Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!ox.com!math.fu-berlin.de!fauern!unido!gmdzi!tmc-ae
From: tmc-ae@gmdzi.gmd.de (FA Jirka)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: European vs. American Bird Names
Message-ID: <4529@gmdzi.gmd.de>
Date: 15 Apr 91 07:03:38 GMT
References: <1991Apr11.120249.8804@verdix.com> <1991Apr13.111608@cs.utwente.nl>
Organization: GMD, St. Augustin, F.R. Germany
Lines: 75

deby@cs.utwente.nl (Rolf de By) writes:

>In article <1991Apr11.120249.8804@verdix.com>, edm@verdix.com (Ed Matthews) writes:

>I haven't looked up things (my bird books being at home) but if my memory
>serves me well, the Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) has distinct subspecies
>in Europe and North-America, and there is a slight possibility that they may
>eventually become separate species. ...

The American subspecies used to be a separate species (Wilson's Snipe - the
Latin escapes me) but was lumped with Common Snipe a long time ago. This
lumping is independent of the change of the genus name from Capella to
Gallinago (which is what started this discussion).

>By the way, some additional splits are on their way over here in Europe. The
>ones that come directly to my mind are

>Yellow-legged Gull	Larus cachinnans (split from L. argentatus)
>  (this species includes the Mediterranean michahellis group)

Yellow-legged Gull is occasional on N.Am. East Coast, but I haven't heard
what A.O.U. thinks.

>Water Pipit & Rock Pipit Anthus spinoletta & A. littoralis
>   (over here Water Pipit is mountain species, Rock Pipit a coast species)

A.O.U. (1989) has accepted the split-off of American Pipit (A. americana).
Attu watchers, beware! no doubt A. littoralis turns up there occasionally.
Actually, I was under the impression that both AOU and BOU had accepted the
littoralis/spinoletta split.

>American & Lesser Golden Plover
>    (this you will know better than me, I guess)
The rumour us that A.O.U. WILL split those (I'm waiting impatiently - I got
them both). Can anybody find out? - the Checklist Committee should have met
in March, but I don't have an Email address.

>and possibly others (but this is much less clear); the most important possible
>split to an American who is visiting Europe (or has visited Europe) is that of

>American Scoter		Melanitta americana
>    (possibly to be split from our Common Scoter (M. nigra))

>In any case, the British are more conservative (as usual), and the above
>cases are therefore not generally agreed upon.

But the question remains, is the BOU making the decisions for the entire
Western Palaearctic? No doubt that's what they think themselves ...

Checking Voous's list (he's not British, by the way, I know), I find that
he lumps the following Nearctic/Palaearctic species pairs :
 Great Egret      (Casmerodius albus)     - subsp of Common Egret, Egretta alba
 Black-vented Shearwater (Puffinus opistomelas) - subsp. of P.puffinus
 Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) - subsp of H. himantopus
 Least Tern (Sterna antillarum)           - subsp of Little Tern, S. albifrons
 Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)        - subsp of Treecreeper, C. familiaris

So anyone birding both continents will have to decide which authority to
follow.
Voous also doesn't recognize recent North American splits, which is reasonable.
I've only listed Holarctic species, or species pairs.

>Rolf A. de By
>Vakgroep Informatiesystemen			Tel   : (0)53--893753
>Faculteit der Informatica			b.g.g.: (0)53--893690
>Universiteit Twente				Fax   : (0)53--339605
>Postbus 217, 7500 AE Enschede			Email : deby@cs.utwente.nl
>The Netherlands						deby@henut5.bitnet


>>>>>  Please ignore the From: line. This is a guest account.
Daan Sandee                                          sandee@mimikri.gmd.de
Thinking Machines Corporation
Gesellschaft fuer Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung
D-5205 Sankt Augustin, Germany                       Phone: +49 2241 142410