EDITORS' NOTEBOOK

TheForty-fifth Supplement (genetic)attributes of the genusBranta. seen the Eastern Yellow Wagtail By now,most readers have heard that the Not onlyare Cackling Geese clearly sep- (Motacillatschutschensis). The systemat- American Ornithologists' Union's arableas a differentand old lineagefrom ics of the YellowWagtail complexare Check-listCommittee has published the CanadaGoose--it alsoappears that the quite involved,but severallines of data, forty-fifth Supplementto the A.O.U. closestrelative of Cackling is includinggenetics, argue for this split Check-list.There are numerouschanges actuallyBarnacle Goose (B. leucopsis)! from the Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla to the Check-list in the new document, The radiation of Hawaiian geese, of flava). There may well be more splits manybeing minor updatesof scientific whichthe only remainingmember is the within the other YellowWagtail taxa in namesin orderto make the (linguistic) Nene (B. sandvicensis),is an offshoot of time, and records from Newfoundland genderof speciesmatch that of genus. the (in the strict sense) and from Alert, Nunavut should be As is typicallythe case,the changesthat lineage. reviewedas possible examples of Yellow interest most field observers are the Two issuesemerge from thisreorgani- Wagtails(in the new sense)in North additionsto the list and the "lumps"and zation that may concernbirders. First, America.Another split, of White-fronted "splits."The new additionsto the list "CacklingGoose" is a name that has Quail-Dove( Geotrygonleucometopia of include Great-wingedPetrel, Greater been traditionallyused to refer only to Hispaniola) from the Gray-fronted Sand-Plover, Willow Warbler, Lesser the subspeciesminima, and sousing this Quail-Dove(G. canicepsof Cuba),fur- Whitethroat, and SpottedFlycatcher. name for the newly separatedspecies• thersthe splittingtrend in the systemat- Cuban Peweeis officially added as a which includesminima, leucopareia, tav- ics of West Indian fauna. Finally the vagrantto the United States.(Readers erneri. asiatica,and hutchinsii--is bound PygmyAntwren complex (Mynnotherula will recognizemost of thesenames from to causesome confusion. Perhaps a new brachyura)has been reorganized:the pastarticles in thisjournal!) Therewere name ("Tundra Goose"?) should have speciesfound from Panamato Ecuador no specieslumped, and onlya few of the been considered for the small taxa. Also (west of the Andes) is now known as splitspertain to speciesregular in the a complicatedmatter, two taxa that have MoustachedAntwren (M. ignota). UnitedStates and Canada,those being of been thoughtdifficult to tell apart and TheSupplement makes several English Canada Goose and Yellow Wagtail. that have been considered intermediate namechanges. One breederin thisjour- Caribbean observers will be interested to between the large and small Canada nalgarea of coverage,Red-vented Wood- see that Gray-frontedQuail-Dove has geese---Lesser(parvipes) and Taverner's pecker (Melanerpespygmaeus), is now been split, while another taxonomic (taverneri)--are placed in different sensiblyknown as YucatanWoodpecker, rearrangement means that Panama's :taverneri is assignedto Cackling a namealready in wide use.Those who Pygmy Antwren is now called Mous- Goose,while parvipesbecomes part of theBering Sea Islands in spring(and tached Antwren. CanadaGoose. The geneticdistinction anyonereading the Alaskaspring report Birdershave long known that there between these two taxa, however, is in this issue) will want to take note that are two "size classes"of Canada Goose, unambiguous.The confusionbetween SiberianFlycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica) and anyonewho has seen one of the taverneriand parvipesappears to have is now called Dark-sidedFlycatcher, and small forms next to one of the large arisen for several reasons: 1) observers that its relative,Gray-spotted Flycatcher formsprobably has wondered why these haveconfused the two on the wintering (M. griseisticta),is now knownas Gray- two incrediblydifferent beasts were con- grounds;2) therehas long circulatedan streakedFlycatcher. Another vagrantor sidereda singlespecies. The similarityin unsubstantiated notion that there is a rare visitor to the A.O.U. Area, the bird plumagebut dissimilarityin sizemirrors cline (or zone of intergradation) we oncefondly called Mongolian Plover the situation, for instance,in Ross'sand betweenlarge and small CanadaGoose (Charadriusmongolus) is now knownby Snow Goose, or in Lesser and Greater taxa in Alaska and the Yukon; and 3) themore pedestrian name of LesserSand- White-fronted Geese,which have long some literature has incorrectly listed Plover (similar to the name used in Eura- been consideredseparate species. The Tavernerg as a breeder in the interior of sia, but with the additionof a hyphen). smaller taxa of Canada Goose are now Alaska rather than on the north coast of Ironically,there is the distinctpossibility known as ( Alaska.Now that CacklingGoose has that MongolianPlover (in the narrow hutchinsii);the largeones are still known been split from Canada Goose, much sense:the easternmostbreeding taxa of as Canada Goose (B. canadensis). work lies ahead for committees to sort LesserSand-Plover) will be recognizedas Ornithologistshave been aware that, in out errors in the older literature and a species distinct from Lesser Sand- addition to differencesin size, these two archivedrecords--and to helpclarify the Plover--sowe maybe hearingMongolian groupsdiffer in their breedinghabitat fieldidentification of thesespecies, still a Plover (MongolianSand-Plover?) again (Cackling breeds largely in tundra), challengein manycases. sometime in the future.All thesegym- migrationroutes, wintering areas,voice, The other three splits are likely to nastiesto standardizethe Englishnames and other characters. However, a new set haveless impact on our readers.If you of do make one wonderwhy we of data has emergedfrom a seriesof haveseen the YellowWagtails that breed rearrangethem so often,when the scien- papers that focuses on molecular in Alaskaand the Yukon,then you have tific names (if not the taxonomic rank-

NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS STANDARD ings!)are already relatively well standard- from 1998 and 2001 in this journal in ABBREVIATIONSAND izedaround the English-speakingworld. the Mexico regional report (N.A.B. 56: 114)4ad providedthe impetusfor the SYMBOLSUSED IN THE ---Alvaro Jaramillo search,though we were surprisedto read REGIONALREPORTS in the ARC pressrelease that the species Moves had not been reported in "ten years." We have,as ever,new peregrinationsand When we contacted ABC to let them *+ specimenbird(s)seencollected through end of period colonizations to report. Colorado & know of persistent records from t writtendetails on file Wyomingregional editor Chris Wood has Cozumel, we learned that the organiza- A.F.B. AirForce Base migratedto the Midwestand can now be tion wasunaware of the persistentrecords act. acceptedbyrecords committee contacted at: of the species.How much more timelyit A.R.C AvianRecords Committee mighthave been, for the thrasher'ssake, if b. banded ChristopherL. Wood we had managedto get out the word of B.B.S. BreedingBird Survey 1301 Brian Place #3 the thrasher's continued existence B.O. BirdObservatory Urbana, Illinois 61802 sooner!The recoveryproject might have B.R.C BirdRecords Committee (clw•insightbb.com) begunyears ago. C.k ConservationArea What is the lesson of this missed C.B.C. ChristmasBird Count He will continue to write the regional opportunityto be of help to the profes- C.P. CountyPark cm centimeter(s) report with Doug Faulkner. David sional ornithologistsand bird conserva- Cr, Creek Trochlell,longtime regional editor for the tionistsof North America?We startedby Ft.• Fort Idaho-WesternMontana region,is mov- sendinga complimentarysubscription to :G.C. GolfCourse ing to Oregon.The new regionaleditor the ABC, of course,and we havebegun to G.P. GamePreServe for thatregion will be HarryKrueger, con- assemblea shortlist of organizationsthat tactable at: HWy,• ;Highway• might alsobenefit from the view thisjour- L(ls:) •Island(s), !sle(s) • nal provideson basicbird distribution,a imm:(imms.)immature(s) J. Harry Krueger field that has fallen out of favor in much •J•t. Juncfi0n• 5107 West Ponder Street of the academic world, for undexstand- juv.(juvs.) juvena![Plumage!!juvende(s) • Boise, Idaho 83705 ablereasons. We hopethat subscribersto I km5 kilometer(s) (hkrueger•cableone.net) this journal can help us by encouraging L, :'Gke local, regional, and university libraries mi5 :mdlimeter{•) Davidwill continueto editwith Harry for to restart their North American Birds m.ob, ,manY(o[muiMple!observers: a few seasons,so pleasesend sightings to subscriptions--many of which have ' Mt.!Mtg•) Mount/Mountain(Mountains), both regionaleditors for the time being. lapsedowing to widespreadbudget cuts. 'N.k 'NaiureArea; Natfi}•-Ar•a For the fall season only, seasonal Bird clubs,conservation groups, and bird N.E NationalForest regionaleditor Steve Kelling wfil passhis observatoriesmight also consider sub- •N:• NationalMonument• duties to Michael Powers, also at the Cor- scribingon behalfof the officersor direc- .N.P Nationa!Park nell Laboratoryof Ornithology.Mike can tors, who will want to keep abreastof •.S..i ::NationalSeashore be contacted at: changesin bird distribution.We cannot, ,N•W.IL -NationalWildlife, Refuge: after all, have much impactin the world 'p,a, pendingacceptance, Michael Powers of bird conservationif we're not readby P:P, . Pfo•indalPark p'•& Peninsula•; CornellLaboratory of Ornithology people chargedwith conservingNorth 159 SapsuckerWoods Road America's birdlife! •!k• I•h•tograPhed(by-•inifialsj 'PC 76i•(n9 t: Ithaca, New York 14850 -E• Riwr ([email protected]) ---Edward S. Brinkley ;R•A? ,RecreaMon(•l•Area Errata ;ILKA• ':Rare•i•{{Alert Finally, for the springseason only, sea- ;EP-• '•-Regip.pal'Pa(k, sonalregional editor RogerMcNeill will In thepaper by PaulW. Sykeset al. on the •R.S• ?R•giona!Sh•reline• be moving to New Zealand; we will first Mangrove Swallow for the United ';Res.• R•ervoit announcethe new spring editor for the States (N.A.B. 58: 4-11), a citation was •Rte. •,R6Uic Iowa & Missouriregion in the next issue. inadvertendyomitted on page11 (Gill, E •S:B. ,StateBea• Thanksto Steveand Rogerfor their hard B. 1990.Ornithology. Freeman, New York), , •S:L •-:Stat•Forest work in their respectiveregions. andone reference on page 9 for Howalland : •S;G.A. 5•a•e:G•m•/•r• Webb (1995) contained a typographic • '•.•P... StatePark œ0zumellhrasher's return error in the date of publication.Mary 5.R.k StateRecreation Area We were delightedto seethat the Ameri- Gustarsonpoints out that the Lark Sparrow ,S.R• •State Reserve can Bird Conservancy(ARC) proclaimed depictedin N.A.B.58:45 representedthe 5..W;k :•Siatew diif•rea this springat a majorjoint pressconfer- second,not fixst,photographic record for JS.TP• :i'•WageTr(atm•nt Plant/Pofd ence with Conservation International in Delaware.Phfi Davisnotes that the Mary- ,subaS.,{subads.) • :isubadult(s) • Mexico City that the CozumelThrasher land Bird Records Committee continues to Twp. .;mgwnship: was in fact still hangingon (BirdCalls 8 deliberateon statespecimens of Western :y.!! •o!ie•eCoH[•'(byq-ihi•ifilsi [2]: 1). On hearing the good news, we Wood-Pewee from 1961 and 1967 (contra •t. :vi&ot•pe:(by:-Finitials): assumedthat our reportsof the species N•A.B.58: 57). • W;A; '..WildlifeA(ea W,M.K 'WildlifeManagement•rea • W3•:B. :(Waste•ie'•refitmentHant/Pønd

VOLUME 58 (2004) ß NUMBER 3 333