Howard and Moore Checklist G. O. A. T.? (2 Viewers)

[mb1848]

The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World: framework for species delimitation.
https://www.aviansystematics.org/uploads/texteditor/AS_1_N9_PDFA.pdf .

 

[Mysticete]

The real news here is that they are working on a new edition and they plan to move it online, and update more recently.

Glad to see they are continuing, as I wasn't sure what there status was going to be. While I endorse the WGAC efforts to reconcile IOC/Clements/Birdlife, I do think it will be useful to have another checklist out there.

 

[jts1882]

I was looking at the Avian Trust website and I think there have been some additions on their future plans for the H&M checklist. At least they are new to me,

The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World: future plans

The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World: future plans

www.aviansystematics.org

Under “H & M Online” we have now provided details (“Introduction to evolving online material for the H & M Checklist”) regarding the updating of the 2013/14 checklist. This explains that we are transitioning from working through the entire checklist family by family to making reasonably prompt changes in any family with fresh version-numbering with issue dates. This transition requires a temporary two-source system: one source being the newly revised families which, once uploaded, become subject to prompt change, the other – gradually dwindling – is data from the 2013/14 Checklist as we have been displaying it since 2019. We aim to complete the transition in 2024.

The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World

The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World

www.aviansystematics.org

The website currently offers all our material free of charge. At the recent EGM the Trustees approved plans to change for some on-line information; however, access to the listed taxa across all families will remain free to all. Charges will be for access to information that we do not display.

It is intended to place the following information behind a “pay wall”: (1) the lists of footnotes, (2) the lists of references and (3) other initiatives creating fresh displayable information. Access to this material will be offered to individuals under a subscription scheme.

We do not expect the pay wall to come into force until the second quarter of 2024 (when all the non-passerine families have been updated/revised and the duly published in the displayed checklist). Becoming a subscriber through an agreement to set up an automatic annual payment making a payment for a 12-month period will be rewarded by a reduced charge for Year One. We anticipate the annual subscription will be £20 so the reduced change will be £15.

The notable bit is that they expect to complete the updates for non-passerine families by the middle of next year.

 

[Mysticete]

If you want a look at the online version, its available, although obviously not updated, or at least completely updated:

H&M4 Checklist family by family - The Trust for Avian Systematics

H&M4 Checklist family by family

www.aviansystematics.org

 

[Mike Earp]

If you want a look at the online version, its available, although obviously not updated, or at least completely updated

Lots of updates, at least to the footnotes and with References now online. But is there a way to spot the changes?

Has it always badged itself as "Home of the conservative checklist of the birds of the world"?

 

[Mysticete]

Lots of updated, at least to the footnotes and with References now online. But is there a way to spot the changes?

Not sure.

Subspecies groups are now listed, but so far seem a lot more conservative and aren't obvious. (look for the superscript numbers before individual subspecies name

I am just casually looking through, but Starnoenadinae as a subfamily in Columbidae I think is new?

 

[Mike Earp]

Subspecies groups are now listed, but so far seem a lot more conservative and aren't obvious. (look for the superscript numbers before individual subspecies name

I think subspecies groups were always identified that way.

They need to update their copyright statement, at least for the updated families:

© Text, layout and database rights belong to the Trust for Avian Systematics 2021

 

[Mysticete]

Here is one I wouldn't expect from H&M...they split the Ring-necked Pheasant into Yunnan, Common, and Ring-necked. Which uh...those common names certainly are not confusing at all.

 

[Mysticete]

I think subspecies groups were always identified that way.

They need to update their copyright statement, at least for the updated families:

ah they did...it's just shoved way to the side in the excel file and so easy to miss

 

[Mike Earp]

Here is one I wouldn't expect from H&M...they split the Ring-necked Pheasant into Yunnan, Common, and Ring-necked. Which uh...those common names certainly are not confusing at all.

H&M's footnote explains:

For the basis of the split of Phasianus torquatus and P. elegans from Phasianus colchicus see Liu Si-min et al. (2020)

Which is this: Liu et al. (2020) Regional drivers of diversification in the late Quaternary in a widely distributed generalist species, the common pheasant Phasianus colchicus. Journal of Biogeography, 47(12), 2714-2727.

First author's name is given in the article as Simin Liu, so use of Si-min by H&M is intriguing.

An online summary (here) says this:

At the moment, the researchers argue that the diversity within the Common Pheasant can be captured in three species: the Yunnan Pheasant (P. elegans), the Chinese Pheasant (P. vlangallii which includes the torquatus, strauchi–vlangallii and formosanus lineages) and the Turkestan Pheasant (P. colchicus which includes the tarimensis, principalis–chrysomelas, mongolicus and colchicus lineages). However, more research is needed to justify this classification.

 

[Mysticete]

I am just casually checking through this and cross-referencing with my own checklist project. Pied Bronze Cuckoo being split from Little Bronze Cuckoo is another split that at least isn't recognized by IOC, although I am not certain it's new to the checklist

 

[Mysticete]

H&M's footnote explains:

Which is this: Liu et al. (2020) Regional drivers of diversification in the late Quaternary in a widely distributed generalist species, the common pheasant Phasianus colchicus. Journal of Biogeography, 47(12), 2714-2727.

First author's name is given in the article as Simin Liu, so use of Si-min by H&M is intriguing.

Oh I know the paper...I read through it for my subspecies group project which tackled Galliformes some months ago, I am just surprised they would be the first checklist to follow it.

And while I am the first person who complains we focus to much time on common names on the forum, keeping Common and Ring-necked, names that were previously interchangeable and used for the same birds, for different chunks of subspecies is pretty confusing.

 

[Kirk Roth]

And while I am the first person who complains we focus to much time on common names on the forum, keeping Common and Ring-necked, names that were previously interchangeable and used for the same birds, for different chunks of subspecies is pretty confusing.

Well, fortunately for most (all?) of the English-speaking world, those names are still interchangeable, because our birds are a blend of both groups (*ahem - I mean "species") anyway.

So much for the "home of the conservative bird checklist in the world."

 

[jts1882]

If you want a look at the online version, its available, although obviously not updated, or at least completely updated:

H&M4 Checklist family by family - The Trust for Avian Systematics

H&M4 Checklist family by family

www.aviansystematics.org

I'd missed that they have started the update. There is a break in the family list between Apodidae (updated) and Eurypygidae (not updated).

P.S. Isn't the Clements update due today?

 

[l_raty]

First author's name is given in the article as Simin Liu, so use of Si-min by H&M is intriguing.

Well, of course, what it really is, is 劉思敏...
Therein, 劉, Liu, is the author's family name; 思敏, Simin/Si-Min, is the author's given name -- which will always follow the family name in Chinese, but is placed ahead of it, "Western-style", in the article.

They appear to have given a uniform 'special treatment' to Chinese names: they cite them in full (no abbreviations of the given names -- it is customary to abbreviate transliterated given names, even though there is nothing equivalent to our abbreviations in Chinese; the given name can of course also be omitted, which it is not here either); the elements corresponding to different Chinese characters in a given name are separated by a hyphen, the first one only being (in most cases) capitalized (hyphenation used to be customary in the past but tends to be dropped nowadays -- I suspect it might look old-fashioned; the elements that follow a hyphen, when one is used, are usually capitalized); in the reference list, the Chinese given names follow the family names without a separating coma (as in Chinese; in other names, there is a coma between the family names and the initials).

Thus: "Liu Si-min, Liu Yang, Jelen, E., Alibadian, M., Yao Cheng-Te, Li Xin-tong, Kayvanfar, N., Wang Yu-tao, Vahidi, F.S.M., Han Jian-Lin et al."

(I guess one thing that might be asked is why they limit this 'special treatment' to Chinese names only. E.g., why is the Japanese 山階芳麿 still rendered as "Yamashina, Y.", not "Yamashina Yoshimaro" ?)

 

[Paul Clapham]

P.S. Isn't the Clements update due today?

The website is still saying "In progress" but on the other hand I got the taxonomy update in my eBird app this morning.

 

[njlarsen]

P.S. Isn't the Clements update due today?

The text on the website says

The 2023 eBird Taxonomy Update is scheduled to begin on 24 October

(my emphasis). That does not necessarily mean that the spreadsheet is available today.

As I am typing this, my phone is updating bird packs in the ebird app. Presumably with new taxonomy, given that all four packs are under update.
Niels

 

[gusasp]

One perk with H&M is including full level taxonomy, i.e. tribes and subfamilies as well. I wonder when IOC and eBird/Clements will follow suite and come to an agreement on these as well.

 

[MJB]

(I guess one thing that might be asked is why they limit this 'special treatment' to Chinese names only. E.g., why is the Japanese 山階芳麿 still rendered as "Yamashina, Y.", not "Yamashina Yoshimaro" ?)

Perhaps as a condition for receiving China-sourced funding?
MJB

 

[Mysticete]

Well, fortunately for most (all?) of the English-speaking world, those names are still interchangeable, because our birds are a blend of both groups (*ahem - I mean "species") anyway.

So much for the "home of the conservative bird checklist in the world."

One perk with H&M is including full level taxonomy, i.e. tribes and subfamilies as well. I wonder when IOC and eBird/Clements will follow suite and come to an agreement on these as well.

The WGAC checklist is supposed to when published also provide this information.