OSME Region List of birds
A consultative document
Semi-collared Flycatcher/Gobemouche à demi-collier Ficedula semitorquata - an OSME speciality © Aurélien Audevarde
The Formal Edition of the OSME Region List of Bird Taxa – Version 2.1
The aim of the OSME Region List (ORL) is to provide a definitive list of bird taxa1 that have been recorded in the OSME Region. The Formal Edition is issued with a version number so that we* can implement amendments from the results of new research and from comments, corrections and suggestions we may receive. The ORL will be the basis of any country-by-country checklist for the OSME Region, a project that is being undertaken separately under the aegis of OSME Council in cooperation with the countries involved. A longer-term aim is to produce the ORL and country checklists in the languages of each country. However, before you examine the ORL for the first time, we suggest that you read its Ornithological basis , and the Explanation of the ORL. The Ornithological basis provides the rationale for the Order, Sequence and Nomenclature adopted in the ORL. For ease of reference, the ORL comprises three sections: Part A is Non-passerines, Part B Passerines and Part C Hypothetical (species that are of unproven occurrence, those that are unlikely to occur and some perhaps that are both). We acknowledge here the help freely given and the interest expressed by so many people from throughout the Region and from the ornithological world – we believe that we have included their names in the Acknowledgements section below, but if you have been omitted, we apologise, and do let us know so that we can update it!
MIKE BLAIR*, RICHARD PORTER, STEVE PREDDY AND SIMON ASPINALL
* ORL correspondence coordinator; Listmaster, c ⁄ o The Lodge, Sandy, SG 19 2DL UK or via email
Version 2.0: summary of changes
The major changes incorporated in v2.0 are based on published results from a plethora of increasingly-refined DNA research projects. They include repositioning complete genera in the sequence, re-sequencing species within genera, but the main change is the break-up of Sylviidae, the Old World warblers. New warbler families are Phylloscopidae and Acrocephalidae. Megaluridae, grassbirds, is extended to include Bradypterus and Locustella. There are also many smaller changes across numerous families, in part involving the erection of, or reversion to, separate families.
Version 2.1: summary of changes
The major change of which v2.1 warns is the proposal (Fregin et al 2009) to split Acrocephalidae into 3 separate genera, introducing Calamodus and Notiocichla. Some have already adopted this fully, but we align with the paper’s advice to wait until the outcome of the question of priority of these two names is known; one may have to be changed. We have noted each potential change in the ‘Notes’ column. The other change is one of updating from a review of back issues of OSME publications.
1 We use the word ‘taxon’ (plural ‘taxa’) rather than ‘species’ or ‘subspecies’ here because there are a number of cases where any definition of a species or subspecies is inadequate to describe the status of populations where a majority of, but not all, individuals can be identified through visual identification, morphology or DNA studies. The subtleties revealed through much modern genetic research indicate that many more taxa than previously thought are in dynamic states of evolutionary stability that defy simple definitions of ‘species’ and ‘subspecies’ (the Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava complex (qv) is a good example). Overlying this problem is that precise knowledge of taxa distribution limits and population numbers and densities is lacking over vast areas of the Region, which leads us to be cautious about even well-argued cases for ‘splitting’ and ‘lumping’. We therefore retain some taxa that we have not elevated to a higher rank and others that we have not ‘lumped’, but we note the cases for doing so.