Date: 10/26/26 3:45 pm From: Kent Fiala (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: New species and new species' names added/updated on the Birds of NC website
There is a big article on the subject on the eBird web site.
Kent Fiala
On 10/26/2026 3:11 PM, scompton1251 wrote: > When would I expect to see my new " armchair" species show up.on.my > eBird life list? > > > Steve Compton > Dorchester, SC > > > > Sent from my Galaxy > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: "Harry LeGrand(via carolinabirds Mailing List)" > <carolinabirds...> > Date: 10/24/26 8:27 PM (GMT-05:00) > To: carolinabirds listserve <carolinabirds...>, Harry LeGrand > <hlegrandjr...>, "Howard, Tom" <tom.howard...> > Subject: New species and new species' names added/updated on the Birds > of NC website > > This afternoon, Tom Howard and I worked hard to get the > hot-off-the-press American Ornithological Society's annual supplement > (67th) taxonomy onto the Birds of North Carolina website. As I > mentioned a few days ago, this has added two new species for NC -- the > split-off Prairie Willet and the split-off Eurasian Whimbrel. I > personally don't see a need for the NC Bird Records Committee (BRC) to > hold a vote on the Prairie Willet, as it is a common winter bird along > the coast. As Kent Fiala reminded me, the NC BRC a good while ago > voted on and accepted photos of a "Whimbrel -- European subspecies". > So, NC went from 488 species on its Definitive List to now 490. I see > just now that the CBC webmaster has made these 8-9 changes -- the two > species that were added to the Definitive List, and the roughly 6 > other species with common or scientific name changes: > > https://www.carolinabirdclub.org/brc/checklist_of_North_Carolina_birds.html > > As for the species accounts themselves, I have completed them. > However, the question "Which species of Willet do all of the inland > records refer to?" will remain difficult to clarify. What I did was > move ALL of the Mountain province records to the Prairie Willet, I > copied the former text of the Willet to BOTH the Prairie Willet and > the Saltmarsh Willet for the Piedmont province, and kept the inland > Coastal Plain records in the Saltmarsh Willet. So, no data were lost > in these moves, but certainly most far inland records in both > Carolinas SHOULD be migrating Prairie Willets, whereas we would expect > at least some inland records for the coastal-nesting Saltmarsh Willet > to occur during or right after a tropical storm, for example -- a la > inland records for Laughing Gull, or Royal Tern, etc. Of course, I > had to re-write the coastal status, as we now know that the Saltmarsh > Willet clears out of the Carolinas in fall and it winters in the > Caribbean area, and are "replaced" from mid-fall to mid-spring by the > Prairie Willet. We all hope that, over time, there will be some > clarification of the migration status inland for these two > similar-looking species. This IS an important consideration for many > of us, as those who keep county lists will want to know where to place > their record of a "Willet" at Jordan Lake or Enka Lake, for example -- > and it might be more prudent to call those as Prairie Willet (unless > photos can be examined). > > Lastly, the county maps for these 8-9 species will still retain the > older names. And, there are no maps for Eurasian Whimbrel or Prairie > Willet. We hope that several map-makers who helped populate the > species accounts will be able to revise maps, or generate new maps > fairly soon. > > Harry LeGrand > Raleigh > > > >
