North American Birds is published by the American Birding Association. www.aba.org We invite all readers to become ABA members by visiting aba.org/join or calling (800) 850-2473. CHAIR Julie Davis The mission of the journal is to provide a complete overview of the changing panorama of our continent’s birdlife, including outstanding records, range extensions and contractions, population dynamics, identification BOARD OF DIRECTORS breakthroughs, taxonomic reevaluations, and changes in migration patterns or seasonal occurrence. We welcome Sara Pruneda Beesley • Matthew E. Fraker submission of manuscripts in these areas. Manuscripts, photographs, and other communications about journal Karyl Gabriel • Neil Hayward Willie Hendrickson • Amanda Mangan content should be sent to [email protected], and membership queries to [email protected]. David McQuade • Judy Pollock Paul Riss • Jordan Roderick • Lili Taylor PUBLISHER PHOTO EDITOR Arnella Trent • Magill Weber American Birding Association Mary Gustafson PRESIDENT Jeffrey A. Gordon EDITOR REGIONAL REPORT PUBLICATION EDITORS FINANCE Michael L. P. Retter Justin Bosler • Amy Davis Kelly Smith Eric DeFonso • Ted Floyd COPY EDITORS Mary Ann Good • Kayla Jones MEMBERSHIP & COMMUNICATIONS Jean Hall • Dean Shoup • Barb Sydow Andrew Keaveney • Joshua Malbin David Hartley, Webmaster LeAnn Pilger, Member Services Alex Meilleur • Daniel Miller Greg Neise, Web Developer TECHINICAL REVIEWERS Randi Minetor • José Ramírez-Garofalo Nathan Swick, Digital Communications Amar Ayyash • Frank Izaguirre Byron Swift • Raymond L. VanBuskirk Kelly Smith, Headquarters Operations Manager Alvaro Jaramillo • Jenna McCullough Alison Világ CONSERVATION & COMMUNITY Jennie Duberstein, Young Birder Liaison REGIONAL REPORT COMPILERS PUBLICATIONS Chris Andersen, Pierre Bannon, Olivier Barden, Matt Baumann, Mark Billings, Michael Brothers, Ted Floyd, Birding Michael L. P. Retter, Birding Specials Alvan Buckley, Adam Capparelli, John Carlson, Eric Carpenter, Chris Charlesworth, Paul E. Conover, Michael L. P. Retter, North American Birds Normand David, Amy Davis, Jeff N. Davis, Samuel Denault, James J. Dinsmore, Stephen J. Dinsmore, John Lowry, Advertising Andrew Dobson, Ryan Douglas, Cameron D. Eckert, Corey Ellingson, Richard A. Erickson, James Fox, Ed Rother/ER Graphics Design & Production Matthew E. Fraker, Lawrence Gardella, Kimball L. Garrett, Joseph A. Grzybowski, Greg Hanisek, PAST BOARD CHAIRS James Hengeveld, Adrian Hinkle, Christopher Hinkle, Greg D. Jackson, Josh Jackson, Rich Jackson, Scott Fraser (2017–2019) Josh Janvrin, Tom Johnson, Logan Kahle, Andrew Keaveney, Rudolf F. Koes, Oliver Komar, Louis Morrell (2010–2017) Anthony Levesque, William Marengo, Gerardo Marrón, Ron E. Martin, Guy McCaskie, Dick Ashford (2009–2010) Keith A. McMullen, Shaibal S. Mitra, Francis L. Moore, Kenny Nichols, Robert L. Norton, Thomas Pincelli (2007–2009) Ellison Orcutt, Robert O. Paxton, Wayne R. Petersen, Randy Pinkston, Michael M. Rogers, Bettie R. Harriman (2006–2007) Richard H. Payne (1999–2006) Frank Rohrbacher, Jen Rothe, Stephen C. Rottenborn, David Sarkozi, David Seeler, Allan R. Keith (1997–1999) Dean Shoup, W. Ross Silcock, Chris Sloan, Colin Stempien, Kate Stone, Dan Svingen, Daniel T. Williams, Jr. (1993–1997) Thede Tobish, John A. Trent, Joshua P. Uffman, Raymond L. VanBuskirk, John van Dort, Allan R. Keith (1989–1993) Alex Wang, Geoffrey A. Williamson, Enrique Zamora-Hernández Lawrence G. Balch (1983–1989) Joseph W. Taylor (1979–1983) Arnold Small (1976–1979) G. Stuart Keith (1973–1976) MEMBERSHIP DESIGN & PRODUCTION ADVERTISING WEBSITE & IT G. Stuart Keith (1970 pro tem) LeAnn Pilger Ed Rother/ER Graphics John Lowry David Hartley • Greg Neise PAST JOURNAL EDITORS John W. Aldrich (1947–1951) Chandler S. Robbins (1951–1954) North American Birds is published by the American Birding Association, Inc. Copyright © 2020 by the American Editorial Board, including Robbins, Birding Association, Inc., all rights reserved. Printed by LSC Communications, Shepherdsville, Kentucky. The views Ludlow Griscom, Allan Cruickshank and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of each contributing writer and do not necessarily represent the (1954–1967) views and opinions of the American Birding Association or its management. ABA is not responsible for the quality of Richard L. Plunkett (1967–1970) products or services advertised in North American Birds, unless the products or services are being offered directly by Robert S. Arbib, Jr. (1970–1983) the Association. John Farrand, Jr. (1984–1985) Susan Roney Drennan (1985–1996) Kenn Kaufman (1997–1998) Michael A. Patten (1999–2000) GENEROUS SUPPORT PROVIDED Edward S. Brinkley (2001–2017) BY AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY On the cover: Collared Redstart is widely known in Costa Rica as amigo de hombre (friend of man), but it has no standardized Spanish language name. Frank Izaguirre explores why on p. 8. Cinchona, Heredia Province, Costa Rica. 1 Feb 2016. Photo © Bruno Conjeaud. Contents NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS • AMERICAN BIRDING ASSOCIATION • VOLUME 72 • NUMBER 1 • 2021 2 From the Editor 16 What Isn’t a Species? PLUS, Online: Michael L. P. Retter Steve N. G. Howell 3 About the Authors 26 Evidence of Pair Bonds Regional Reports and Flock Bonds among aba.org/nab-reports European Goldfinch in the 4 Red Crossbills Western Great Lakes Region: P. Ross Gorman A 2020 Update Adam Sell 28 The Origin and Use of Safe Dates in Breeding 8 Should There Be a Bird Atlases: A Proposal List of Spanish Names for an Improved for the Americas? Atlas Methodology Frank Izaguirre Byron Swift The First Occurrence of 12 Expanded online-only content European Golden-Plover 34 The Utility of in Interior North America Next-generation Jodhan Fine NAB Field Ornithology Sequencing in aba.org/field-ornithology 15 First State and Provincial Uncovering the Records from 2020 Avian Genome Thomas Ford-Hutchinson compiled by Nate Swick 42 Pictorial Highlights compiled by Eric DeFonso Errata Many thanks to Jim Fowler for report- ing the following errors in Volume 71, Number 2: • On p. 16, the ATTOUR record of Steller’s Sea-Eagle is listed as “16 May–2 Jun 2004”. It should, instead, have read “16 May–2 Jun 1994”. • On p. 63, the Yellow-breasted Bunting found in Labrador is described as being the “first record for Newfoundland and Labrador, the Atlantic Region, and North America”. It should, instead, have read “first record for both the Atlantic Region and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador”, as there are four prior records from the western Aleutian Is. European Goldfinch continues to spread along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Learn more from Adam Sell on p. 4. Carol Stream, DuPage Co, Illinois. 22 Dec 2020. Photo © Jeffrey Boland. VOLUME 71 • NUMBER 2 1 From the Editor MICHAEL L. P. RETTER • Fort Worth, Texas • [email protected] n 2020, the ABA restructured its membership program so that all members now have online access to North American Birds, in addition to Birding. This means that North American Birds is now accessible to a wider audience than ever! If you’re an ABA member who is reading this journal for the Ifirst time, I want to offer you a very special welcome to the first of two 2021 issues ofNorth American Birds. I hope you’ll enjoy what you see here. In this issue, Nate Swick starts us off by sharing a comprehensive list of all the state and provincial firsts in the ABA Area for 2020. More than one well-meaning birder has asked why there isn’t a Spanish-language version of the ABA Checklist; native Spanish-speaker Frank Izaguirre explains the intricacies of this complicated situation. Adam Sell updates the status of European Goldfinch in the Midwest. Steve Howell, never in want of a good title for his articles, waxes lyrical on what isn’t a species. Jodhan Fine reports on North America’s first inland record of European Golden-Plover. H. Ross Gorman recounts his observation of interesting behavior in a flock of Red Crossbills. Byron Swift shares his thoughts on updating protocols to make breeding bird atlases even better. And Thomas Ford-Hutchinson explains how and why next-generation genomic sequencing is revolu- tionizing the study of bird taxonomy. As usual, we round out the magazine with Pictorial Highlights, showcasing some of the most exciting photos gleaned from the online Regional Reports. Speaking of the online Regional Reports, it’s time to toot our own horn. Over the past six months, Greg Neise, Ted Floyd, and I have worked closely and tirelessly with our new team of volunteer Regional Report Publication Editors to publish online the entirety of the four-year backlog! You may access the fruit of our labors at aba.org/nab-reports. Of special note are the Québec and Texas regions, for which a report from every season has been published. I want to personally thank Regional Report Compilers Pierre Bannon, Olivier Barden, Eric Carpenter, Normand David, and Samuel Denault for their timeliness, hard work, and dedication. Some regions, however, have (understandably) not yet submitted reports to cover the entire 2017–2020 period, and a couple sadly have no reports at all. If your region lacks content, and you have an idea of who could help fill the gap, please let us know by emailing me. With our new team in place, we’re committed to publishing each report received within one month of receipt. “Backlogs” are, with great relief, a thing of the past. As always, we in the birding community depend on one another to share our knowledge and insights. With that in mind, I ask you to consider sub- mitting a brief article for the Field Ornithology web series, penning a manuscript for publication in the magazine, and/or serving as a Regional Report Compiler or Regional Report Publication Editor. The ABA strives to make heard the voices of historically marginalized and under-represented groups in birding, and, to be blunt, the lack of diversity among our authors and Regional Report Compilers is concerning. We urgently want and need to hear more and varied perspectives in these pages. By you sharing your knowledge, we can all become more informed and understanding birders.