Thanks for the update, Bill.

It's interesting that I learned the American Goldfinch as Spinus
tristis and now it's back! Maybe my old field guides will be accurate
again; who knows.

Bob Beason
Huron, OH

On Jun 30, 2009, at 10:53 AM, Bill Whan wrote:

> The admirably open process of the American Ornithologists' Union's
> Check-list Committee permits us to look ahead to some changes. See
> http://www.aou.org/committees/nacc/proposals/pending.php  .
>        These decisions are probably not final till the publication
> of next
> month's issue of the Auk, but some name changes are in the offing.
> These
> are especially important if you're working on a checklist, or a
> publication, and one of them at least will be an immediate relief to
> ordinary birders.
>        That one is the simplification of some of the English names of
> Ammodramus sparrows:
>        "Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow" is now "Saltmarsh Sparrow",
> and
>        "Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow" is now "Nelson's Sparrow."
> Hurray.
>        The old genus Carduelis is being split up, with these
> changes in
> scientific names for Ohio species:
>        common redpoll is now Acanthis flammea
>        hoary redpoll is now Acanthis hornemanni
>        American goldfinch is now Spinus tristis
>        pine siskin is now Spinus pinus
>
>        Finally, the Ohio "tanagers" (summer, scarlet, western), as
> well as the
> hepatic tanager, in the genus Piranga are leaving the tanager
> family to
> join the Cardinalidae. Their scientific names will remain the same,
> but
> maybe the English name "tanager" will be changed...I'd guess not,
> after
> reading the comments...
> Bill Whan
> Columbus
>
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