Posted by John Boyd on September 13, 2003 at 20:11:36:
In Reply to: ABA and AOU changes posted by Alex on September 13, 2003 at 19:45:16:
: Band-tailed Gull changed to Belcher's Gull
This is actually a split of Band-tailed Gull into Belcher's Gull and Olrog's Gull. Olrog's does not occur in the ABA area.
: Also big, unbelievable change,
: there is now a taxonomic change in the order of ducks, geese, swans, quails, and grouse now in front of Loons and grebes in the overall list. We should see new changes in the new upcoming editions in bird guides.
This change was controversial when Sibley and Monroe made it in their list over a decade ago. Additional research has supported their position and the AOU has now followed them.
The new AOU supplement also marks a number of species as probably misplaced in the current list. This particularly affects Tanagers and Sparrows and we can look forward to another big shakeup in the future.
If you're curious about this you might look at the current draft of the AOU's South American list.