Clements 2024 taxonomy update for AviSys

Released 23 October 2024

Annual Clements updates are now expected in late October.

To install the update, please follow this doc­u­ment­ation very care­ful­ly. Read it through completely once before coming back to the beginning and actually performing the steps. This year, this document page is nearly unchanged from last year (except for species totals), but don't let that stop you from reading carefully.

Note that you should be running AviSys Version 6.00M in order to perform the update. See how to check your AviSys version. I have no experience with what happens if you try the update on an older AviSys version. The update will deliver the 2024 taxonomy regardless of how long ago you last did a taxonomy update, it isn't necessary to run previous updates first. But naturally the longer it has been since you updated, the more conflicts you may have to resolve.

Backup!

Before you even think about installing the taxonomy update, you must know how to back up your current data set. And you must know how to restore from the backup. Run a backup immediately before beginning the update. The backup and restore procedure built-in to AviSys is simple and reliable. I use it all the time.

As far as I know, previous updates worked successfully for everyone who ran them. I've received no reports of serious problems; many people have commented on how well the update worked. I've also never heard of anyone actually having to recover by restoring a backup. Nevertheless, I do not warrant that the update will work for you. This is why it is so important for you to have a backup, and know how to restore it.

One approach that works well is to make a copy of your entire data folder under a new name just before performing the update. If you are dissatisfied with the results, you can just delete the updated folder and rename the copied folder back to the original name. If you are satisfied with the results, you can delete the copy of your old folder.

Not sure what I mean by data folder? Check this explanation.

If you have any custom checklists (ones that you marked yourself, manually), back them up. The update procedure does not update checklists, so after the update you will need to "Remove" all of your checklists and "Add" them back, in order to pick up any taxonomic changes in the checklists. In the case of custom checklists, when you add them back, you will want to be able to mark them using your checklist backup file. If there are names in your backup file that have changed, you will get an exception file listing names that have to be corrected, similar to what you got for the main update. If you do not back up your custom checklists, they could be lost forever and you will have to recreate them from scratch. No backup procedure automatically backs up custom checklists in a way that will survive the update procedure, not the AviSys built-in backup procedure, nor any file backup technique. You must back them up one by one, using the method that is described here. Note that only custom checklists need to be backed up. You don't need to back up state or nation checklists because you'll just recreate them from the built-in data.

How many species?

This update is based on the 2024 Clements spreadsheet which has 11145 species. Of those, 160 are marked extinct (10985 not extinct), and like Jerry, with some exceptions I excluded all species that Clements designates as extinct. As in past updates, extinct species that are on the ABA checklist are included. These are the four extinct species in the ABA continental area (Labrador Duck, Great Auk, Passenger Pigeon, and Carolina Parakeet) plus 24 extinct Hawaiian species. Thus, this update has 10985+4+24 = 11013 world species. Note that there are other species on the ABA checklist such as Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Bachman's Warbler that may be extinct, but are not so designated by the Clements checklist.

The N.A. mode checklist has 1041 species. The N.A. mode checklist is constrained to continue to be a North American checklist; there is no way to integrate Hawaii into it. Thus, it can no longer match the ABA checklist, but does match the ABA checklist for the continental area. For guidance on how to display the new ABA checklist, see The new ABA checklist.

Changes to the N.A. list this year (based on what I found in state/province records committee lists, plus taxonomic changes):

• Additions
  1. Southern Lapwing
  2. Kentish Plover
  3. Gray Gull
  4. Ainley's Storm-Petrel
  5. Scopoli's Shearwater
  6. Cocos Booby
  7. Western Marsh Harrier
  8. Yellow-headed Caracara
  9. Budgerigar
  10. Siberian House-Martin
  11. Blue Rock-Thrush
  12. European Goldfinch
• Deletions
  1. Snowy Albatross
  2. Antipodean Albatross
  3. Hoary Redpoll

Built-in checklists

The taxonomic update also provides updates to the built-in state and province checklists. The built-in checklists are based on the most current records committee lists that I could find as of October 2024 (but do not include any species not accepted by ABA).

Also, the 2024 version of the nation checklist addon should be available soon as a separate download.

Preparation for update

First download and run the file AviSys Clements 2024 Taxonomy.exe.

Download AviSys Clements 2024 Taxonomy.exe

Some people are reporting that their antivirus program is interfering with the download. Referring to help files, or searching in Google, you should be able to find out how to disable your antivirus temporarily for the download. Here is information that I have found for a couple of troublesome programs:

• Microsoft Defender SmartScreen
• Norton Antivirus

Anti-virus warnings. It is likely that your anti-virus program will put up warnings when you try to run the program, for the simple reason that this is a program that the anti-virus program hasn't seen before, and is not in its database. Anti-virus programs are always suspicious about such programs and put up warnings even though they have no idea whether it's dangerous or not. You can run the program safely.

To avoid at least some, maybe all, anti-virus warnings, follow these steps before you run the program. Right-click on the download's program icon. Select "Properties" (at the bottom of the menu) to display the Properties tab as shown below. At the bottom of the General tab you may see a "Security" notice that says "This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer." Next to this message is a checkbox labeled "Unblock". If you check Unblock, it will bypass at least the initial anti-virus warning message.



When you run AviSys Clements 2024 Taxonomy.exe, it will deliver the files that you need. Then you will need to perform the steps below to apply the update.

Here is a list of all the files that are delivered in the update:

AviSys main folder, e.g., C:\AVI6
SSDATA.AVI	The subspecies data
BANDCODE.AVI BANDSEL.AVI	Four-letter band codes for N.A. mode.
Alias.avi Alpha.avi Famfile.avi	Jump tables for N.A. mode	These files do not need new versions so they have timestamps from past years. It's ok!
Walias.avi Wfam.avi Wfam2.avi	Jump tables for World mode	These files also have old timestamps.
AviSys data folder, e.g., C:\AVI6\KENT
MASTER.UPD	The taxonomy and state checklist update. This file is deleted after a successful update.
NEWNAMES11.AVI	Provides simple 1-to-1 renames that don't involve splits or lumps. Note: This file is automatically deleted after the first run (even if there are conflicts). Don't be concerned if it disappears.
WLDCODE.AVI WORLDSEL.AVI	Four-letter band codes for World mode. See Enhanced AviSys world bandcode files for more about these files.

Note: AviSys Clements 2024 Taxonomy.exe will ask you for the location of your main folder and data folder. It defaults to C:\AVI6\ for the main folder, which for many people will be correct. If you need to select a different folder, you can click the Browse: button and navigate to it. It will also automatically select your default data folder.

Installation steps

1. Run AviSys, making sure that you are in the data set that you wish to update.
2. If you are in N.A. Mode, switch to World Mode (by pressing the S key or clicking the Switch button).
3. You should notice that in the Utilities menu, the choice “Update Master Checklist (from update file)” is clickable. Click on it. If you do not have the file MASTER.UPD in your AviSys data folder for this data set, then you did not run the update program successfully, and this choice will be grayed-out (not clickable).

   

4. This is your last chance to stop and create a backup if you still haven't done it. If you are ready, click Start. (The “instructions that came in a file” are these instructions that you are reading now.)

   

5. Beware that at this prompt, AviSys goes ahead with the update regardless of which button you click. Be sure that you really meant it when you said you were ready to start at the previous prompt! It's best to click “Yes” here.

   

6. Click Yes to this prompt. It provides automatic name changes for one-to-one renames that don't involve splits or lumps. Note: These renames are done on the first pass regardless of whether the entire update succeeds or not. Thus, you will only see this prompt on the first try. If you have to rerun the update, this prompt is not repeated after the first run.

   

7. Your first attempt to update may well abort due to exceptions that AviSys cannot resolve. This is not unusual. Click OK.

   

8. Click yes, you do want to view the file.

   

9. Here is what Jerry had to say about this:

   YOUR INVOLVEMENT REQUIRED

   It would have been nice to provide a taxonomy update that, with the push of a button, updates your entire master list and all sightings. Sadly, that CAN'T POSSIBLY happen. It would require AviSys to change your sighting records without your involvement --- that's simply too horribly dangerous. AviSys has no idea which species you actually saw; only you know that. So you will be involved with sighting records that need to be changed because of this update --- AviSys simply keeps you informed of what is going on in the process and makes it as easy as possible. HOWEVER, in this release, virtually all one-on-one English name changes are done automatically by AviSys, and you NEVER have to deal with Latin name changes in any case.

   In short, if you have observations of a species whose name has disappeared from the taxonomy because of a split or lump, AviSys does not know what other species your observations of that species should be reassigned to. These are the cases that are listed as exceptions in the UPDEXCEP.TXT file, and you must resolve them manually before attempting the update again.

   You will very likely have to do a little bit of research to learn how to resolve some taxonomic changes. You should be able to find everything you need in one of these sources:

   • eBird's overview of changes
   • Clements overview of changes
   • 2024 Clements Updates and Corrections (very detailed report; coming soon)

   Here are some details on how to performs splits and lumps:

   • How to do a split
   • How to do a lump

   Just in case you might have to start over on the update for some unexpected reason, keep a record of the changes that you make, so that it will be easier to repeat them.

   Here is the list of name changes that the update performs. This is just for information; you don't have to do anything with these. These are the uncomplicated name changes that don't involve a split or lump.

   Important! You must make changes to resolve exceptions before you can complete the update. But you also must check for certain other changes after you have completed the update. See the final step in these instructions.

10. After you have resolved all exceptions, restart at step 1, and try again. Or, if you were lucky and didn't have any exceptions on the first try, just keep going here.

11. If there are no exceptions, you will get this result. Click ok.

    

12. Beware that AviSys goes ahead and converts your data regardless of which button you click here. It's safest to click Yes.

    

13. When the update is completely applied, AviSys shuts down and you will need to restart it.

    

14. When you restart, you will get two more prompts like this, for which there is nothing to do but click OK. It doesn't actually take long on today's computers.

    

    

15. Restore your checklists. If you have any checklists defined, remove all of them and add them back. This is the only way for checklists to pick up taxonomic changes. For custom checklists, remove them and restore them from your backups. AviSys will provide you with an exception list if you need to adjust for any taxonomic changes. For built-in state checklists, just remove them and add them back using the built-in checklists. If you use the optional nation checklist addon, replace your RANGES.LST file with a fresh download from the nation checklist addon page.

    If you find that your checklist sighting markers are not correct after restoring checklists, run “Set Checklist Markers” to fix them.

    

16. Congratulations, you should be good to go! Verify that you have 11013 species in World Mode and 1041 species in N.A. Mode.

    Important: Do not run Utilities->Renumber Master Checklist. It does not work any more, and it will destroy your data, forcing you to restore from your backup. Fortunately, there is no reason to renumber, and hardly anyone would ever do it, but definitely do not do it now.

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Questions or comments?