You will want to familiarize yourself with the taxonomic changes for this year. Some, but not all, of the possible changes may be flagged as exceptions during the AviSys update. For some changes you will need to figure out what the corresponding new name is, and manually update your AviSys data accordingly before the update will run to completion. Exceptions are reported in a file named UPDEXCEP.TXT, and suggestions for how to deal with exceptions are provided in that file. Read these suggestions carefully. Exceptions will only be reported for species that you have seen; all changes for species that you have not seen are done entirely automatically.
Below I provide a bare-bones summary of all the possible changes that you might encounter in the 2017 update. You're likely to need to research some of these changes further. There is a very readable account of most, but not all, of the changes provided by eBird. More technical, and complete, information about the changes can be found at the Clements checklist site. These Cornell web pages also describe many other changes (e.g., in scientific names) that may be of interest to you but that don't have a direct bearing on the AviSys update. If you are starting from an older AviSys update (you don't have the 2016 update), you may need to research older Clements pages.
AviSys provides a message that says information is provided in PDF files. It's referring to the information that is now on this web page.
These are listed separately under simple name changes.
In this table, "old name" is a name that was in the 2016 taxonomy but has disappeared from the 2017 taxonomy due to a lump. For help with this, see How to do a lump.
| Old name | New name |
|---|---|
| Species lumped into an existing species | |
| Thayer's Gull | Iceland Gull |
| Species lumped into a new species | |
| Western Olive Sunbird | Olive Sunbird |
| Eastern Olive Sunbird | Olive Sunbird |
For help, see How to do a split.
There are two tables of splits. The first table lists splits where one of the split species retains the original name. Thus, because the name still exists, AviSys will not flag your sightings of that species as an exception; however you will want to review your records to see if you need to transfer some sightings to one of the new species.
| Old name | New name | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Gray-breasted Partridge | Malaysian Partridge | Mountains of Malay Peninsula |
| Gray-breasted Partridge | Roll's Partridge | NW Sumatra (Batak highlands) |
| Gray-breasted Partridge | Sumatran Partridge | Mountains of central Sumatra |
| Gray-breasted Partridge | Gray-breasted Partridge | Mountains of e Java |
| Northern Harrier | Hen Harrier | Widespread Eurasia |
| Northern Harrier | Northern Harrier | Widespread North America; winters to n South America |
| Glossy Swiftlet | Christmas Island Swiftlet | Christmas I. (Indian Ocean south of Java) |
| Glossy Swiftlet | Plume-toed Swiftlet | affinis Andaman and Nicobar Islands; elachyptera Mergui Archipelago (off Myanmar); cyanoptila Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Natuna Island, and lowland Borneo; vanderbilti Nias I. (off w Sumatra); oberholseri Batu Islands and Mentawi Islands (off w Sumatra) |
| Glossy Swiftlet | Gray-rumped Swiftlet | septentrionalis Philippines (Calayan, Camiguin Norte, Babuyan, Claro, Fuga); marginata northern Philippines (central Luzon to Mindoro, Panay, Negros, Bohol, and Leyte); identity of the population on Palawan not determined, but may belong with Ridgetop Swiftlet |
| Glossy Swiftlet | Ridgetop Swiftlet | isonota northern Philippines (northern Luzon); bagobo southern Philippines (montane Mindoro, Mindanao, and Sulu Archipelago) |
| Glossy Swiftlet | Tenggara Swiftlet | sumbawae western Lesser Sundas (Sumbawa; population on Flores and Besar possibly also this subspecies); sumbae western Lesser Sundas (Sumba) |
| Glossy Swiftlet | Drab Swiftlet | neglecta Lesser Sundas (Sawu, Roti, Semau, and Timor); perneglecta Lesser Sundas (Alor, Wetar, and Kisar); populations on Romang, Damar and Tanimbar possibly introgressant with Glossy Swiftlet |
| Glossy Swiftlet | Glossy Swiftlet | spilura N Moluccas; manadensis N Sulawesi, Sangihe, Siau, Talasea and Talaud islands; esculenta central and southern Sulawesi, Banggai and Sula islands, South Moluccas (to Kai Islands), and Aru Islands; minuta Salayar, Bonerate, Tanahjampea and Kalao is. (n Flores Sea); amethystina Waigeo I. (off nw New Guinea); numforensis Numfor I. (off nw New Guinea); nitens New Guinea, western Papuan Islands, Yapen, and Karker; misimae Louisiade Archipelago (Misima and Rossel); stresemanni Admiralty Islands (Manus, Rambutyo, Nauna, Los Negros); heinrothi Bismarck Archipelago (New Hanover, Nusa, New Ireland, and Djaul); spilogaster Bismarck Archipelago (Lihir Group and Tatau Islands); hypogrammica Bismarck Archipelago (Nissan and Green); tametamele Bismarck Arch. (New Britain and Witu); Bougainville; lagonoleucos northwestern Solomon Islands (Buka and Bougainville; identify of population on Shortland not determined, but possibly this subspecies); becki Central and ne Solomon Islands; single record from Malaita; makirensis Makira (Solomon Islands); desiderata Rennell (s Solomon Islands) |
| Glossy Swiftlet | Satin Swiftlet | uropygialis Santa Cruz Is. and Vanuatu (including Torres and Banks Is.); albidior New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands |
| Horned Parakeet (Horned) | Horned Parakeet | New Caledonia |
| Horned Parakeet (Ouvea) | Ouvea Parakeet | Loyalty Islands (Ouvéa) |
| Cardinal Myzomela (all other ssp) | Cardinal Myzomela | |
| Cardinal Myzomela (Samoan) | Samoan Myzomela | Samoa (Upolu, Savai'i and Tutuila) |
| Northern Shrike | Great Gray Shrike | excubitor W and n Europe to w Siberia; homeyeri Balkan Peninsula to s Ural Mountains and w Siberia; leucopterus W Siberia to Yenisey River |
| Northern Shrike | Northern Shrike | sibiricus E Siberia to n Mongolia and Kamchatka Peninsula; bianchii Sakhalin and s Kuril Islands (n Japan); mollis Russian Altai and nw Mongolia; funereus W China (Tien Shan Mountains); borealis breeds Alaska and northern Canada, south to extreme northern British Columbia and Alberta, northern Ontario, and Quebec; winters southern Canada and northern United States. |
| Magnificent Riflebird | Magnificent Riflebird | magnificus Lowlands of w and w-central New Guinea; alberti N Queensland (n Cape York Peninsula) |
| Magnificent Riflebird | Growling Riflebird | Lowlands of central and se Papua New Guinea |
| Streak-eared Bulbul | Ayeyarwady Bulbul | Central and s Myanmar |
| Streak-eared Bulbul | Streak-eared Bulbul | Thailand, southern Indochina, and the northern and central Thai-Malay Peninsula |
| Buff-vented Bulbul | Buff-vented Bulbul | Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Bangka and Belitung, Anambas Islands, and Natuna |
| Buff-vented Bulbul | Charlotte's Bulbul | Borneo |
| Olive Bulbul | Cachar Bulbul | northeastern India (Assam) and eastern Bangladesh |
| Olive Bulbul | Olive Bulbul | viridescens southern Myanmar and southwestern Thailand; lekhakuni southern Myanmar to western Thailand; cinnamomeoventris Thai-Malay Peninsula (Mergui District and Isthmus of Kra south at least to Songkhla) |
| Blue-throated Flycatcher | Blue-throated Flycatcher | rubeculoides Kashmir to n India and n Myanmar; > to Sri Lanka; dialilaemus E Myanmar to n and sw Thailand; rogersi Myanmar (Arakan Yoma and lower Chindwin River area) |
| Blue-throated Flycatcher (Chinese) | Chinese Blue Flycatcher | breeds southern China (southern Shaanxi and western Hubei to Sichuan and Guizhou); winters southwestern Thailand and the Thai-Malay Peninsula |
| Blue-throated Flycatcher (klossi) | transferred to Hainan Blue Flycatcher (klossi) | E Thailand to s Laos and s Vietnam |
| Sharp-beaked Ground-Finch | Vampire Ground-Finch | Galapagos Islands (Darwin and Wolf Is.) |
| Sharp-beaked Ground-Finch | Genovesa Ground-Finch | Galapagos Islands (Genovesa Island) |
| Sharp-beaked Ground-Finch | Sharp-beaked Ground-Finch | Galapagos Islands (Pinta, Fernandina, and Santiago Islands; formerly also Santa Cruz Island, this population now extinct) |
| Yellow-eyed Junco | Yellow-eyed Junco | |
| Yellow-eyed Junco (Baird's) | Baird's Junco | Mts. of s Baja California (Sierra de la Laguna) |
| Red Crossbill (South Hills or type 9) | Cassia Crossbill | South Hills and Albion Mountains of sc Idaho |
| Red Crossbill | Red Crossbill | |
If you have observations of Streak-eared Bulbul you might need to take note that the English name "Streak-eared Bulbul" now is applied to a different scientific name (conradi, not blanfordi).
The second table lists splits where the species that was split no longer exists, and thus any sightings of it will be reported by AviSys as an exception.
| Old name | New name | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Magnificent Hummingbird | Rivoli's Hummingbird | Mts. of s Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to ne Nicaragua |
| Magnificent Hummingbird | Talamanca Hummingbird | Montane forests of Costa Rica and w Panama |
| Emerald Toucanet | Northern Emerald-Toucanet | wagleri Sierra Madre del Sur of sw Mexico (Guerrero and sw Oaxaca); prasinus SE Mexico (Veracruz, adj. San Luis Potosí and Oaxaca); warneri Mts. of se Mexico (Sierra de Los Tuxtlas in s Veracruz); virescens southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, western El Salvador, Honduras, and northern Nicaragua; volcanius Eastern El Salvador (Volcán San Miguel); maxillaris Highlands of Costa Rica and w Panama; caeruleogularis Highlands of w Panama (Chiriquí to Coclé); cognatus Mts. of e Panama (Darién) and adjacent Colombia |
| Emerald Toucanet | Southern Emerald-Toucanet | lautus Santa Marta Mountains (ne Colombia); griseigularis N end of W Andes and w slope of Central Andes of Colombia; albivitta E and Central Andes of Colombia, e Ecuador and w Venezuela; phaeolaemus Subtropical W Andes of Colombia; atrogularis Humid Andes of e Peru and n Bolivia; dimidiatus Subtropical Andes of n Peru; cyanolaemus Subtropical Andes of se Ecuador and n Peru |
| Silktail | Taveuni Silktail | Fiji (mountains of Taveuni) |
| Silktail | Natewa Silktail | Fiji (mountains of Vanua Levu) |
| Superb Bird-of-Paradise | Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise | inopinata mountains of the Bird's Head Peninsula, West Papua, New Guinea; niedda mountains of the Wandammen Peninsula, Bird's Neck, West Papua, New Guinea |
| Superb Bird-of-Paradise | Greater Superb Bird-of-Paradise | superba montane western New Guinea, from the Kobowre Mountains (West Papua, Indonesia) to the Sepik-Strickland River Divide (western Papua New Guinea); addenda eastern ranges of New Guinea, from the Yuat-Strickland River Divide and the base of the southeastern Peninsula, Papua New Guinea; latipennis eastern New Guinea (mountains of the Huon Peninsula, and presumably also the Herzog and Adelbert Ranges) |
| Superb Bird-of-Paradise | Lesser Superb Bird-of-Paradise | southeastern Papua New Guinea (mountains of the Papuan Peninsula, west at least to the Wharton Range) |
| Gray-brown White-eye | Pohnpei White-eye | Pohnpei (e Caroline Is.) |
| Gray-brown White-eye | Kosrae White-eye | Kosrae (e Caroline Is.) |
| Black-chinned Laughingthrush (Banasura) | Banasura Laughingthrush | Hill forests of sw India (Western Ghats in Coorg region) |
| Black-chinned Laughingthrush (Nilgiri) | Nilgiri Laughingthrush | SW Peninsular India (Nilgiri Hills in w Tamil Nadu) |
| Kerala Laughingthrush (Palani) | Palani Laughingthrush | S India (Palni and Anaimalai hills and n Kerala) |
| Kerala Laughingthrush (Travancore) | Ashambu Laughingthrush | Hill forests of sw India (s Kerala) |
| White-tailed Rubythroat | Himalayan Rubythroat | pectoralis Mountains of Turkestan to Afghanistan (Pamirs) and n Pakistan; confusa E Himalayas (Nepal to Bhutan); > to ne India; ballioni W China (w Xinjiang from Tien Shan to Kashgar) |
| White-tailed Rubythroat | Chinese Rubythroat | E Ladakh to nw China (Gansu), se Tibet and extreme n Myanmar |
| Large Cactus-Finch | Española Cactus-Finch | Española I. (Galapagos Islands) |
| Large Cactus-Finch | Genovesa Cactus-Finch | darwini Galapagos Islands (reportedly Darwin and Wolf Is.); it is not certain that currently there is a population on either island, and perhaps not a valid subspecies; propinqua Genovesa I. (Galapagos Islands) |
| Prevost's Ground-Sparrow | White-faced Ground-Sparrow | Highlands of southern Mexico (Chiapas) Guatemala, El Salvador, and western Honduras |
| Prevost's Ground-Sparrow | Cabanis's Ground-Sparrow | Highlands of central Costa Rica |