PEEPS

Recent Changes to Clements World Family List

Here is the currently recognized list of world family common names as recognized by the ABA.  Also included are the current number of world families and total number of bird species recognized in the ABA Area.

1	OSTRICH
2	RHEAS
3	CASSOWARIES
4	EMU
5	KIWIS
6	TINAMOUS
7	SCREAMERS
8	DUCKS, GEESE, AND WATERFOWL
9	MEGAPODES
10	GUANS, CHACHALACAS, AND CURASSOWS
11	PHEASANTS AND PARTRIDGES
12	GROUSE, PTARMIGAN, PRAIRIE-CHICKENS
13	TURKEYS
14	GUINEAFOWL
15	NEW WORLD QUAIL
16	LOONS
17	GREBES
18	FLAMINGOS
19	PENGUINS
20	ALBATROSSES
21	SHEARWATERS AND PETRELS
22	STORM-PETRELS
23	DIVING-PETRELS
24	TROPICBIRDS
25	BOOBIES AND GANNETS
26	PELICANS
27	CORMORANTS AND SHAGS
28	ANHINGAS
29	FRIGATEBIRDS
30	HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS
31	IBISES AND SPOONBILLS
32	HAMERKOP
33	STORKS
34	SHOEBILL
35	NEW WORLD VULTURES
36	OSPREY
37	HAWKS, EAGLES, AND KITES
38	SECRETARY-BIRD
39	FALCONS AND CARACARAS
40	MESITES
41	BUTTONQUAIL
42	RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS
43	FINFOOTS
44	KAGU
45	SUNBITTERN
46	BUSTARDS
47	LIMPKIN
48	TRUMPETERS
49	CRANES
50	SERIEMAS
51	THICK-KNEES
52	SHEATHBILLS
53	PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS
54	MAGELLANIC PLOVER
55	CRAB PLOVER
56	OYSTERCATCHERS
57	IBISBILL
58	STILTS AND AVOCETS
59	JACANAS
60	SANDPIPERS AND ALLIES
61	PRATINCOLES AND COURSERS
62	PLAINS-WANDERER
63	SEEDSNIPES
64	PAINTED-SNIPES
65	GULLS
66	TERNS
67	SKIMMERS
68	SKUAS AND JAEGERS
69	AUKS, MURRES, AND PUFFINS
70	SANDGROUSE
71	PIGEONS AND DOVES
72	COCKATOOS
73	PARROTS
74	TURACOS
75	HOATZIN
76	CUCKOOS
77	BARN-OWLS
78	OWLS
79	OWLET-NIGHTJARS
80	FROGMOUTHS
81	NIGHTJARS AND ALLIES
82	POTOOS
83	OILBIRD
84	SWIFTS
85	TREESWIFTS
86	HUMMINGBIRDS
87	MOUSEBIRDS
88	TROGONS
89	TODIES
90	MOTMOTS
91	KINGFISHERS
92	BEE-EATERS
93	ROLLERS
94	GROUND-ROLLERS
95	CUCKOO-ROLLER
96	HOOPOES
97	WOODHOOPOES AND SCIMITAR-BILLS
98	HORNBILLS
99	PUFFBIRDS
100	JACAMARS
101	AFRICAN BARBETS
102	ASIAN BARBETS
103	NEW WORLD BARBETS
104	TOUCAN-BARBETS
105	TOUCANS
106	HONEYGUIDES
107	WOODPECKERS
108	BROADBILLS
109	ASITIES
110	PITTAS
111	OVENBIRDS AND WOODCREEPERS
112	TYPICAL ANTBIRDS
113	ANTTHRUSHES
114	ANTPITTAS
115	GNATEATERS
116	TAPACULOS
117	CRESCENTCHESTS
118	TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
119	SHARPBILL
120	COTINGAS
121	MANAKINS
122	TITYRAS AND ALLIES
123	COTINGA, PIPRITES, CALYPTURA
124	NEW ZEALAND WRENS
125	SCRUB-BIRDS
126	LYREBIRDS
127	HONEYEATERS
128	SATINBIRDS
129	SHRIKES
130	VIREOS
131	CUCKOO-SHRIKES
132	LEAFBIRDS
133	IORAS
134	CROWS, JAYS, AND MAGPIES
135	MONARCH FLYCATCHERS
136	LARKS
137	SWALLOWS
138	CHICKADEES AND TITS
139	PENDULINE TITS
140	LONG-TAILED TITS
141	NUTHATCHES
142	WALLCREEPER
143	CREEPERS
144	WRENS
145	DIPPERS
146	BULBULS
147	KINGLETS
148	CISTICOLAS AND ALLIES
149	DONACOBIUS
150	OLD WORLD WARBLERS
151	GNATCATCHERS
152	OLD WORLD FLYCATCHERS
153	THRUSHES AND ALLIES
154	WATTLE-EYES
155	FANTAILS
156	AUSTRALASIAN ROBINS
157	WHISTLERS AND ALLIES
158	ROCKFOWL
159	BABBLERS
160	WHITE-EYES
161	PSEUDO-BABBLERS
162	PARROTBILLS
163	LOGRUNNERS
164	WHIPBIRDS AND QUAIL-THRUSHES
165	FAIRYWRENS
166	THORNBILLS AND ALLIES
167	AUSTRALIAN CHATS
168	SITTELLAS
169	AUSTRALASIAN TREECREEPERS
170	PHILIPPINE CREEPERS
171	SUNBIRDS AND SPIDERHUNTERS
172	BERRYPECKERS AND LONGBILLS
173	TIT AND CRESTED BERRYPECKER
174	FLOWERPECKERS
175	PARDALOTES
176	SUGARBIRDS
177	OLD WORLD ORIOLES
178	FAIRY-BLUEBIRDS
179	BUSHSHRIKES AND ALLIES
180	HELMETSHRIKES AND ALLIES
181	VANGAS
182	DRONGOS
183	WATTLEBIRDS
184	MUDNEST BUILDERS
185	WHITE-WINGED CHOUGH AND APOSTLEBIRD
186	WOODSWALLOWS
187	BRISTLEHEAD
188	BELLMAGPIES AND ALLIES
189	BIRDS-OF-PARADISE
190	BOWERBIRDS
191	MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS
192	STARLINGS
193	ACCENTORS
194	WAGTAILS AND PIPITS
195	WAXWINGS
196	HYPOCOLIUS
197	SILKY-FLYCATCHERS
198	PALMCHAT
199	OLIVE WARBLER
200	NEW WORLD WARBLERS
201	BANANAQUIT
202	TANAGERS AND ALLIES
203	PRZEWALSKI'S ROSEFINCH
204	BUNTINGS,SPARROWS,SEEDEATERS,ALLIES
205	SALTATORS, CARDINALS, AND ALLIES
206	TROUPIALS AND ALLIES
207	SISKINS, CROSSBILLS, AND ALLIES
208	HAWAIIAN HONEYCREEPERS
209	OLD WORLD SPARROWS
210	WEAVERS AND ALLIES
211	WAXBILLS AND ALLIES
212	INDIGOBIRDS

Total ABA-recognized world bird species as of December 2008 =  9881

Total ABA-recognized bird species in ABA Area as of December 2008 = 957

Rufous-capped Warbler - Southeast Arizona

Two individuals of the northernmost member of the Neotropical Basileuterus warblers, Rufous-capped Warbler, Basilueterus rufifrons was discovered in Florida Canyon above the Forest Service's Florida Work Center in the Santa Rita Mountains by Troy Corman and Ramsay Koury on 19 December.  This ABA Code 3 bird has bred in the U.S. and is increasingly encountered, thus the current change in status from Code 4 to Code 3 on the 2008 ABA Checklist 

The first attempted nesting of Rufous-capped Warbler in the U.S. was in 1977 in Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains, a nest found with apparently infertile eggs laid  (AB 31:1034),  The most recent supplement to The Clements Handbook of the Birds of the World, Sixth Edition separates Rufous-capped Warbler into three groups, North Mexico Group, Salvin's Group, and Chestnut-capped Group.  These three groups differ in the intensity and extent of rufous on the crown, extent of yellow on the underparts, length of tail, and upperpart coloration.  (Warblers by Dunn and Garret). Birds in the Chestnut-capped group have been previously split as separate species by some authors.   All U.S. sightings are most likely from birds in the North Mexico Group. A reason listers should keep track of subspecies from different Clements group categories is many of these subspecies groups are candidates for future splits (Tom Schulenberg, pers. comm.).

The North Mexico Group's Rufous-capped Warbler is resident from Sonora and eastern Nuevo Leon and central Mexico south to Guatemala with a disjunct population in Belize.  (A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America by Howell and Webb.)  Most records in the U.S. are currently from South Texas.

Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Texas

On 14 December three people including Jamie Ritter reported finding a female (plumage) Crimson-collared Grosbeak Rhodothraupis celaeno at Frontera Audubon Sanctuary in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley.  Crimmson-collared Grobeak, ABA Code (V4), is a northeast Mexico endemic, resident from central Nuevo Leon to northern Veracruz states. All but two of the 18 reports (12 records)  in the U.S. come from the Lower Rio Grande Valley and all but one from the winter months.  The two big "invasion" years were during the 2004-2005 winter with nine reports and in 1987-1988 with six winter reports. (2008 ABA Checklist)   Photo of Frontera Audubon Crimson-collared Grosbeak is courtesy of Lynn E. Barber.

Taxonomic Discovery

A closer look at the recent updates to Clement’s Checklist of Birds of the World shows that a group of five endemic “recently” extinct Hawaiian species are historically classified in the large Honeyeater Family, Meliphagidae. As is the case with the Cardinal, Saltator, and Allies Family, Cardinalidae, many representatives of both these two families were originally placed according to striking similarities in structures, and not as a result of genetic evidence.

Robert Fleishcer, Storrs Olson, and Helen James published results of their study of the five extinct Hawaiian “honeyeaters” in Current Biology on 11 December. Dr. Fleischer states “...similarities between these two groups of nectar-feeding birds in bill and tongue structure, plumage, and behavior result not from relatedness, but from the process of convergent evolution―the evolution of similar traits in distantly related taxa because of common selective pressures.”

The five species in question were discovered on Captain Cook’s third voyage to Hawaii in 1779. Smithsonian scientists collected DNA sequences from museum specimens of the five extinct birds in two genera, Moho and Chaetoptila. DNA analysis showed that the five species descended from a common ancestor, but not that of the other meliphagid honeyeaters. What they did find was these five Hawaiian birds are divergent members of a group that includes deceptively dissimilar families, waxwings, the Neotropical silky-flycatchers, and the sole member of the Dulidae Family, Palmchat. Based on their findings, the researchers have placed these birds in their own new family, the Mohoidae.

Stay tuned. With new DNA analysis techniques, more taxonomic changes are on the way. Although Hawaii is not currently included in the ABA Area, there are continuing discussions on whether it should be.

Blue Bunting, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas

On 6 December Wayne Bartholomew, Executive Director of Frontera Audubon Society, found a female Blue Bunting Cyanocompsa parellina at the Frontera Audubon Sanctuary, Texas. The bird has been seen briefly since the 6th.

Unlike our familiar Passerina buntings, which Blue Bunting superficially resembles, this species has a deep, stout bill with a strongly curved culmen. It is most closely related to Blue-black, Ultramarine, and Glaucous-blue Grosbeaks of the same genus.  Of the three recognized Blue Bunting subspecies, C.p.beneplacitais a resident from northeast Mexico, including Tamaulipas, eastern San Luis Potosi, and southern Nuevo Leon and is therefore the expected subspecies in South Texas.

Blue Bunting remains an ABA Code 4 bird on the new 2008 ABA Checklist with more than 30 accepted reports since 1980, all but two from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Although undocumented reports occur every winter from the Valley, all accepted records come from mid-October to early April.

Photo is courtesy of Lynn E. Barber