A new home for bird related discussions

iNaturalist continues to use Clements as its taxonomic reference. @maxkirsch and I spent quite a bit of time earlier this week brining iNat inline with the last August 2017 Clements update, and there haven't been any updates since. As with other 'Compete' taxa, I made project for this working group so we can discuss bird related curation issues. (A conversation I started on my personal journal here.

There continue to be lots of unresolved flags for birds. If folks want to help resolve them they are:
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/802 Pipilo erythrophthalmus the range is still the old, pre P. maculatus range. Needs a split.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/2175 Gyps fulvus distribution map needs to be updated: thanks to reintroductions griffons are fairly easy to spot in Central Italy mountains, sure it's easier to see these birds there than in Sardinia even if this island is in the "official" map
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/2901 Branta canadensis the range of this species should be extended to reflect the very common feral population in Europe
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/2914 Terpsiphone rufiventer range map only shows Annobon
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/3029 Melaniparus leucomelas distribution map is that of a different species, see map on IUCN Red List: http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=22711825
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/3324 Philemon buceroides either has its range switched with Philemon novaeguineae, or is just missing the (very large) Australian part of its range
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/8087 Aramus guarauna El rango de distribución debe extenderse, ya que hay registros de la especie en Jalisco, Colima y Nayarit y me marca una advertencia como "fuera del rango de distribución". Ver http://huitzil.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HUITZIL-2006-7123-26.pdf
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/5865 Burhinus indicus the range includes that of Burhinus oedicnemus
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/6833 Falco naumanni range map seems to be incomplete and should be re-imported: http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=22696357
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/7415 Ptilopsis leucotis range map is that of the white-faced owl before taxonomic split: http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144591-Ptilopsis-leucotis#taxon_range
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/19220 Eudyptula minor this widespread species has its official range as only being the Chatham Islands. Perhaps a mixup with ssp. chathamensis data?
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/24047 Erythrura psittacea range map is wrong: doesn't occur on Vanuatu
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/24111 Saxicola torquatus the range still includes that of the split Saxicola rubicola
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/36186 Egretta tricolor se encontro en la ciudad de cartagena.

https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/31233 Tringa glareola range map is wrong
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/48667 Apteryx mantelli could someone download the current BirdLife map for this species? the old BirdLife map (which is still showing up on iNat) includes the range of A. rowi
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/49581 Surniculus lugubris Surniculus velutinus split off in Clements so the range is now wrong
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/71256 Branta hutchinsii the range map could use a reality check
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/71718 Anas acuta range show only its North American distribution
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/78604 Trochilidae aparece en el orden de los CAPRIMULGIFORMES
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/78608 Caprimulgiformes no se ha dividido en los tres ordenes, que son ahora CAPRIMULGGIFORMES, STEATORNITHIFORMES Y NYCTIBIIFORMES http://americanornithologypubs.org/doi/pdf/10.1642/AUK-16-77.1?code=coop-site
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/78907 Cyanistes varius now in Sittiparus in Clements, but the EOL source for this taxon is S. varius sensu lato, which Clements split in 2016; what should this be swapped into - the genus Sittiparus, or the now-inactive pre-split S. varius?
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/86143 Branta canadensis Range map updated needed. All Ontario south of 45 degrees latitude should be shown as in range.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/80345 Falco tinnunculus the map layer of the distribution does not perfectly overlap with the basemap (different coordinate system?) leaving several uncoverd areas
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/80941 Selasphorus "Rufous/Allen's" is a taxonomically valid and useful subcategory of this genus and should be restored PERMANENTLY.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/88106 Phalacrocorax auritus The range map is very incorrect, at least for Ontario!
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/101598 Pterocliformes it was swapped in the wrong direction - see comment on taxon change 22773
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/101677 Toxostoma curvirostre Me parece que el nombre es Cuitlacoche, no Cuicacoche
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/102680 Icterus galbula map is for Baltimore + Bullock's
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/106918 Prunella montanella something's very wrong with the range map
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/110888 Anas clypeata range map wrong
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/138926 Dinornithiformes it should be active, with conservation status set to extinct
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/133952 Pica pica please add an "introduced tag" to eurasian magpie observation in Taiwan. They are not native to the island. Instead, they were introduced here in the Qing dynasty.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/133961 Tinamus major zuliensis is it possible to remove a range map?
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/216011 Scytalopus latrans deseo confirmar
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/213934 Anser anser × branta canadensis it's more likely domestic goose hybrid (Anser anser domesticus × Branta canadensis) in most cases, especially outside wild Greylag Goose range
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/142873 Larus canus It makes far more sense to set the default name as that of the nominate subspecies, rather than a non-nominate subspecies which is likely to be split as a separate species in the near future.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/216213 Junco hyemalis oreganus I'm confused by the way subspecies on this and a few other species are treated in iNat. Clement's recognizes a bunch of subspecies that aren't options in iNat.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/216162 Anas platyrhynchos domesticus May I suggest changing the common name of this taxon in English to 'Domestic Mallard'? I think Domestic Duck is confusing because at least one other duck species is also domesticated and many others are kept in captivity.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/216215 Junco hyemalis oreganus If I understand correctly, iNat does not allow polytypic groups as taxons.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/216267 Passerella iliaca There are several subspecies missing from the taxon tree, and the common names as is are confusing.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/147465 Quiscalus lugubris Hay que replantear la distribución que aparece en el mapa de esta especie.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/215545 Rissa tridactyla the new range map omits much of the breeding and wintering range of the species worldwide
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/218219 Acanthis flammea flammea Can a European birder confirm that the name Mealy Redpoll usually and most appropriately applies specifically to the subspecies, and NOT to Carduelis flammea as a whole?
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/211166 Glareola pratincola how do i ad the israel red datta book to the authority list in order to change conservation status ?
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/211223 Aythya collaris × marila Need a taxon for Ring-necked Duck x Greater/Lesser Scaup
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/211234 Setophaga dominica albilora TLDR version: albilora is no longer recognized as a subspecies due to recent molecular and morphological work.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/211439 Platycercus elegans adelaidae Not a valid subspecies name. Cannot be neatly swapped with another subspecies as the 'Adelaide Rosella' pop is a hybrid swarm. Ideally the name should be deleted but a swap with Platycercus elegans (without subspecies epithet) the most pragmatic solution
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/219189 Torgos tracheliotos please add the nominotypical subspecies
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/219201 Columba larvata please add the nominotypical subspecies
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/219262 Notopholia corrusca please add the nominotypical subspecies
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/224305 Junco hyemalis its several Oregon subspecies use hybrid-lexicon English+scientific names misplaced in the English lexicon.
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/225569 Phyllastrephus leucolepis Lump with Icterine greenbul https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-017-1477-0
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/246018 Megascops gilesi Why is inactive this taxa?
https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/249176 Turdus merula Map needs updating to remove areas relevant to recently split Turdus mandarinus, T. maximus, T. simillimus

Posted on July 13, 2018 08:00 PM by loarie loarie

Comments

The 2018 Clements checklist update has just been released - I'll be able to work on getting iNat's taxonomy in line with that in the next day or two.

There are still a number of subspecies in iNat that weren't in Clements 2017; for most of them, I was waiting for the 2018 Clements update before swapping them, in case any of them were added in 2018 and could therefore be kept active on iNat. (After getting the rest of iNat's bird taxonomy in line with Clements 2018, I'll continue to work on swapping non-Clements subspecies.)

A few of the mismatched subspecies correspond to spelling errors in the Clements checklist, and it might not be a bad idea to list those as explicit deviations from Clements (along with a small handful of typos in species and genus names) - none of those should be controversial. (Tom Schulenberg - the main curator of the checklist - definitely knows about most or all of those spelling errors, but unfortunately they were caught too late to be changed in the 2018 update; I'll ask him about any other errors he knows about if/when I see him tomorrow [and if I don't see him, I'll send him an email].)

Posted by maxkirsch over 5 years ago

(That took a bit longer than a day or two, unfortunately... nearly all the changes are ready to go now, although a couple splits - Mallard and Eurasian Magpie in particular - will need a little more time.)

Before I apply all the swaps, splits, and lumps in Clements v2018 on iNaturalist, I'd like to propose a few explicit discrepancies from this year's update, concerning a few spelling mistakes introduced in Clements v2018:

Traversia lyalli instead of Clements's Traversia lyall;
Regulus regulus ellenthalerae instead of Clements's Regulus regulus ellenthalarae;
and Gymnoris instead of Clements's Gymnornis, so the following taxa would be swapped into Gymnoris instead of Gymnornis:
Petronia pyrgita
Petronia pyrgita pallida
Petronia pyrgita pyrgita
Petronia xanthocollis
Petronia xanthocollis transfuga
Petronia xanthocollis xanthocollis
Petronia superciliaris
Petronia superciliaris rufitergum
Petronia superciliaris flavigula
Petronia superciliaris bororensis
Petronia superciliaris superciliaris
Petronia dentata

Would anyone be opposed to these discrepancies? (I've caught a small number of other misspelled subspecies in Clements - all of which should now be on the list of 2019 updates - which I'd like to propose as explicit discrepancies after I get this update finished.)

Posted by maxkirsch over 5 years ago

I've just gone ahead and done all the straightforward 1-to-1 swaps (excluding ones that are involved in splits/lumps, plus a couple that I'd like to suggest as explicit deviations from Clements); I'll be busy for the next few hours, but this evening (Eastern Standard Time) I'll be able to go through and get all the splits, lumps, moving subspecies from one species to another (which should involve both splits and lumps), etc. taken care of (plus splitting the old genus Picoides and some other housekeeping stuff). I have a spreadsheet of all the changes - just the changes - with inputs and outputs, which should make finishing the 2018 update easier. My apologies for the long delay in getting iNat in line with Clements v2018.

Posted by maxkirsch over 5 years ago

Quick update - I've gone through everything but the splits and the subspecies moves (and those couple potential explicit deviation swaps I mentioned earlier). I should be able to deal with at least some of those tomorrow night [Eastern Standard Time]. (I'll at least add all the taxon changes tomorrow night, but it might take at least a couple days to finish the atlases for some of the trickier splits, like Mallard and Eurasian Magpie, before they can be committed.)

Posted by maxkirsch over 5 years ago

The new (?) list of discrepancies from Clements is useful, and highlights how many unrecognised subspecies have been accumulated. A large proportion of these are subspecies requested by South African observers, ie those recognised in the main field guide to subspecies of the region (Roberts Geographical Variation) but not in Clements. It would be useful to have administrators’ clarification on whether iNat is following Clements completely for subspecies level taxonomy, or whether deviations will be allowed in these cases. A clear statement that we are following Clements might help reduce flags and draft taxon changes requesting unrecognised subspecies. Alternatively, I can think of arguments for deviations, as it would be less confusing for observers in the region to continue to use the locally accepted taxonomy.
@loarie @maxkirsch

Posted by rjq about 5 years ago

Just a heads up noble curators, but we appear to have active two active taxa called White-winged Scoter at the moment; Melanitta fusca, and Melanitta deglandi. Users in North America are still using M. fusca....

Doesn't seem like this was an official taxa split as Melanitta fusca deglandi still exists. What is going on here?

Posted by jlayman about 5 years ago

The new edition of Clement's is here:

https://ebird.org/news/2019-ebird-taxonomy-update

Posted by raymie over 4 years ago

@maxkirsch A lot of changes to be made.

Posted by raymie over 4 years ago

hey folks - I'll take a look at this tonight and see how much of this can be automated. I'm sure there will be lots of questions...

Posted by loarie over 4 years ago

Thanks. This year there are a lot of splits. There are also nearly all of last year’s changes still to be committed. See also recent forum discussion.

Posted by rjq over 4 years ago

Need help adding a hybrid to the list. There was a hybrid Costa's Hummingbird/Lucifer Hummingbird in Southern Arizona in 2009. Can't list is as one genus because it is two.
Please help add this Calypte costae x Calothorax lucifer to the database. Thanks,

Posted by natureali over 3 years ago

@loarie Is it possible to add subfamilies and tribes for all birds? Most websites(GBIF, EOL, and many others) list subfamilies for birds.

Posted by yayemaster over 3 years ago

I'm not sure why this would be useful? Dividing by tribes and subfamilies can make it harder to find the right species, unless you know what subfamily it is in. And as you say, the information is easily accessible if anyone wants to explore bird taxonomy in more detail.

Posted by rjq over 3 years ago

can you first contact the folks at cornell who manage the Clements checklist and see if they'll consider putting those ranks in their checklist? That would be more direct. I think @cullen is involved in producing the Clements checklist

Posted by loarie over 3 years ago

What is iNat's stance on recently described birds? Example being, there are 5 "new" species that were officially named this January from Indonesia. These species have not been added to iNat yet. From my understanding, regardless of the taxonomic reference, if a new scientific name is published in a respective science journal, it is a fully recognized species from that moment.

Posted by birdwhisperer over 3 years ago

Hi @birdwhisperer, you can read about iNat's policy on this here: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/curator+guide#policies

Posted by bouteloua over 3 years ago

iNat follows the Clements/eBird list, which is updated once a year. So assuming that these species are accepted by Clements, they will appear in the new Clements update and be added to iNat. Not all species described in a journal are actually accepted - in some cases this may be due to different species concepts, sometimes the evidence may not be considered sufficient etc.

Posted by rjq over 3 years ago

I made that mistake a few weeks ago. I learned that the Clements checklist is the key to the Inat database.

Posted by yayemaster over 3 years ago

The next Clements update will be in early 2021 - we'll see if they get accepted.

Posted by raymie over 3 years ago

@rjq Yea, I've been following closely to the situation because "early 2021" is too vague and frankly too far away! XD I just wanted to make sure on this case because a whole new species to science is pretty different than splitting a species.

Posted by birdwhisperer over 3 years ago

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