The yearly tinkering with the order of species in the official list of North American birds gives us a whole new idea of the relationships of these birds. Developing and using checklists will be very different from here on. There's a helpful post on the Alabama list: http://birding.aba.org/message.php?mesid=1184887&MLID=AL&MLNM=Alabama that explains the process and rationales for the major changes in the official list. It offers links to the new North American list and also to the Alabama list. It's a helpful aid to understanding a host of changes. We'll have to make big changes in our Ohio list beyond just adding a half-dozen species based on recent records committee decisions. As I was finishing my checklist of central Ohio species I had to go back and change many many new orders before I put it online, and anyone publishing a bird checklist from now on will have to make some big alterations and get used to some new ideas. Thanks to Greg Jackson for the orderly introduction. Bill Whan ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]