*Updated July 6/17 - Full text of comments on proposals of 58th supplement to the AOU checklist are out.

As I stated in my previous post (see HERE), I said I would post the full text with all the deliberations and comments on all proposals to the 58th supplement to the AOU checklist. It has been officially published and you can read the full text Here and the deliberations on the AOU checklist proposals  HERE.

We already knew they lumped Thayer's Gull with Iceland, they didn't approve any of the splits that concern us here, Lesser Redpoll was added as a species in North America and is distinct from Hoary and Common and we gained a new species of Crossbill called the Cassia Crossbill. Northern Harrier and Northern Shrike were split from their old world cousins. Yellow-breasted Chat is no longer a warbler but in its own family. Songbirds in field guides will be rearranged in a new sequence, North American Sparrows have their own family now, called Passerellidae. 

We also now know that Ring-necked Duck will not have a name change to Ring-billed Duck. I am quite happy with this one. We shouldn't change an established name in my opinion just to make identification easier.

It is interesting to read the comments on the proposals and see the reasoning behind all of the decisions. It gives us more clarity on the accepted and denied proposals, even if we disagree or agree with them.


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