Unofficial word is out that the AOU Checklist Committee has voted to split the eastern and western forms of the winter wren as of next July. This makes a lot of sense to the many birders who have wondered at the differences in their vocalizations. Apparently this was a major clue to their genetic differences. You can compare vocalizations of winter wrens from the west and east coasts, as well as others from China, on the Borror Lab site http://blb.biosci.ohio-state.edu/database.html It's always a treat to listen to winter wrens from anywhere. Bill Whan Columbus p.s. take the time to surf around the Borror Lab site; I stumbled across the stridulations of the wolf spider and the calls of the square-lipped rhinoceros, both recorded in Ohio! http://www.azfo.org/gallery/2009/html1/WIWR_Mesa_Moore_20090124.html http://birding.typepad.com/peeps/2009/12/winter-wren-proposed-as-two-distinct-species.html http://www.aou.org/committees/nacc/proposals/pending.php ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]