As I am reading Milton Trautman's "Birds of Buckeye Lake, Ohio" right now (courtesy of Bill Whan!), I can't help but notice that some of the bird name changes are actually reversions to earlier names that are used in Trautman's work, such as American Scoter and Eastern Whip-poor-whil. Andy Sewell Columbus, Ohio -----Original Message----- From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bill Whan Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 8:56 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [Ohio-birds] Latest AOU changes in N. American bird taxonomy Apparently, the yearly revisions to the AOU Check-list will very soon be on the web page http://www.aou.org/checklist/north/ . There are lots of new scientific name changes, which usually involve the new recognition of valid previous versions, but other news as well. Unofficial announcements include these involving Ohio species: --our "black scoter" becomes "American Scoter," based on being split from the Old World form. --some warbler species previously in the genus Vermivora (Tennessee, Nashville) have been moved into the genus Oreothlypis. --the blue-winged warbler is now V. cyanoptera. --the Bachman's sparrow has a new generic name, and is Peucaea aestivalis. --a new order Suliformes is split from Pelicaniformes, and now includes frigatebirds and cormorants, as well as others. --the Ardeidae (herons, bitterns, etc.) move from the order Ciconiiformes to the order Pelicaniformes. --the hawks, eagles, kites, etc. are split from Falconiformes into a new order Accipitriformes. Thanks to H. Horne for publicizing this early news. These, and other changes, are official only on the site given above, and should be available there shortly. This posting is for gossip purposes only. I am surprised to see how many of these changes aren't covered in the Proposals pages of the Committee's sites, while many of the issues that seemed to have been settled there are apparently not. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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] ______________________________________________________________________ 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]