AOU Check-list Supplement The Auk 117(3):847–858, 2000 FORTY-SECOND SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION CHECK-LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS This first Supplement since publication of the 7th Icterus prosthemelas, Lonchura cantans, and L. atricap- edition (1998) of the AOU Check-list of North American illa); (3) four species are changed (Caracara cheriway, Birds summarizes changes made by the Committee Glaucidium costaricanum, Myrmotherula pacifica, Pica on Classification and Nomenclature between its re- hudsonia) and one added (Caracara lutosa) by splits constitution in late 1998 and 31 January 2000. Be- from now-extralimital forms; (4) four scientific cause the makeup of the Committee has changed sig- names of species are changed because of generic re- nificantly since publication of the 7th edition, it allocation (Ibycter americanus, Stercorarius skua, S. seems appropriate to outline the way in which the maccormicki, Molothrus oryzivorus); (5) one specific current Committee operates. The philosophy of the name is changed for nomenclatural reasons (Baeolo- Committee is to retain the present taxonomic or dis- phus ridgwayi); (6) the spelling of five species names tributional status unless substantial and convincing is changed to make them gramatically correct rela- evidence is published that a change should be made. tive to the generic name (Jacamerops aureus, Poecile The Committee maintains an extensive agenda of atricapilla, P. hudsonica, P. cincta, Buarremon brunnein- potential action items, including possible taxonomic ucha); (7) one English name is changed to conform to changes and changes to the list of species included worldwide use (Long-tailed Duck), one is changed in the main text or the Appendix. Many of these are by removing an unneeded modifier (White Tern), derived from statements of varying taxonomic treat- and five are changed because of species splits (Great- ments mentioned in notes in species accounts in the er Sage-Grouse, Western Spindalis, Greater Antillean 7th edition. Each member has accepted primary re- Oriole, Indian Silverbill, Tricolored Munia); and (8) sponsibility for certain groups of birds or for partic- seven species are added to the Appendix (Oceano- ular distributional or other matters. When a sugges- droma monorhis, Circus aeruginosus, Larus genei, L. no- tion for a change in taxonomic, nomenclatural, or vaehollandiae, Phaethornis yaruqui, Tachycineta albiven- distributional status is published, the member with ter, Oryzoborus angolensis). The 15 additions to the responsibility for the affected group studies the sit- main list bring the number of species recognized as uation and prepares a proposal for (or against) occurring in the Check-list area (main list) to 2,023. change. The Committee also considers proposals or This Supplement also makes some technical nomen- suggestions by nonmembers if accompanied by ad- clatural and spelling changes that were not included equate justification or evidence. Proposals, with rec- with errata in the Notice from the Committee in Auk ommendations, are circulated among the Committee 116:282–283, 1999. Literature that provides the basis and a period of discussion ensues, mainly by e-mail. for the Committee’s decisions is cited at the end of Advice may be solicited from colleagues who are not the Supplement, and citations not already in the Lit- members of the Committee. Eventually, a vote is tak- erature Cited of the 7th edition become additions to en. If approved, the proposal becomes an item for the it. An updated list of species known from the Check- next Supplement. If the proposal is not accepted, it list area may be accessed from Ͻhttp://www. returns to the agenda to await additional evidence. nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/index.htmlϾ on the inter- The Committee attempts to meet annually at the net. AOU meeting. Members of the Committee are also The following changes to the 7th edition (page working toward a future edition of the Check-list that numbers refer thereto) result from the Committee’s will include statements of geographic variation and actions: a treatment at the subspecific level. Changes in this Supplement fall into eight cate- pp. xvii-liv. In the list of bird species known from gories: (1) three species are added to the main list the Check-list area, change 2,008 to 2,023. In the list, because of new distributional information (Ardeola insert the following species in the proper position as bacchus, Milvus migrans, Emberiza elegans); (2) 11 spe- indicated by the text of this Supplement: cies are added to the list because of splitting of spe- Sula granti Nazca Booby. cies previously on the list (Sula granti, Centrocercus Ardeola bacchus Chinese Pond-Heron. minimus, Picoides arizonae, Dendroica subita, D. delicata, Milvus migrans Black Kite. Spindalis nigricephala, S. dominicensis, S. portoricensis, †Caracara lutosa Guadalupe Caracara. 847 848 Forty-second Supplement [Auk, Vol. 117 Centrocercus minimus Gunnison Sage-Grouse. Sula granti Rothschild, 1902, Bull. Brit. Ornithol. Glaucidium costaricanum Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl. Club 13: 7. (Galapagos Archipelago ϭ Culpepper Is- Picoides arizonae Arizona Woodpecker. land, fide Hartert, Nov. Zool. 32: 274, 1925.) Myrmotherula pacifica Pacific Antwren. Habitat.—Pelagic waters; nests on cliffs on is- Dendroica subita Barbuda Warbler. lands. Dendroica delicata St. Lucia Warbler. Distribution.—Breeds in the eastern Pacific on the Spindalis nigricephala Jamaican Spindalis. Galapagos Islands, Isla La Plata, Ecuador, and Mal- Spindalis dominicensis Hispaniolan Spindalis. pelo Island off Colombia, and in small numbers on Spindalis portoricensis Puerto Rican Spindalis. Clipperton Island and the Revillagigedos. Emberiza elegans Yellow-throated Bunting. Ranges at sea off Middle America in the southern Icterus prosthemelas Black-cowled Oriole. Gulf of California and from Colima, Mexico, to Ec- Lonchura cantans African Silverbill (I). uador. Lonchura atricapilla Chestnut Munia (I). Notes.—Formerly considered a subspecies of S. Change the following English names: dactylatra, but separated by Pitman and Jehl (1998). Clangula hyemalis Long-tailed Duck. See comments under S. dactylatra. Centrocercus urophasianus Greater Sage-Grouse. Gygis alba White Tern. p. 32. In the Notes under the genus Phalacrocorax, Spindalis zena Western Spindalis. the name Hypoleucus should be Hypoleucos. Icterus dominicensis Greater Antillean Oriole. Lonchura malabarica Indian Silverbill (I). p. 44. Before the genus Butorides, insert: Lonchura malacca Tricolored Munia (I). Change the following scientific names, with no Genus ARDEOLA Boie change in English names: Ardeola Boie, 1822, Isis von Oken, col. 559. Type, by Daptrius americanus to Ibycter americanus monotypy, Ardea ralloides Scopoli. Caracara plancus to Caracara cheriway Catharacta skua to Stercorarius skua Ardeola bacchus (Bonaparte). Chinese Pond-Heron. Catharacta maccormicki to Stercorarius maccormi- Buphus bacchus Bonaparte, 1855, Consp. Gen. Av- cki ium, 2:127. (Malay Peninsula.) Jacamerops aurea to Jacamerops aureus Pica pica to Pica hudsonia Habitat.—Marshland, rice fields, riverbanks, man- Poecile atricapillus to Poecile atricapilla groves, tidepools, and margins of fish ponds. Poecile hudsonicus to Poecile hudsonica Distribution.—Breeds from central Manchuria Poecile cinctus to Poecile cincta and Inner Mongolia south through eastern China Baeolophus griseus to Baeolophus ridgwayi and Taiwan to Assam, northern Indochina, and Hai- Buarremon brunneinuchus to Buarremon brunneinu- nan. cha Winters in the southern part of the breeding range Scaphidura oryzivora to Molothrus oryzivorus and to Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Myanmar (Burma), Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Sulawesi. Delete the following names: Wanders to Siberia, Korea, Japan, and Sri Lanka. Glaucidium jardinii Andean Pygmy-Owl. Accidental on St. Paul Island, Pribilofs, Alaska, 4– Myrmotherula surinamensis Streaked Antwren. 9 August 1996 (Gibson and Kessel 1997, Hoyer and Move Icterus bullockii to position following I. pus- Smith 1997). tulatus p. 81. The Committee was petitioned by a group of p. 28. Sula granti is recognized as a species distinct biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in from S. dactylatra, as proposed by Pitman and Jehl Alaska to change the English name of Clangula hye- (1998), on the basis of differences in bill color, size malis from Oldsquaw to Long-tailed Duck, the name and proportions, some color characters in both ju- used for the species outside of North America. The venal and definitive plumages, preferred nesting basis for the petition was that the species is declining habitat, and pelagic nonbreeding ranges. Modify the in numbers in Alaska, and conservation manage- breeding distribution of Sula dactylatra by removing ment plans require the help and cooperation of Na- the phrase ‘‘and in the Galapagos’’ and the word tive Americans. The biologists were concerned that ‘‘Ecuador.’’ Add to the Notes under S. dactylatra: the name Oldsquaw would offend the Native Amer- Some old sight reports may pertain to S. granti (e.g. icans. Requests to change the name had been made Roberson 1998). Insert the following after the ac- to the Committee in past years by some who consider count for S. dactylatra: the word ‘‘squaw’’ to be offensive. The Committee declines to consider political correctness alone in Sula granti Rothschild. Nazca Booby. changing long-standing English names of birds but July 2000] Forty-second Supplement 849 is willing in this instance to adopt an alternative these genera differ in syringeal