The American Ornithologists'Union has again proposed a lot of changes in the official list of North American birds. Just like last year, it seems that a mix-master has again been employed on our knowledge of our birds. Proposals for this years' changes can be read at http://checklist.aou.org/assets/proposals/PDF/2017-C.pdf . These proposals will be scrutinized, and those accepted will change the official AOU list of North American birds....until next year's set of proposals are accepted. In days gone by, changes in the relatively stable AOU list were caused by the collection of some bird from the south found north of the US border of Texas, or the discovery of the corpse of an interesting pelagic species washed up on a beach in Oregon. DNA technologies have changed our understanding. Schlubs like us, without expensive machines to tease apart DNA strands, are advised to rewrite checklists, adding or subtracting new or old species, changing the order of checklists to reflect new knowledge, and change scientific (and common) names to comply. With new techniques for studying birds, the yearly proposals from the AOU as to our understanding of our birdlife always offer new surprises. Because most of this new knowledge comes from the application of expensive machinery and exacting expertise upon a limited number of specimens, the new species are pretty hard to understand. We thought we had reached a level of understanding about species, and this was a signal that the days when accumulations of specimens were necessary had gone by. Now, however, a tray full of Bell's vireos may be described in more than one way--perhaps many ways: so far it's proposed we can distinguish (with advanced technology) Least and Bell's Vireos. These are described as full species, not subspecies. Vocalizations can be analyzed and discriminated, as can be food choices, ranges, and habitat preferences. Among other proposals, it is suggested we should split Bell's vireo, brown creeper, and Nashville warbler, and lump Thayer's and Iceland gulls. Chemistry reigns. Most intriguing perhaps is the list of new species based on adding Greenland to the North American avifauna.... Enjoy, but forget those lists! Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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]