Date: 9/14/25 8:40 am From: Greg D. Jackson via groups.io <g_d_jackson...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Updated AOS Field Checklist
Hi Kathryn,
This summer the North American Classification Committee (of “Big AOS” – the American Ornith. Soc.), formalized the split of Warbling Vireo into Eastern Warbling-Vireo and Western Warbling-Vireo (notice the new hyphens). This followed the line of the previous subspecies groups (Eastern was the nominate gilvus, Western the swainsoni Group which contained four subspecies).
There are a few reports of Western Warbling-Vireo in the East (and conversely Eastern in the West), but what I was saying is that Western has not been proven in Alabama. It is a potential vagrant, and though there are visual characters suggestive of the identification, definitive separation of a vagrant will be tricky without song recordings or in-hand examination (and even with those there are potential problems with present knowledge).
So yes, you definitely could have had warbling-vireos in California, but they would have been the Western Warbling-Vireo.
Hope this clears up the confusion.
Greg
From: <ALbirds...> <ALbirds...> On Behalf Of Kathryn Firsching via groups.io
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2025 9:18 AM
To: <ALbirds...>
Subject: Re: [ALbirds] Updated AOS Field Checklist
Greg,
Could you please clarify the comment about no records of warbling vireos in the west? We heard and saw them in California in spring and early summer. Or are you saying there are two variants or sub populations/species of warbling vireos (I’m no taxonomist so my terminology is probably off ) and the Eastern variant has never been found in the West? And vice versa?
Kathryn
On Sep 14, 2025, at 9:09 AM, Greg D. Jackson via groups.io <g_d_jackson...> <mailto:<g_d_jackson...> > wrote:
AL Birders:
Recently I updated the AOS Field Checklist for Alabama based on the annual taxonomic changes this summer. Joe Watts posted it to the AOS website, where it is available for download at:
Order of several species and groups was rearranged as usual. We didn’t gain any new species from splits, but “our” Herring Gull is now American Herring Gull, and Warbling Vireo is now Eastern Warbling-Vireo (we have no proven records of Western).
