 612 Rosy-patched Bush-Shrike Telophorus cruentus Monotypic. Vagrant SE Egypt (ssp cruentus Clements 2007), occurs Halaib Triangle HBW14, EORC, where (Rhodophoneus cruentus) resident Dora 2019. BLDZ Jul 2017 maps at least 125km NNE into Egypt proper; also to Djibouti coast withon 20km direct to Perim Island, Yemen, or 17km from nearest Djibouti Island to Perim. NB Mapped in half-degree square including Perim Island Ash & Atkins 2009. Taxonomy follows Fuchs et al 2004; IOC 2.6. Shirihai & Svensson 2018 remain with Rhodophoneus . PT Black-crowned Tchagra Tchagra senegalus ( formerly T. Morphological differences of taxon percivali from T. senegalus African sspp noted in Harris & Franklin 2000, PT senegala) Jennings 2010, HWP14, HBW Alive, Shirihai & Svensson 2018: last-named called for vocalisation, genetic data because of 'rather dramatic' plumage differences Jennings 2010 alludes to breeding season differential between Tihama-SW Yemen population & that of E Yemen-W Oman. 613 'Arabian Black-crowned Tchagra (senegalus) percevali African species, ssp percevali HBW14 breeding S Yemen Porter & Warr 1985, S Yemen Warr 1992 & Oman Tchagra' (Black-crowned Harris & Franklin (H&F) 2000. In SW Arabia, taxon percevali resident bushy scrub on slopes and in wadis in & Tchagra, Black-crowned adjacent to Tihama, but also percevali along the S coastal area of Yemen/Oman border Jennings 2010; Bush-Shrike) perhaps up to 8000bp. Fairly common resident breeder S Oman hills OBL7. English name informal@OSME. NB T.s. habessinicus reported to have strayed to Region, possibly from Djibouti via Perim Island (17.5 km longest sea crossing) █ Campephagidae 614 Long-tailed Minivet Pericrocotus ethologus NE Afghanistan, Roberts 1992, MacKinnon & Phillips (M&P) 2000, HBW10, R&A 2005; IOC4.1 ssp favillaceus. N Nuristan Ayé et al 2012. Common summer visitor to Pakistan up to NE Afghanistan border, Grimmett et al 1998, 2009. BLDZ Jul 2017 maps as resident (in N) and wintering (in S) of a long slice of E Afghanistan from latitude of Chitral SW to Wahza Kwa & Wor Mamay districts, Afghanistan. NB Old references eg Bates & Lowther 1952, Paludan 1959 & EC Dickinson 1965 in litt refer this species to P. brevirostris, Short-billed Minivet: 1950s ID separation criteria then inadequate; the latter's range does not reach Kashmir to the west. 615 Rosy Minivet Pericrocotus roseus Monotypic. Further to revision of H&M3 in 'H&M3 Afghan corrigenda' (E Dickinson pers comm), it is now considered to breed just in Afghanistan H&M4. BLDZ Map May 2017 shows distribution from Pakistan into Afghanistan in 2 areas: western Wakhan, southern side & easternmost Konarho province between Bargi Matal & Nari. Earlier confusion arose from Afghanistan-Asian Area Checklist (AAC), based on the primitive taxonomy of UN Food & Agricuture (FAO) 1981 Afghanistan Checklist:Small Minivet P. cinnamomeus (see R&A 2012 map) then seemed the more likely. HBW10 maps only in India, but unusually for HBW, the text differed, including N Pakistan; R&A 2005 supported HBW text. Map in Grimmett et al 1998 for ‘rare & local’ in NE Pakistan, very close to W end of Afghanistan’s Wakhan panhandle possibly muddied understanding more. 567 Laniidae Zhang et al 2007 formally concluded that Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus & Red-backed Shrike L. collurio are independent species & that Long-tailed Shrike L. schach & extralimital Grey-backed Shrike L. tephronotus are distinct species. Fuchs et al 2019 validates these conclusions, adding that L. phoenicuroides & L. isabellinus are just as distant as L. collurio is from L. cristatus ; all are separate lineages 616 Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus [Fuchs et al Fuchs et al 2019 demonstrate as separate lineage. 4ssp HBW13; cristatus likely only ssp to reach Region. Very 2019] ( formerly considered as L. common breeder north of Kazakhstan in southern taiga (c56-60ºN) Rogacheva 1992. Earlier status as vagrant [cristatus] cristatus) Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (Kreuzberg-Mukhina & Kreuzberg (K-M&K) 2005 revised to very rare breeder Altai E Kazakhstan (W&O 2007, Arend Wassink in litt 2009, Ayé et a l 2012, Wassink 2015b), perhaps Kyrgyzstan, Lefranc & Worfolk (L&W) 1997, H&F 2000. Vagrant Oman (2 records OBL7.6), 3rd Ayn Hamran Nov 2018 DB41(1): 56, SG41(1)ATR: 145; UAE winter Porter & Aspinall 2010, 7 records to 2013 (2 luscionensis ) EBRC Mitchell 2017: 1st for Turkmenistan Dec 2017 DB39(4): 272: if accepted 1st for Israel Mar 2019 Yoav Perlman in litt . Original separation from PT L. cristatu s by Voous (1977). Little hybridisation known Parkin & Knox 2010. 617 Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio [Fuchs et al 2019] Fuchs et al 2019 demonstrate as separate lineage. H&M4, IOC6.2 opt for monotypic, subsuming sspp erected ( formerly considered as L. previously. Not Turkmenistan (K-M&K 2005), breeds (sspp from HBW13) N of Caucasus, Turkey, Israel (rare) [cristatus] collurio) where common migrant Perlman & Meyrav 2009, Iran Scott & Adhami 2006, common BM, PM Kazakhstan Wassink 2015b & hybrid population (× L. phoenicuroides ) southern Altai, Saur Mts, Tarbagatai & Zaysan Depression Wassink 2015b, N Kyrgyzstan (mostly), Ven 2002. Passage Iraq Salim et al 2012, Cyprus Peter Flint pers comm, fairly common PM Oman OBL7; occurs Afghanistan E Dickinson pers comm status unknown (R&A 2012 suggest fall migration S through Pakistan),