Another day at the computer, but I added 1 new species to my life list

Sitting in front of my computer on a near-100 degree day, it's hard to believe I just added another species to my life list. But I did, and maybe you did too, without even knowing it and hopefully doing something more life affirming than staring at your computer. Here's how it happens.

The FIFTY-FIRST SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION
CHECK-LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS hits the streets this month, and a pdf copy just landed like a sodden copy of The New York Times in my in-box. For the non-bird nerds out there, this is the annual culmination of the work of a lot of pointy headed people who spend significant portions of their lives lumping and splitting. Species, that is. This year there are 12 authors on the paper, and I'd be willing to bet they were all really good in high school debate club and they still like to argue. A lot.

These days, the re-ordering of avian taxonomies is driven largely by genetic analysis. While the details of this type of work are pretty tedious and mostly take place far from actual birds and under fluorescent lighting in windowless rooms, the outcome is often quite interesting. And the AOU supplement spares us most of that back story.

In the latest supplement there is a lot of renaming of Orders, but usually just by a letter or two. There is also the inevitable re-arrangement of Orders and Families, meaning some groups of birds are now recognized as older or younger than previously thought. This ranking determines the arrangement of the content in field guides, so these sorts of changes keep publishers in business and also guarantees that you won't be able to find anything in your next field guide without fanning through pages like an old lady stuck in an un-air conditioned church.

For most of us bird watchers, things get a bit more interesting at the species level. This time around, genetics (and song and lack of inter-breeding) have determined that what used to be the Winter Wren here in Washington is now the Pacific Wren. What used to be the Winter Wren in New England, where I first encountered the species, is still the Winter Wren. Thus the new species on my list and maybe yours too.

Eventually all of this exciting news will be published on the AOU's web site. For now it is in volume 127 of The Auk, which you can find in the library of most universities, should you be near one, or on line, should you wish to pay for the privilege. Or you can relax and just wait for the next edition of Sibley's to come out!