On Tue, Oct 13, 2026 at 3:43 PM Nate Dias <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> My understanding is that the emerging Avilist initiative is going to solve
> the issue of taxanomic misalignment of the various world avian checklists /
> authorities. So instead of Clements/AOS/IOC/Birdlife/etc. in future
> eBird, Birds of the World and everyone will use the same unified taxonomy.
> Supposedly there will be a system for people to propose taxonomic
> changes for consideration by AviList’s teams of experts.
>
> More info here: https://www.avilist.org/ >
> Nathan Dias - Charleston, SC (writing from Maquipucuna in Ecuador)
>
> --
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/offshorebirder2/ >
> https://www.youtube.com/@NathanDiasNatureVideos >
>
> On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Kent Fiala <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
>> If you upload photos of the Gray-headed Swamphen to the Carolina Bird
>> Club photo gallery, please identify it as Purple Swamphen, not Gray-headed.
>>
>> Since the 1880s the American Ornithologists' Union (now reconstituted as
>> American Ornithological Society) has been the authority for taxonomy of
>> North American birds. From the early days of Carolina Bird Club up into the
>> early years of this century, everyone in North America accepted their
>> taxonomy. In this century, eBird has emerged using the Clements taxonomy,
>> which is worldwide rather than just for North America. Many people use
>> eBird so they are more familiar with Clements/eBird taxonomy than with AOS.
>> This is one of a few unfortunate cases where Clements/eBird uses a
>> different name than AOS uses.
>>
>> I have asked the chairs of both the NC and SC Bird Records Committees to
>> make a formal decision on whether we continue the long tradition of using
>> the AOS taxonomy, or to switch to Clements. Neither committee has responded
>> to me, so on the CBC website I continued using AOS as always rather than
>> make a big change on my own, and I've suggested to Jeff that he do so as
>> well. Thus, on the CBC website this species is known by its AOS name,
>> Purple Swamphen, and not the Clements name Gray-headed Swamphen. By the
>> way, the reason for the difference is that worldwide, Clements splits the
>> former Purple Swamphen into multiple species, while AOS retains them all as
>> one species.
>>
>> I believe that the annual taxonomic update from AOS is expected this
>> month, so it will be interesting to see if they make any further move
>> toward unification.
>>
>> --
>> Kent Fiala
>>
>>
>
> --
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/offshorebirder2/ >
> https://www.youtube.com/@NathanDiasNatureVideos >
> "These days I prefer to hunt with a camera. A good photograph demands
> more skill from the hunter, better nerves and more patience than the rifle
> shot." -- Bror Blixen
>
>
>
