Lumpers, rejoice! Splitters and armchair tickers, cry into your beer. The Yellow-rumped Warbler will remain the Yellow-rumped Warbler, at least for the foreseeable future, and will not be split into two, three, or even four species. That is, if you believe in the authority of the American Ornithologists Union, which voted down a proposal to split Dendroica coronata 7-4 (with three of the four in favor voting for a two-way split while only one voted for a four-way split).
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
I think they make a good case for voting it down. If there are still genetic studies in progress or waiting for publication, it would be better to wait until those all get published instead of making a split now and then (possibly) having to walk it back in a few years.
I’m glad they voted down the wren proposal, too.
More amusing from my perspective is the news that Americans had gone back to Common Gallinule, I must have missed that. Silly silly silly.
As someone who sees A LOT of both species in the field (yes, I said species) I think it is crazy not to split them. They have different plumage, call notes and are generally easy to identify to one or the other in the field.
Whatever the genus and species, they’ll always be Butterbutts to me. 🙂
@Duncan: yes, that also made me laugh, laugh, laugh …
@John: I’m with you on the wrens…
@Duncan and Jochen: Why not Laughing Gallinule? This Common Gallinule is just silly silly silly.
@Vermfly: Methinks thou art of the splitters!
@Meredith: Exactly!