OSME Region List ORL

ORL 7.2: Summary of changes

General

The Coronavirus epidemic constrained fieldwork severely, at least until researchers were fully vaccinated, but even then, shifting perceived national levels of risk curtailed many projects. One benefit from this hiatus meant that researchers were able to catch on their backlogs of unwritten scientific, with the result that the annual total of ornithological papers went up in 2021.

As ORL7.2 was being finalised, worrying death tolls of many species were being reported in many countries via a lethal strain of bird flu; for example, 5000 Common Cranes Grus grus in Israel.

Part E of the ORL, Hypothetical Species, has been extensively revisited and updated.

In Taxonomic Sequence

Non-Passerines

Harrison et al 2021, Seabirds – The New Identification Guide (including sea ducks), also included updated taxonomic and distribution information, aligning largely with recent conclusions and proposals in Howell & Zufelt 2019.

Prakas et al 2021 found deep divergence between the genetic makeup of eastern and western populations of European Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur, but to quantify the extent, more widespread sampling is essential before any taxonomic recommendations can be made.

Černý & Natale 2021 propose radical re-evaluation of relationships within many wader genera, which we have noted, but we expect some weighty countervailing argument.

Wei et al 2021 confirm the atrifrons group of (formerly considered part of Mongolian Sand Plover Anarhynchus mongolus) is not the closest relative to the mongolus group, the latter actually being sister to Greater Sand Plover A. leschenaultii: this supports the ORL treatment of Lesser Sand Plover as A. atrifrons.

Following the work of Shirihai et al 2014, Saunier et al 2021 followed data-logged Mascarene Petrels Pseudobulweria aterrima from their small colonies on Réunion Island across the OSME Region deep-ocean area; these colonies are high in steep forested canyons and cliffs, perhaps allowing an increase of the world population from its present 10-50 nesting pairs.

Starikov & Wink 2020 proposed that the sspp vociferus and caeruleus of Black-winged Kite should be separated as monotypic and polytypic species respectively. Their caveat is the need for more representative sampling throughput the breeding distribution, including the extralimital eastern subspecies, hypoleucos. Within the OSME Region, caeruleus occurs from Egypt along the Nile Valley and down the Red Sea in western Arabia: extralimitally, it occurs in N Africa and in SA Iberia: vociferus occurs from Afghanistan & SE Iran, but is expanding its breeding distribution W and NW to the rest of Iran, Israel, Iraq Jordan Oman W Saudi Arabia. Steadily increasing vagrancy to Cyprus, Asian Turkey and the Caucasus continues.

Cumer et al 2021 deduce from a study of landscape & climatic variations of the Quaternary that all phenotypic variations in mainland Europe are Tyto. a. alba; no other sspp in mainland Europe are valid.

Passerines

From the preprint of Nasuelli et al 2021, on Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator, their findings of conflict between accepted subspecies distribution, current ID and mtDNA/nuclear DNA may force taxonomic and distribution adjustment, including a likely hybrid zone.

Two developments in ground jay taxonomy: first, Opaev et al 2019 argue for 2 of the 4 species to occupy a separate genus, Eupodoces, and second, alignment of the major world lists brings English name changes while replacing eponyms. Pander’s and Iranian Ground Jays become Turkestan and Iranian Ground Jays respectively while remaining in Podoces. Pleske’s and the extralimital Henderson’s Ground Jays become Mongolian and Xinjiang Ground Jays respectively, moving to Eupodoces. We defer the genus change until IOC and the other world lists have considered Opaev et al 2019. 

Pourebrahimi et al 2021 examine the relationships of the Parid genus Poecile. Within Sombre Tit P. lugubris they found deep genetic differences in SE European, Turkish + Middle East & Iranian populations, but their geographic sampling was insufficient to reach definitive taxonomic conclusions. However, 2-3 species may be involved.

Stervander et al 2020 have, based on earlier work by largely the same team, reached some taxonomic implications, which if adopted, will affect several lark genera. Briefly, Greater Hoopoe-Lark Alaemon alaudipes may be re-split into a polytypic desertorum group (The English name Bifasciated Lark might be restored) and a polytypic alaudipesgroup, for which the English name Greater Hoopoe-Lark might be retained. Both groups occur in the OSME Region. Pro tem, the ORL has adopted this arrangement until further research confirms or rejects it. 

Bar-tailed Lark Ammomanes cinctura under Stervander et al 2020 seems eminently splittable into a polytypic cinctura group & a polytypic arenicolor group. However, the earlier distribution of the taxon arenicolor is also split, meaning that the populations currently assigned to arenicolor in NW Africa and areas further east require a new scientific name; furthermore, the boundary between this as yet un-named population and those that are retained in a diminished arenicolor taxon is not yet confirmed, but is thought to lie in central Libya. Pro tem, we assume that the cinctura group (Under the English name Bar-tailed Lark & including the un-named taxon) occupies Libya sufficiently closely to allow the possibility that vagrancy to the OSME Region is likely, as has happened to species with similar distributions. In the interim, we have adopted the informal English name of ‘Arenaceous Bar-tailed Lark’ for the polytypic arenicolor group whose wide distribution stretches from Egypt through south Israel to Iraq, southwards to Arabia and eastwards to Afghanistan.

Stervander et al 2020 also found deep genetic divergences within Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti, suggestive of 3 species. However, the large number of subspecies that not only have not been sampled (only 5 of the 22 in the IOC List of 22), but whose distribution limits are uncertain, means that firm taxonomic conclusions cannot yet be made (Per Alström pers comm).

Stervander et al 2020 also found no genetic evidence to reverse the lumping of Singing Bush Lark Mirafra cantillansinto Horsfield’s Lark M. javanica, but since no widespread voice analysis data is available, the asserted voice and behavioural differences mentioned by Shirihai & Svensson 2018 have not been evaluated in the context of integrative taxonomy. In consequence pro tem, we retain the English name Singing Bush Lark while presenting the taxonomy as ‘don’t know for certain’ thus: M. (javanica) cantillans.  

Stervander et al 2021 confirmed the Wink 2011 split of Oriental Skylark Alauda gulgula from Eurasian Skylark A. arvensis, at the same time recommending the split of 3 extralimital subspecies of the latter as Japanese Skylark A. japonensis.

Stervander et al 2020 found significant genetic divergence between populations north and south of the Saharan latitudes of Thekla’s Lark Galerida theklae, the northern grouped under a diminished G. theklae and the southern, all extralimital, under G. praetermissa, for which no English name has yet been proposed.

Scherbakova & Korobitsyn 2021 found Sand Martin Riparia riparia shared sympatrically near Tomsk, Russia, a large colony with Pale Martin R. diluta with no sign of hybridisation; R. diluta mostly occupied higher nest-holes, but both formed single-species groups, thus strongly reinforcing the case for separate species. Meanwhile, Tang et al 2021 showed that R. diluta contains multiple deep evolutionary lineages despite extremely subtle & gradual morphological variation among them, & little genetic differences within lineages over large geographic areas: no taxonomic conclusions were reached, although R. diluta may comprise at least 2 species. Furthermore, Tang et al2021 considered central Mongolian breeding birds are subspecies tibetana, not diluta.

A new species for the OSME Region, White-throated Swallow Hirundo albogularis, was photgraphed at Sakaka, al-Jouf, northern Saudi Arabia by Nader Alshammari in June 2021, some 4450km from its northernmost African non-breeding area near the southern Tanzanian border with Zambia.

Elverice et al 2021 examined via multiple genetic techniques the biogeographic history of both Western and Eastern Rock Nuthatches, Sitta neumayer and S. tephronota: the results suggest that their respective subspecies,  tschittscherini and dresseri, that share a distribution in the Zagros Mountains (Eastern Turkey & Iraq to Iran) though separated by altitude, are probably full cryptic species, for neither shares any haplotypes with any related taxon.

IOC 11.2 revised the sequence of Passeridae to better reflect the relationships of the species therein.

Kirwan et al 2021 found the dating of the separation by Liu et al 2017 of Arabian Accentor from Radde’s Accentor to be flawed in overestimating it at 1.5-2Mya, and as a consequence, Arabian Accentor should be considered an isolated sedentary subspecies Prunella ocularis fagani of the migratory Radde’s Accentor. Similarly, Ural Black-throated Accentor P.a atrogularis is the nominate and Asian Black-throated Accentor is the subspecies P.a. huttoni. That said, wider sampling is called for all four taxa. For the latter pair, it has been suggested that considerable song differences do exist, but these have not been greatly researched.

The humble Dunnock Prunella modularis has been split by Pavia et al 2021 into 3 species, one of which, Iberian Dunnock P. mabbotti is extralimital; despite that English name, its distribution may well include Italy and Greece. The diminished Dunnock. P. modularis occurs in the OSME Region in NW Asia Minor, whereas Caucasian Dunnock P. obscura occurs NE Turkey & along the Caucasus.

Recuerda et al 2021 recommend splitting Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs into 4 spp, all extralimital except perhaps for ‘North African Chaffinch’ F. spodiogenys ssp harterti which may occur, from Cyrenaica, NE Libya into NW Egypt. Incidentally, other sources disagree or are unclear on which subspecies occur in Egypt.

The process of rationalising the various world lists of bird species, should it include the recommendations and findings of Päckert et al 2020, would revise and deconstruct the Old World Emberizidae into 8 or more genera. 

References

Černý, D and R Natale. 2021. Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes). bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.15.452585

Cumer, T, AP Machado, G Dumont, V Bontzorlos, R Ceccherelli, M Charter, K Dichmann, H-D Martens, N Kassinis, Rui Lourenco, F Manzia, L Prévost, M Rakovic, F Siverio, A Roulin and J Goudet. 2021. Landscape and climatic variations of the Quaternary shaped multiple secondary contacts among barn owls (Tyto alba) of the Western Palearctic. bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.09.447652

Elverici, C, BŞ Önder, and U Perktaş. 2021. Mitochondrial Differentiation and Biogeography of Rock Nuthatches. Ardea. 109(2): 1-13. doi.org/10.5253/arde.v109i3.a5

Harrison, P, MR Perrow and H Larsson. 2021. Seabirds. The New Identification Guide. Lynx Edicions. Barcelona, Spain.

Kirwan, GM, NJ Collar and P Boesman. 2021. Morphology and song suggest Arabian Prunella fagani and Radde’s Accentors P. ocularis are conspecific. Sandgrouse 43(2): 253-262.

Liu, B, P Alström, U Olsson, J Fjeldså, Q Quan, KCS Roselaar, T Saitoh, C-te Yao, Y Hao W Wang, Y Qu and F Lei. 2017. Explosive radiation and spatial expansion across the cold environments of the Old World in an avian family. Ecol. & Evol. 2017: 1-12. doi: 10.1002/ece3.3136

Nasuelli, M, L. Ilahiane, G Boano, M Cucco, A Galimberti, M Pavia, E Pioltelli, A Shafaeipour, G Voelker and I Pellegrino. 2021. Phylogeography of Lanius senator reveals conflicts between alpha taxonomy, subspecies ranges and genetics. bioRxiv preprint. doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.27.466041

Opaev, AV Ilyashenko, A Gungaa, E Ilyashenko and G Purev-Ochir. 2019. Vocalization of the Ground Jays Supports their Subdivision into two Genera: Podoces and Eupodoces. Podoces. 14(2): 18–27.

Päckert, M, A Favre, J Schnitzler, J Martens, Y-H Sun, DT Tietze, F Hailer, I Michalak and P Strutzenberger. 2020. ”Into and Out of” the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Himalayas: Centers of origin and diversification across five clades of Eurasian montane and alpine passerine birds. Ecol. & Evol. 10: 9283-9300.

Pavia, M, SV Drovetski, G Boano, KW Conway, I Pellegrino and G Voelker. 2021. Elevation of two subspecies of Dunnock Prunella modularis to species rank. Bull. BOC. 141(2): 199-210.

Pourebrahimi, S, O Mirshamsi, SM Ghasempouri, FY Moghaddam and M Aliabadian. 2021. Phylogeny and evolutionary history of the Sombre Tit, Poecile lugubris in the western Palearctic (Aves, Paridae). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. doi: org/10.1016/j.ympev.107343

Prakas, P, D Butkauskas, S Švažas, A Bea, V Yanenko, A Ragauskas and D Vaitkuviė. 2021. The Genetic Diversity and Structure of the European Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur. Animals 11: 1283. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051283

Recuerda, M, JC Illera, G Blanco, R Zardoya and B Milá. 2021. Sequential colonization of oceanic archipelagos led to a species-level radiation in the common chaffinch complex (Aves: Fringilla coelebs). Mol. Phyl. Evol. In Press. doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107291

Saunier, M, J Dubos, P Pinet, L Humeau, C Caumes, P Souharce, YS Mattoir, M Riethmuller, M Le Corre and A Jaeger. 2021. Phenology, at sea distribution and activity of a critically endangered seabird, the Mascarene petrel. LIFE+ Pétrels project (LIFE13BIO/FR/) Poster presentation.

Scherbakova, MM and IG Korobitsyn. 2021. Differences in nest hole position in a mixed colony of Sand Martin Riparia riparia and Pale Sand Martin R. diluta. Bird Study 67(4): 531-535.

Shirihai, H, T Pym, M San Román and V Bretagnolle. 2014. The Critically Endangered Mascarene Petrel Pseudobulweria aterrima: identification and behaviour at sea, historical discovery of breeding sites, and breeding ecology on Réunion, Indian Ocean. Bull. BOC. 134(3):194-223.

Shirihai, H and L Svensson. 2018. Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds: Passerines: 2 vols. Helm. London, UK.

Starikov, IJ and M Wink. 2020. Old and Cosmopolite: Molecular Phylogeny of Tropical–Subtropical Kites (Aves: Elaninae) with Taxonomic Implications. Diversity 12: 327.  doi:10.3390/d12090327

Stervander, M, B Hansson, U Olsson, MF Hulme, U Ottosson and P Alström. 2020. Molecular Species Delimitation of Larks (Aves: Alaudidae), and Integrative Taxonomy of the Genus Calandrella, with the Description of a Range-Restricted African Relic Taxon. Diversity. 12: 428. doi:10.3390/d12110428

Tang, Q, R Burri, Y Liu, A Suh, G Sundev, G Heckel and M Schweizer. 2021. Seasonal migration patterns and the maintenance of evolutionary diversity in a cryptic bird radiation. Mol. Ecol. doi: 10.1111/mec.16241

Wei, C, M Schweizer, P Tomkovitch, VYu. Arkhipov, M Romanov, J Martinez, X Lin, N Halimubieke, P Que, T Mu , Q Huang, Z Zhang, T Székely and Y Liu. 2021. Genome-wide data reveals paraphyly in the sand plover complex (Charadrius mongolus/leschenaultii). Authorea doi: 10.22541/au.162671169.97759015/v1

Wink, M. 2011. Evolution und Phylogenie der Vögel – Taxonomisch Konsequenzen. Vogelwarte 49: 17-24.

ORL 7.1: Summary of changes

General

Lehikoinen et al 2021 proves the increasing tendency of long-distance migrants spending their non-breeding season in the northern hemisphere is related to Climate Change.

A considerable number of splits and proposed splits already recognised in the ORL have, over the last 18 months, now been accepted independently in the IOC List. On some of these splits, we have been in prior discussion with David Donsker and Pamela Rasmussen, who compile the IOC List (https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/). Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has prevented or delayed much fieldwork and museum research. Still, it has allowed many authors to catch up on their backlog of papers for publication, leading to a host of amendments to the ORL.

In Taxonomic Sequence

Non-passerines

Damba et al. 2020 found that wetland disappearance and degradation have made Korea and Japan devoid of the globally threatened Swan Goose Anser cygnoides in the non-breeding season and have shifted the population in China away from traditional wintering grounds. As a result, total numbers appear down by c15%.

The globally threatened Eastern Palearctic populations of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus were geotracked by Ao et al 2020 between their non-breeding areas In China and their breeding areas between the Anabar River & the Kolyma River in eastern Siberia. They also incorporated data from Korea and Japan. All eastern populations are in steady and fairly steep decline, but they conclude that this species was tied to grazing single-species swards of spikerush Eleocharis sp and foxtail Alopecurus sp which has disappeared almost completely from the Yangtze valley. The loss of shallow water & mud habitat has been replaced by permanent pools to grow commercially Lotus Nelumbo nucifera & where large-scale Chinese Mitten Crab Eriocheir sinensis aquaculture has expanded since 2003.

Lavretsky et al 2021 established that ancestral gene flow occurred between Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis & true Eiders Somateria spp, which occurrence may have produced, by hybrid speciation, Steller’s Eider Polysticta stelleri.

On Réunion, the main 2 colonies of Barau’s Petrel Pterodroma baraui on very steep mountain slopes lie within 5km of each other, but the respective populations are genetically distinct, though phenotypically & morphologically indistinguishable: Danckwerts et al 2021. No assessment of relative taxonomic differentiation has yet been made.

Grémillet et al 2020 document a Northern Gannet Morus bassanus population crash of the southernmost breeding location on Rouzic Island in Brittany, France, attributed mostly to poor feeding conditions in non-breeding areas, due to a shifting prey base driven by global warming. Colonies further north show no similar declines, but many Rouzic birds winter in the Mediterranean, one tracked in successive years to the Lebanon coast; this group suffers high accidental bycatch mortality.

Muzaffar et al 2017 identify short-range migrations of UAE populations of Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis, finding no mixing with populations in the southern Oman-Socotra arc, noting that populations west of Qatar in the Gulf of Salwa likely are also distinct and these should be considered as evolutionary separate units.

Some clarity on Buzzard taxa from easternmost Kazakhstan south and east to the western Himalayas at long last has been teased out from interpreting James 1988, Dickinson & Svensson 2012, Dickinson & Remsen 2013 & Lindholm & Forsten 2013. The migrant taxon burmanicus, formerly considered a synonym of refectus, is now a migratory ssp of Japanese Buzzard Buteo japonicus, whose other sspp are resident on Japanese islands. Previous synonymisation of burmanicus with taxon refectus was in error. B. refectus is now the largely resident Himalayan Buzzard of the western Himalayas. The status of the extralimital taxon hodgsoni of the eastern Himalayas is as yet uncertain: if it is a ssp of refectus, then the latter is polytypic, but hodgsoni may yet be a full sp

Salter et al 2019 make the case for Collared Owlet to be placed in the resurrected genus Taenioptynx.

Passerines

The Large-billed Crow complex within Corvus macrorhynchos sensu lato (Distributed from eastern Afghanistan east along the Himalayas across China & up to Sakhalin & Japan, & south to Sri Lanka, & southeast to the Sundas & the Philippines) has long been recognised as comprising possibly 7 spp, but data were lacking on distributional boundaries and genetic relationships. Gradually, this is beginning to change, IOC11.2 interpreting data on westernmost forms (Rasmussen & Anderton 2005, 2012) to detach Himalayan Crow C.[m.] intermedius (the taxon in the OSME Region, extralimital to C Himalayas), Indian Jungle Crow C.[m.] culminatus (Peninsular India & Sri Lanka) & Eastern Jungle Crow C.[m.] levaillantii (N India to Malay peninsula). Perhaps 4 more spp are yet to be determined.

IOC11.2 revises the linear sequence of Hirundinidae, also resurrecting the genus Neophedina for Banded Martin N. cincta. Leader et al 2021 proposed full species status for Western House Martin Delichon urbicum, Eastern House Martin D. lagopodum & Asian House Martin D. dasypus on detailed ID differences and lack of hybridisation in sympatric colonies, which arrangement the ORL has held for some time. IOC11.2 accepts the split although preferring the epithets Common & Siberian for the first two English names.

Alström et al 2021 suggest in passing that Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus sspp stentoreus, levantinus & brunnescens might best be treated as species. The current ORL tentatively suggests that brunnescens may be a species, Indian Reed Warbler, but we will await IOC specialist reviewers.

Alström et al 2021 using a detailed integrative taxonomic approach split Graceful Prinia into P. gracilis sensu stricto occupying the N & E distribution of P. gracilis sensu lato, with Delicate Prinia P. lepida occupying the southern and eastern distribution.

IOC11.2 revises the linear sequence of Turdidae, a long-awaited action.

Päckert et al 2021 examine relationships in Passeridae between Old World sparrows to establish a revised phylogeny; they include many more species than previous phylogenies, strongly establishing Petronia and Gymnoris as separate genera and retain the golden sparrows in Passer. Although they declined to propose a detailed revised taxonomy because may species could not be included in their study, their general conclusions alter our understanding of the relationships of many species in the ORL. For example, Socotra Sparrow P. insularis does shares a common ancestry with House P. domesticus, Spanish P. hispaniolensis and Italian P. italiae Sparrows and has no recent link with Great Sparrow P. motitensis are previously suggested.

Deleted from the ORL

Vaurie’s Nightjar Caprimulgus centralasicus has been removed from the ORL Hypothetical List and transferred to the list of removed species that is appended to the Hypothetical List; its DNA indicates it belongs to the plumipes subspecies of European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus.

Taxa added to the ORL

On the Trindade Petrel Pterodroma arminjoiana breeding grounds on Round Island, Seychelles, Howell & Zufelt 2019 noted that small numbers of Kermadec Petrel P. neglecta & Herald Petrel P. heraldica breed & also hybridise with Trindade Petrel. Given that non-breeding Trindade Petrel loaf in the deep-sea OSME Region in BirdLife IBA Indian Ocean Western Marine 31, it is highly likely that non-breeding individuals of the other 2 spp join them or wander to the southern limits of the OSME deep-sea area. Kermadec and Herald Petrels have been added to the ORL.

Delicate Prinia Prinia lepida has been added to the ORL as a split from Graceful Prinia P. gracilis: qv Alström et al 2021 above.

African Desert Warbler Curruca deserti has been photographed in Cyprus by Thomas Hadjikyriacou and has been accepted by the Cyprus Rarities Committee, resulting in the transfer of the taxon from the ORL Hypothetical List to the Passerine List.

There is a very reasonable probability that Black-winged Snowfinch Montifringilla adamsi occurs in the OSME Region where the detailed Gilgit-Baltistan 2021 Checklist (Maintained on Facebook) maps it on the southern side of the Wakhan Pass, Afghanistan. Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan is an Environmental Conservation Organization with excellent and detailed data. Further evidence comes from Cobos et al 2021, who by using eBird plots, indicate the species’ presence in eastern Nuristan, Afghanistan, only 250km SW of the Gilgit records: both are about 275km beyond the BirdLife DataZone map.

References

Alström, P, PC Rasmussen, C Xia, L Zhang, C Liu, J Magnusson, A Shafaeipour and U Olsson. 2021. Morphology, vocalizations, and mitochondrial DNA suggest that the Graceful Prinia is two species. Orn. 138: 1-23. doi: 10.1093/ornithology/ukab014
Ao, P, X Wang, D Solovyeva, F Meng, T Ikeuchi, T Shimada, J Park, D Gao, G Liu, B Hu, T Natsagdorj, B Zheng, S Vartanyan, B Davaasuren, J Zhang, L Cao1 and AD Fox. 2020. Rapid decline of the geographically restricted and globally threatened Eastern Palearctic Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus. Wildfowl Special Issue 6: 206–243.
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan https://www.facebook.com/birdsgb/ & https://www.facebook.com/groups/birdsgb/
Cobos, ME, Y Cheng, G Song, F Lei and AT Peterson. 2021. New distributional opportunities with niche innovation in Eurasian snowfinches. bioRxiv preprint. doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.06.438738
Damba, I, L Fang, K Yi, J Zhang, N Batbayar, J You, O-K Moon, S-D Jin, BF Liu, G Liu, W Xu, B Hu, S Liu, J Park, H Kim, K Koyama, T Natsagdorj, B Davaasuren, H Lee, O Goroshko, Q Zhu, L Ge, L Cao1 and AD.Fox. 2020. Flyway structure, breeding, migration and wintering distributions of the globally threatened Swan Goose Anser cygnoides in East Asia. Wildfowl Special Issue 6: 97–123.
Danckwerts, DK, L Humeau, P Pinet, CD McQuaid and M Le Corre. 2021. Extreme philopatry and genetic diversification at unprecedented scales in a seabird. Scient. Reps. 11: 6834. www.nature.com/scientificreports doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86406-9
Dickinson, EC and JV Remsen Jr. (Eds) 2013. The Howard and Moore checklist of Birds of the World. 4th edn. Vol 1. Non-Passerines. Aves Press. Eastbourne, UK.
Dickinson, EC and L Svensson. 2012. A new name for a buzzard from the Himalayas. Bull. BOC 132(3): 221.
Grémillet, D, C Péron, A Lescroël, J Fort, SC Patrick, A Besnard and P Provost. 2020. No way home: collapse in northern gannet survival rates point to critical marine ecosystem perturbation. Marine Biol. 167: Paper 189 (10pp). doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03801-y
Howell, SNG and K Zufelt. 2019. Oceanic Birds of the World: a Photo Guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.
James, AH. 1988. Geographic variation in the Buzzard Buteo buteo (L.): japonicus-group (Aves: Accipitridae). Beaufortia. 38(4): 57-74.
Lavretsky, P, RE Wilson, SL Talbot and SA Sonsthagen. 2021. Phylogenomics reveals ancient and contemporary gene flow contributing to the evolutionary history of sea ducks (Tribe Mergini). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107164
Leader, P, G Carey and M Schweizer. 2021. The identification, taxonomy and distribution of Western, Siberian and Asian House Martins. Brit. Birds. 114(2): 72-96.
Lehikoinen, A, Å Lindström, A Santangeli, PM Sirkiä, L Brotons, V Devictor, J Elts, RPB Foppen, H Heldbjerg, S Herrando, M Herremans, M-AR Hudson, F Jiguet, A Johnston, R Lorrilliere, E-L Marjakangas, NL Michel, CM Moshøj, R Nellis, J-Y Paquet, AC Smith, T Szép and Chris van Turnhout. 2021. Wintering bird communities are tracking climate change faster than breeding communities. J. Anim. Ecol. 31pp. In Press.
Lindholm, A and A Forsten. 2013. “Common” Buzzards of South China and South-East Asia. Caluta 4: 3-11.
Muzaffar, SB, C Clarke, R Whelan, R Gubiani and TR Cook. 2017. Short distance directional migration in the threatened Socotra cormorant: link to primary productivity and implications for conservation. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 575: 181–194.
Päckert, M, J Hering, AA Belkacem, Y-H Sun, S Hille, D Lkhagvasuren, S Islam and J Martens. 2021. A revised multilocus phylogeny of Old World sparrows (Aves: Passeridae). Vert. Zool. 71: 353–366. https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.71.e65952
Rasmussen, P and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. 2 vols. Lynx Edicions, Smithsonian Institution. Barcelona, Washington. Spain, USA.
Rasmussen, P and JC Anderton. 2012. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide, 2nd edn. 2 vols. Lynx Edicions, Smithsonian Institution. Barcelona, Washington. Spain, USA.
Salter, JF, CH Oliveros, PA Hosner, JD Manthey MB Robbins, RG Moyle, RT Brumfield, and BC Faircloth. 2019. Extensive paraphyly in the typical owl family (Strigidae). The Auk. 137: 1–15. doi: 10.1093/auk/ukz070

ORL 6.2 Summary of Changes

General

IOC 11.1 resequences Anseriformes to precede Galliformes. IOC11.1 also has a major revision of Alaudala lark relationships, some of which involve immediate taxonomic changes; others require more work as summarised in Stervander et al 2020 and other papers. IOC11.1 also accepts Arabian Eagle Owl as a full species Bubo milesi.

A trawl of older documents and some unpublished notes of the late Arthur Stagg has added a few interesting snippets to the ORL.

Non-Passerines

The almost-mythical Vaurie’s Nightjar Caprimulgus centralasicus (sole specimen is sole record) appears well on its way to being wholly mythical. Schweizer et al 2020 indicate that almost certainly its DNA is that of the Common Nightjar C. europaeus subspecies plumipes (of NW China & points N). However, the specimen, being a small individual, and considering the limits of the research findings, we retain this taxon somewhat tenuously on the ORL Hypothetical List.

Note that IOC11.1 now sequences Porzana distantly from Zapornia, intervening genera including Paragallinula, Gallinula, Fulica and Porphyrio. The first record and breeding record for Socotra of Western Baillon’s Crake Zapornia intermedia occurred in April 2020.

Shannon et al 2020 (in press) separated Lesser, Mongolian and Greater Sandplover genetically (Anarhynchus atrifrons, mongolus & leschenaultii respectively).

Humeau et al 2020 have determined the genetic structure of all taxa under White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus sensu lato; their conclusions largely reinforce the assumptions of Howell & Zufelt 2019.

Hering et al 2020a found 3 subspecies of European Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur breeding around Lake Nasser in 2019; rufescens (abundant), turtur & arenicola.

Numerous colonies of Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus and of 8 Ardeids have established themselves around Lake Nasser in southern Egypt; Hering et al 2020b in a limited survey programme (The lake surface area is 5250 km²) in 3 years in the 2015-2019 period could visit only a small number of sites by boat. That suggests that many discoveries are yet to be made.

Hering et al 2020c document the substantial presence of Yellow-billed Stork Mycteria ibis at Lake Nasser; unfortunately, they also document illegal killing by local and Maltese shooters.

Passerines

Hering et al 2020d in Djibouti in February 2019 obtained blood samples & measurements of Mangrove Reed Warbler Acrocephalus (scirpaceus) avicenniae, (but breeding had not begun) and of ‘Mangrove White-eye’ Zosterops abyssinicus(?) for subsequent analysis to help establish the taxonomic position of these populations. They noted that in Djibouti City House Sparrow Passer domesticus was hybridising extensively with Somali Sparrow P. castanopterus to the extent that the latter were scarcely to be found.

Stervander et al 2020 examine many lark taxa in genetic detail, but refrain from taxonomic recommendation, mostly because their analyses have revealed aspects that require clarification, in particular distribution boundaries between related taxa in areas where distribution limits are poorly known. However, they found deep divergences between western and eastern populations of Greater Hoopoe-Lark Alaemon alaudipes (OSME Region populations might have the English name Bifasciated Lark restored, the taxa possibly coming under A. desertorum), and between western and eastern populations of Bar-tailed Lark Ammomanes cinctura. The problem here is that the subspecies arenicolor over its North African distribution has been found to comprise 2 genetically different taxa whose distributions and boundaries are unknown. Should a split be recommended, it is likely that OSME Region populations will require a new English name. Whether arenicolor is retained for western or eastern taxa will determine the applicable scientific name for the Region.

Stervander et al 2020 found divergences suggestive of 3 species within the Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti complex; should this split be forthcoming, two of the current subspecies pose a nomenclatural priority problem – they both were formally described in the same year, 1823. Until all subspecies have been evaluated as to validity, the reallocation of subspecies to the 3 possible species, any new scientific and English names would be uncertain, at the very least.

Stervander et al 2020 found divergences between (mostly) western and eastern populations of Black-crowned Sparrowlark Eremeopterix nigriceps, raising the possibility that OSME Region taxa might revive the English name Black-crowned Finch Lark. However, boundaries between current subspecies are imprecisely known and so it is just possible that the easternmost subspecies of the ‘western’ group meets the eastern group subspecies melanauchen just into southernmost Egypt.

Stervander et al 2020 found that mtDNA evidence supported the decision of del Hoyo et al 2016 to lump Singing Bush Lark Mirafra cantillans into Horsfield’s Bush lark M. javanica, but advise that other integrative techniques are required to confirm their conclusions.

Stervander et al 2020 confirmed deep split of Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis from Oriental Skylark A. gulgula and implied a further split of extralimital ssp japonica.

Stervander et al 2020 found that Thekla’s Lark Galerida theklae populations of Morocca and Tunisia diverged from those in eastern Africa, which if split would come under G. praetermissa; likely the latter would include the small Egyptian isolate of carolinae.

Stervander et al 2020 found an un-named Clade mainly in Afghanistan that is currently assumed as part of the western distribution of Hume’s Short-toed Lark Calandrella acutirostris subspecies tibetana but noted that despite deep mtDNA divergence, integrative application of other DNA & non-molecular techniques essential before species status confirmation. We have tentatively allotted a row to this taxon; we have used the informal English name ‘Afghan Short-toed Lark’ under the designation of C.(a.) indet (indeterminate).

Stervander et al 2020 largely supported the rearrangement of the Alaudala lark complex proposed by Alström et al 2020.

Following the work of Fishpool and Tobias 2017, Common Bulbul was split into 3 species, those populations in the OSME Region remaining as Pycnonotus barbatus, the other two being extralimital in Djibouti to E-C Kenya.

A number of Curruca warbler species have been resequenced in the ORL, as have OSME Region Zosterops species, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler Erythrogenys erythrogenys, Trochalopteron Laughingthrushes and Argya Babblers. The Nuthatch Sitta genus has also been resequenced, as has the Ficedula Flycatcher genus.

The ORL is hugely dependent not only on researchers publishing their papers in accessible journals, but also on the willingness of those whose work is behind paywalls to let us have a copy privately. I suggest it’s worth casting your eye over the ORL’s List of Acknowledgements at https://osme.org/orl/acknowledgements/ to see the new names and because you might think of people whom we have inadvertently omitted!

An Antidote to the Taxonomic Avalanche in Ornithology

Finally, as reported in Dutch Birding 42(4), page 82, two Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe radiotagged in Fairbanks, Alaska, migrated via Kazakhstan and the Arabian desert, Sudan, Uganda to Kenya, a round-trip of 30,000 kilometres in 2019-20. I hope that brings a sense of wonder back into our consciousness after a pretty sombre year!

References

Alström, P, J van Linschooten, PF Donald, G Sundev, Z Mohammadi, F Ghorbani,A Shafaeipour, A van den Berg, M Robb, M Aliabadian, C Wei, F Lei, B Oxelman, and U Olsson, 2020. Multiple species delimitation approaches applied to the avian lark genus Alaudala, Mol. Phyl. & Evol. Pre-print. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106994

Fishpool, LDC and JA Tobias. 2017. Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus). In: del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, J Sargatal, DA Christie and E de Juana. (Eds). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Hering, J, V Mader, T Krause, O Geiter and H-J Fünfstück. 2020a. Extreme auf dem Nassersee: Turteltauben in Ägypten [Unexpected at Lake Nasser: European Turtle Dove (subspecies) in Egypt]. Der Falke: J. für Vogelbeobachter. 67(7): 14-17.

Hering, J, S Fischer, O Geiter, J Wobker, S Siegel, H-J Eilts, E Fuchs., D Hoek and M Habib. 2020b. Large Breeding Colonies of Herons, Egrets and Glossy Ibis at Lake Nasser (Egypt). Alauda 88(4): 241-256.

Hering, J, S Fischer, E Fuchs, MI Habib and J Wobker. 2020c. Yellow-billed Storks at Lake Nasser and status in Egypt. Dutch Birding 42(5): 415-423.

Hering, J, W Mädlow, O Geiter, A Siegmund, HJ Eilts, E Fuchs, K Müller, R Müller, H Rayaleh and R Vohwinkel. 2020d. Untersuchungen zur Avifauna der Mangrovenwälder Dschibutis sowie zur Klärung taxonomischer Fragestellungen bei Buntastrild Pytilia melba sowie Haussperling Passer domesticus und Somalisperling Passer castanopterus – erste Ergebnisse. Vogelwarte 58: 349 – 362.

Howell, SNG and K Zufelt. 2019. Oceanic Birds of the World: a Photo Guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

del Hoyo, J, NJ Collar, DA Christie, A Elliott, LDC Fishpool, P Boesman, and GM Kirwan. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Humeau, L, M Le Corre, SJ Reynolds, C Wearn, JC Hennicke, JC Russell, Y Gomard, H Magalon, P Pinet, P Gélin, F-X Couzi, E Bemanaja, V Tatayah, B Ousseni, G Rocamora, P Talbot, N Shah, L Bugoni, D Da Silva and Audrey Jaeger. 2020. Genetic structuring among colonies of a pantropical seabird: Implication for subspecies validation and conservation. Ecol. & Evol. 2020:00: 1–20. doi:10.1002/ece3.6635

Schweizer, M, C Etzbauer, H Shirihai. T Töpfer and GM Kirwan. 2020. A molecular analysis of the mysterious Vaurie’s Nightjar Caprimulgus centralasicus yields fresh insight into its taxonomic status. J. Orn. doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01767-8

Shannon et al 2020. (in prep). The Lesser Sandplover complex. (Details unavailable at time of writing)Stervander, M, B Hansson, U Olsson, MF Hulme, U Ottosson and P Alström. 2020. Molecular Species Delimitation of Larks (Aves: Alaudidae), and Integrative Taxonomy of the Genus Calandrella, with the Description of a Range-Restricted African Relic Taxon. Diversity. 12: 428. doi:10.3390/d12110428

ORL 6.1 summary of changes

General

First, I would recommend highly the inspired photography and the context in this online book: de Fouw, J, R Bom, W Hagemeier, A Thorpe, R Klaasen and Jvd Kam. 2018. Barr al Hikman, Shorebird paradise in Oman. Wetlands International, The Netherlands. Downloadable from: https://issuu.com/tvgdesign/docs/bah_binnenwerk_issuu_pages

IOC version 10.2 contains a large number of Species, English names and Taxonomic updates; fortunately for us, the vast majority apply to taxa that are extralimital to the OSME Region.

Elsewhere, the demise of Lynx Edicions Handbook of Birds of the World (Alive) is a consequence of  its on-line archive being merged with Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World (birdsoftheworld.org): it appears that nearly all of the free access HBW(Alive) component linked to its subscription service is now embedded in the Cornell subscription service. Many HBW(Alive) species accounts are being updated prior to transfer. There is also much work behind the scenes in merging the Cornell and HBW(Alive) taxonomies, the latter also being very close to BirdLife International taxonomy. On top of that, there is much activity in current ornithological molecular research worldwide, much of which adds new taxonomic conclusions or puts a new interpretation on some aspects of current taxonomy of species and genera. The ORL6.1 amendments (see below) mostly reflect the actual and potential changes from the latest research.

Non-Passerines

In January 2020, a new species for the OSME Region was the unexpected finding of an African Crake Crex egregia in Israel, 2000km away from the nearest known population in Sudan. The species has since been placed (IOC10.2) in the new genus Crecropsis, for its relationship to Crex is distant (Garcia-Ramirez et al 2020). Another new species for the OSME Region was the arrival in February 2020 of 12 White-faced Whistling Duck Dendrocygna viduata on Socotra, after a cyclone and a super-cyclone had hit the Somalian and north Kenya coasts. Almost simultaneously, birds of this species found in the wild and in markets in Iraq were assessed as of uncertain origin (Salim et al 2020).

A more detailed reading of Howell & Zufelt 2019 has resulted in two more changes of English name, firstly Indian Black Noddy Anous [minutus] tenuirostris, which supersedes IOC’s Lesser Noddy and the earlier Sooty Noddy, and secondly, having elevated the orange-billed Phaethon lepturus catesbyi to a full species, the remaining taxa are named Yellow-billed Tropicbird instead of White-tailed Tropicbird.

Some good news about Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus; a survey of the Muscat-Quriyah-Al-Harar region revealed a much larger population than previously had been estimated (Angelov et al 2020) & conservative extrapolation suggests Oman’s resident population may be 4 times larger.

In a study of 282 Little Owl skins from across the Extended Western Palearctic, Pellegrino et al 2020 found an absence of clear-cut differences between subspecies and a huge variation of morphological and colour patterns between individuals collected within any geographical area; no subspecies could safely be identified on morphological and plumage data. The implications are considerable: save for island taxa, not only are current subspecies geographical boundaries suspect, but also subspecies identities themselves. Without comprehensive analyses of a suite of molecular techniques applied to establish the criteria for subspecific identity and for geographic allocation across the vast Little Owl distribution, the currently documented conclusions published anywhere are of limited and probably variable accuracy. Large-scale vocalisation recording is likely to help discriminate between taxa. Meanwhile, we remain with our tentative arrangement in the ORL in the full expectation that eventually it will change.

Passerines

The Lesser Short-toed Lark complex, Alaudala spp including Sand Lark A. raytal, has been extensively revised by Ghorbani et al 2020 into 5 Clades. We have adopted these Clades as the starting point in defining likely species status, but we acknowledge that a further paper from largely the same team examining songs and calls might change the provisional arrangement which we consider is helpful at this stage. Ghorbani et al 2020 identify the clades by the senior taxon name in each (heiniei, rufescens, raytal, cheelensis, leucophaea), but for simplicity, we list them from A to E. Should the forthcoming paper choose English names that differ from our provisional informal English names of Heine’s Short-toed Lark (Clade A) and Severtsov’s Short-toed Lark (Clade E), we most probably would defer to their choice, although the Russians have used the latter name for decades. The other English names (Lesser Short-toed Lark, Sand Lark and Asian Short-toed Lark) are unchanged.

An extensive study of all taxa that formed Subalpine Warbler Curruca cantillans, Zuccon et al 2020, has synonymised inornata & iberiae under the latter, and results in 3 species, two of which occupy two separate distributions each: Moltoni’s Warbler C. subalpina of the Balearics and central Italy has never been recorded in the OSME Region: Western Subalpine Warbler C. iberiae has straggled to the Region from its North African population, and eastern Subalpine Warbler C. cantillans ssp albistriata occurs in Western Turkey.

There are two new papers on Zosterops white-eyes that deal with taxa in our Region, one almost peripherally. Martins et al 2020 covered the 3 sspp of Z. abyssinicus Abyssinian Whiteye, two of which are wholly extralimital African taxa; ssp arabs occurs in SW Saudi Arabia, Yemen and S Oman. The paper recommended that all three allopatric taxa should be examined by other molecular techniques to establish their taxonomic status; unfortunately, only two samples of montane-living arabs were available for the study. Given that four recent papers on Zosterops taxa over their extensive distribution have all concluded that rapid niche speciation is characteristic of the genus, it is likely that the three abyssinicus sspp will exhibit niche speciation to some extent. Pro tem, we have adopted the informal English name ‘Arabian White-eye’ for arabs. The second paper, Babbington et al 2020, concentrates on the mangrove-living Zosterops that is very thinly widespread on the Arabian side of the southern Red Sea, perhaps centred on Jazan. That the population is almost certainly tiny indicates its vulnerability to extinction, given that mangrove clearance continues. The genetic marker used shows no clear difference from montane arabs, but it is very much smaller, phenotypically different and consistently much more brightly-coloured. There is no type specimen and the collecting of one, given that the distribution is unknown but likely tiny and not continuous, presents a moral dilemma; however, there may be a precedent for designation a type specimen of sorts from blood and feather samples, measurements and copious digital images. However, at present, there is no method of proposing formal scientific or English names and so we list it as ‘Mangrove White-eye taxon indeterminate’.

Päckert et al 2020 compile a revised phylogeny of the world’s Nuthatches Sitta spp. They form 9 Clades, of which 6 occur to varying extents in the OSME Region, but our arrangement is little affected and so we have not resequenced the genus into Clade order. Almost inevitably, they have defined several aspects that likely could be resolved by the application of other molecular techniques and by improved understanding of distributions.

There is likely to be some turbulence concerning the Stonechat Saxicola spp of the Caucasus general region, whereby the arrangement of Shirihai & Svensson 2018 (based on Svensson et al 2012) has been vigorously challenged by Loskot & Bakhtadze 2020, whose paper concentrates on earlier Russian documentation, implied mistranslations, conversion errors between measurement systems of samples, and wrongly attributed sample collection locations. We note the conclusions of Loskot & Bakhtadze 2020, but defer deeper analysis until such time as Shirihai and Svensson respond.

The analysis of the Prunellidae (Accentors) by Drovetski et al 2013 contained three radical conclusions: the large accentors, Altai Prunella himalayana and Alpine P. collaris might warrant moving to a separate genus or subgenus, Laiscopus; Alpine Accentor itself warranted splitting, the taxon erythropygia being elevated to species rank as Mongolian Alpine Accentor, and Black-throated Accentor being split into Ural Black-throated Accentor P. atrogularis sensu stricto & Asian Black-throated Accentor P. huttoni. At the time, we felt fairly bold in treating each split as being examples of superspecies, but declined to mention the issue of Laiscopus. In the 7 years since the paper was published, there have been no challenges to these radical splits, nor to the evidence on which they were based. For two reasons, we sought advice on where the boundaries were between each pair of taxa: we had no knowledge of any subsequent data that might revise the extent of their distributions (much of which would have been published in Cyrillic languages), and the maps in Drovetski et al 2013 do not show political borders and so we needed clarification before marking the separations.

Yaroslav Red’kin, one of the co-authors confirmed that he knew of no further published data, and the lead author, Sergei Drovetski, confirmed that their various mapped distributions were valid. Unlike the BirdLife Datazone maps, many accentor species distributions are far from continuous. Accordingly, we revisited Drovetski et al 2013 and have amended many of the ORL accentor species account with greater detail. We now treat these splits as being of independent species. We have not adopted Laiscopus as a separate genus, but merely noted this may occur in future. Lastly, although Brown Accentor P. fulvescens diverged from Arabian Accentor P. fagani only 0.19Mya, this just preceded the rapid disappearance of benign conditions from the interior of Arabia, thus ensuring an uninterrupted isolation of the two populations as they shrank towards their cores.

Species occurring just outside the OSME Region

Wattled Lapwing Vanellus senegallus has been added to the ORL Hypothetical section on the grounds that it occurs on the Dahlak Archipelago, close to the Region boundary in the southern Red Sea. Similarly, we added Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temmincki, which has also been reported in the same archipelago. Because a summer-breeding population of Ruddy-breasted Crake Zapornia fusca has been mapped as an isolate in a small area of Pakistan around Bannu, west of Rawalpindi by BirdLife Datazone to within 20km of the Afghan border, it has been added to the Hypothetical List.

One of the most intriguing ornithological puzzles may have been solved. Vaurie’s Nightjar Caprimulgus centralasicus, known from a single female specimen in Xinjiang, only 300km from the OSME Region (hence listed in the ORL Hypothetical section), has undergone molecular analysis. Schweizer et al 2020 place the specimen as a subspecies of European Nightjar, C. europaeus plumipes, but there is a catch. The specimen is very much smaller than any known plumipes measured.

References

Angelov, I, C Bougain, M Schulze, T Al Sariri, M McGrady and B-Ulrich Meyburg. 2020. A globally-important stronghold in Oman for a resident population of the endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus. Ardea 108: 1-10. doi:10.5253/arde.v108i1.a4
Babbington, J, CRJ Boland, G Kirwan and M Schweizer. 2020. Morphological differences between ‘Mangrove White‑eye’ and montane Abyssinian White‑eye (Zosterops abyssinicus arabs) in Arabia despite no differentiation in mitochondrial DNA: incipient speciation via niche divergence? J. Orn. doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01788-3
Drovetski, SV, G Semenov, SS Drovetskaya, IV Fadeev, YA Red’kin and G Voelker. 2013. Geographic mode of speciation in a mountain specialist Avian family endemic to the Palearctic. Ecol. & Evol. 1-11. doi: 10.1002/ece3.539
Garcia-Ramirez, JC, EM Lemmon, AR Lemmon and N French. 2020. Phylogenomic Reconstruction Sheds Light on New Relationships and Timescale of Rails (Aves: Rallidae) Evolution. Diversity2020. 12: 70; doi:10.3390/d12020070
Howell, SNG and K Zufelt. 2019. Oceanic Birds of the World: a Photo Guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Ghorbani, F, M Aliabadian, R Zhang, M Irested, Y Hao, S Gombobaater, F Lei, M Ma, U Olsson and Per Alström. 2020. Densely sampled phylogenetic analyses of the Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens) – Sand Lark (A. raytal) species complex (Aves, Passeriformes) reveal cryptic diversity. Zool. Scripta 00: 1-13. doi: 10.1111/zsc.12422
Loskot, VM and G Bakhtadze. 2020. Distribution, systematics and nomenclature of the three taxa of Common Stonechats (Aves, Passeriformes, Muscicapidae, Saxicola) that breed in the Caucasian region. Zoosystematica Rossica 29(1): 33–57. doi 10.31610/zsr/2020.29.1.33
Martins, FC, SC Cox, M Irestedt, RP Prŷs-Jones and JJ Day. 2020. A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Afrotropical white-eyes (Aves: Zosteropidae) highlights prior underestimation of mainland diversity and complex colonisation history. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106843
Päckert, M, M Bader-Blukott, B Künzelmann, Y-H Sun, Y-C Hsu, C Kehlmaier, F Albrecht, JC Illera and J Martens. 2020. A revised phylogeny of nuthatches (Aves, Passeriformes, Sitta) reveals insight in intra- and interspecific diversification patterns in the Palearctic. Verteb. Zool. 70(2): 241-262.
Pellegrino, I, M Cucco, E Calà, G Boano and M Pavia. 2020. Plumage coloration and morphometrics of the Little Owl Athene noctua in the Western Palearctic. J. Orn. pp11 doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01792-7
Salim, MA, WAS Yassir, SA Abed, R Porter, MT Jabbar, LA al-Obeidi, HA Hadi and ZS Harbi. 2020. Observations of White-faced Whistling Duck Dendrocygna viduata in Iraq. Sandgrouse 42(1): 115-117.
Schweizer, M, C Etzbauer, H Shirihai. T Töpfer and GM Kirwan. 2020. A molecular analysis of the mysterious Vaurie’s Nightjar Caprimulgus centralasicus yields fresh insight into its taxonomic status. J. Orn. doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01767-8
Shirihai, H and L Svensson. 2018. Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds: Passerines: 2 vols. Helm. London, UK.
Svensson, L, H Shirihai, S Franert and EC Dickinson. 2012. Taxonomy and nomenclature of the Stonechat complex Saxicola torquatus sensu lato in the Caspian region. Bull. BOC. 132(4): 260-269.
Zuccon, D, J-M Pons, G Boano, G Chiozzi, A Gamauf†, C Mengoni, D Nespoli, G Olioso, M Pavia, I Pellegrino, M Raković, E Randi, HR Idrissi, M Touihri, M Unsöld, S Vitulano and M Brambilla. 2020. Type specimens matter: new insights on the systematics, taxonomy and nomenclature of the subalpine warbler (Sylvia cantillans) complex. Z. J. Linn. Soc. XX: 1-28.

ORL5.2: summary of changes

Version 5.2 includes updates in IOC10.1. Entries for those species addressed in Brochet et al 2019 on bird killing in the Arabian Peninsula are in bold red font and will remain so. Brief summaries of Non-Passerine papers of note are:

Forcina et al 2019, investigating microsatellite DNA, reinforced the findings of Boesman 2019 (cited and listed in the Summary of Changes for ORL5.1 below) that two populations of Black Francolin separable by voice in Iran. They also suggested than an extralimital eastern population may merit species status.

Gombobaater & Leahy 2019 map Mongolian bird populations in a useful book that better indicates the distribution species that also occur or may occur in the OSME Region.

Howell & Zufelt 2019 tackle in somewhat radical fashion the oceanic seabird taxa, many of them in OSME Region waters, incorporating taxonomic changes that in part derive from unpublished data. Their conclusions make more logical arguments, but time will tell if these are accepted sooner rather than later. Their use of well-chosen photos is spellbinding. The ORL adopts the changes formally or provisionally recommended by Howell & Zufelt 2019 without assuming that these are the final word.

Hrushka 2018 is a remarkable thesis on heron genetic relationships and could well be the platform where these are teased out as the basis of a major revision of the Ardeidae. The Cattle Egrets may move to Ardea, and work elsewhere may begin to examine the Little Egret/Reef Egret complex and the relationship of American Great Egrets to those in the Palearctic.

Andreyenkova et al 2019 suggest that in the Black Kite complex, parasitus (African Black Kite) and aegyptius (Yellow-billed Kite) may warrant species status, should further work support this, but even if kept together, they are separate from migrans (Eurasian Black Kite).

Kryukov 2019 on a broad study of corvids found a deep split between western and eastern populations of Rook Corvus frugilegus. ‘Western Rook’ C.(f.) frugilegus occurs in our Region, the ‘Eastern Rook, pastinator probably occurs no closer than 900km in China.

Richardson and Porter 2020 have produced a fine field guide for the island of Cyprus.

Andreyenkova, NG, IJ Starikov, M Wink, IV Karyakin, OV Andreyenkov and IF Zhimulev. 2019. The problems of genetic support of dividing the black kite (Milvus migrans) into subspecies. Vavilovsky J. Gen. & Breeding. Evolution of the Genome 23(2): 226-231 doi10.18699/VJ19.486

Brochet, A-L, S Jbour, RD Sheldon, R Porter, VR Jones, W al-Fazari, O al-Saghier, S Alkhuzai, LA al-Obeid, R Angwin, K Ararat, M Pope, MY Shobrak, MS Willson, SS Zadeghan and SHM Butchart. 2019. A preliminary assessment of the scope and scale of illegal killing and taking of wild birds in the Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq. Sandgrouse 41(2): 154-175.

Forcina, G, M Guerrini, P Panayides, P Hadjigerou, AA Khan and F Barbanera. 2019. Molecular taxonomy and intra-Palaearctic boundary: new insights from the biogeography of the black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) by means of microsatellite DNA. Systematics and Biodiversity. 15pp. doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2019.1691673

Gombobaatar, S and C Leahy. 2019. Birds of Mongolia. Helm Field Guides. London. UK.

Howell, SNG and K Zufelt. 2019. Oceanic Birds of the World: a Photo Guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Hrushka, JP. 2018. A phylogenomic evaluation of the relationships among herons (Aves: Ardeidae). MA thesis Univ. Kansas, USA.

Kryukov, A. 2019. Phylogeography and hybridization of corvid birds in the Palearctic Region. Vavilovsky J. Genet. & Breeding. 23(2): 232-238. doi10.18699/VJ19.487

Richardson, C and R Porter. 2020. Birds of Cyprus. Helm. Bloomsbury Press. London.

The following taxa have been added as new or retained as splits in the ORL:

African Crake Crex egregia was found at Eilat exhausted, taken into care and released January 2020. (2000km from nearest known population in SE Sudan).

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo Clamator coromandus, normally distributed east of Pakistan on the Indian sub-continent: one was photographed extensively in Oman.

The White Noddy Gygis alba is split provisionally into 3, that in our Region becoming Indo-Pacific Noddy G.[a.] candida.

The Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus has been split into 2 polytypic species, the Western Bridled Tern of the Caribbean and western Africa and the Eastern Bridled Tern O.[a.] anaethetus of the Indian Ocean to eastern Australia.

The Red-billed Tropicbird ssp indicus has been elevated provisionally to species rank as Arabian Tropicbird Phaethon [aethereus] indicus.

The White-faced Storm Petrel ssp dulciae of our Region has been elevated to species rank as Australian Storm Petrel Pelagodroma [marina] dulciae.

The White-bellied Storm Petrel Fregatta grallaria ssp leucogaster is now thought to contain a dark-bellied form previously treated as ssp melanoleuca of Black-bellied Storm Petrel Fregatta tropica: hence our treatment in the ORL as ‘melanoleuca’; it is as yet unclear where it breeds. It has also been considered a taxon of a Gough Island petrel of the Atlantic.

The polytypic Seychelles Shearwater Puffinus [bailloni] nicolae [& ssp colstoni] (originally subsumed by the Macaronesian Shearwater P. lherminieri/boydi/barolo complex to then become part of the Mascarene Shearwater P. bailloni species) is now a full Indian Ocean species.

The Brown Booby ssp plotus is elevated to species rank as Indo-Pacific Brown Booby Sula [leucogaster] plotus.

Mountain Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus nepalensis, long-asserted as occurring in eastern Afghanistan, has now been mapped as doing so by a small amount; we assume its occasional presence.

Dunn’s Lark Eremalauda dunni (sensu stricto) (‘African Dunn’s Lark’) is now accepted as having occurred on Cyprus in 2007. All other records in the Region are attributable to what is now Arabian Lark E. eremodires that in 2007 was just a ssp of Dunn’s Lark sensu lato.

The nominate (+ 5 sspp) of Striated Prinia Prinia crinigera have been separated from eastern extralimital populations that now comprise 4 full spp (which also incorporate the former P. ploycroa), the English name becoming Himalayan Prinia.

The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babbler Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, another taxon whose presence has been long-asserted as occurring in Afghanistan is now mapped as being present in a broad swathe 135km into that country in the Nurestan Forest Reserve.

Yellow-browed Bunting Emberiza chrysophrys, long-assumed to have crossed our Region as vagrants to the WP, has now been confirmed for our Region; one was photographed near Almaty, Kazakhstan.

ORL5.1: summary of changes

Version 5.1 includes updates in IOC9.2. Over the last few years, the IOC List has resquenced many Families in the Passerines and has also resequenced many genera within Families and many species within genera. This has been a gradual process consequent upon (mostly) molecular research findings as DNA techniques have become ever more powerful. To some extent, this complex resequencing process has at least been slightly eased because the Passerines are but a single Order, whereas the Non-passerines comprise many Orders. IOC9.2 presents the far more difficult resequencing of the Non-passerine Orders, and the resequencing of many Scientific Families within many of these Orders. It remains to be seen whether the scale of future taxonomic revisions will reduce because changes in general will mostly be within Scientific families.

Although a large number of papers concerning taxa in the OSME Region were published over the last 6 months, the majority related to our Region peripherally or for only a few species.

Non-passerine papers of note are:

• Boesman, P. 2019. Black Francolin has two vocal groups. Dutch Birding 41(2): 73-79
• Flint, PR. 2019. Long-term changes in the numbers and abundance of regularly breeding species on Cyprus: a review. Sandgrouse 41(1): 36-70.
• Flood, RL and R Gutiérrez. 2019. Status of Cory’s Shearwater in the western Mediterranean. Dutch Birding 41(3): 159-165.
• Koshkina, A, AV Koshkin, AY Timoshenko, AA Koshkin and H Schielzeth. 2019. A population survey of the endangered White-headed Duck in Kazakhstan shows an apparently increasing Eastern population. Bird Study 66(1): 111-120.
• Kunz, F, A Gamauf, FE Zachos and E Haring. 2019. Mitochondrial phylogenetics of the goshawk Accipiter [gentilis] superspecies. J. Zool. Syst. Evo.l Res. 1-17. doi: 10.1111/jzs.12285
• Lago, P, M Austad and B Metzger. 2019. Partial migration in the Mediterranean Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis. Mar. Orn. 47: 105-113.
• Sheldon, RD, N Mikander and J Fernández Orueta. 2018. International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala). 1st Revision. CMS Technical Series. Bonn, Germany.
• Wink, M. 2018. Phylogeny of Falconidae and phylogeography of Peregrine Falcons. Orn. Hung. 26(2): 27-37.

The Peter Boesman paper provides strong evidence for potential separation of the Black Francolin distribution in coastal mid-Iran.

Peter Flint details in considerable depth the recent history of many Cyprus species, especially including many Passerines.

Bob Flood & Ricard Gutiérrez map out the distributions of Cory’s and Scopoli’s Shearwaters in the Mediterranean Sea, establishing the breeding divide (with a few exceptions) much further east than the Strait of Gibraltar, noting that the two species differ by voice, which presumably maintains a low incidence of hybridism.

Alyona Koshkina et al consolidate a decade of surveys and independent records to chart a plausible increase in the eastern populations of White-headed Duck.

Florian Kunz at al find more evidence for Nearctic and Palearctic populations of Northern Goshawk to be treated separately.

Paulo Lago et al from datalogging Mediterranean Storm Petrels from the Filfla colony find that outside the breeding season, birds wander to the west, but their sample size was small; further work on birds from other colonies is needed for context.

Rob Sheldon et al have revised the White-headed Duck action plan, applicable parts of which were useful to Koshkina et al above.

Michael Wink has produced a weighty synthesis of the data on the relationships of falcons and falcon populations, but in particular has better clarified the status of Peregrine subspecies/populations. The evidence indicates strongly that taxon pelegrinodes, Barbary Falcon, is best regarded as ssp of Peregrine Falcon; less strong evidence supports the possible elevation of taxon babylonicus as a full species ‘Red-capped Falcon’, but investigation of other molecular markers would have to be supportive before that step.

Lastly, and of general interest, the first Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata for the OSME Region was photographed by Bill Simpson just south of Mirbat, Dhofar, Oman in February 2019.

Passerine papers of note are:

• Babbington, J, G Boland, GM Kirwan, A Alsuhaibany, H Shirihai and M Schweizer. 2019. Confirmation of Acrocephalus scirpaceus avicenniae (Aves: Acrocephalidae) from mangroves on the Red Sea coast near Jazan, southwest Saudi Arabia. Zool. ME. http://dx.doi.org/
• Fuchs, J, P Alström, R Yosef and U Olsson. 2019. (In prep). Miocene diversification of an open-habitat predatorial passerine radiation, the shrikes (Aves: Passeriformes: Laniidae). (submitted to Zool. Scripta)
• Schweizer, M and R Burri. 2019. Trends in systematics: New insights in taxonomy of wheatears. Dutch Birding 41(2): 115-120
• Schweizer, M, V Warmuth, NA Kakhki, M Aliabadian, M Förschler, H Shirihai, A Suh and R Burri. 2019. Parallel plumage color evolution and introgressive hybridization in wheatears. J. Evol. Biol. 32: 100-110. doi: 10.1111/jeb.13401
• Sokolovskis, K, G Bianco, M Willemoes, D Solovyeva, S Bensch and S Åkesson. 2018. Ten grams and 13,000 km on the wing – route choice in willow warblers Phylloscopus trochilus yakutensis migrating from Far East Russia to East Africa. Movement Ecol. 6(20): https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-018-0138-0
• Sokolovskis, K, M Lundberg, M Liedvogel, D Solovyeva, S Åkesson M Willemoes and S Bensch. 2019. Phenotypic and genetic characterization of the East Siberian Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus yakutensis Ticehurst, 1935) in relation to the European subspecies. J. Orn. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01653-y

Jem Babbington et al fill one of the many considerable gaps in knowledge of Reed Warbler taxa by confirming the identity of mangrove-breeding Red Sea populations. Brian Meadows’ observations from the 1970s have at long last been justified!

Jérôme Fuchs et al in a far-reaching molecular research analysis using both mitochondrial and nuclear markers for 34 recognized species of shrike, found, inter alia, that Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus and Red-backed Shrike L. collurio were not closely related, that Daurian Shrike L. isabellinus and Turkestan Shrike L. phoenicuroides were not closely related, and that none of the last three had split from Brown Shrike, but instead probably had a common ancestor. In addition, with regard to the findings on the large grey shrike complex of Olsson et al 2010 (qv below), their underlying application of the Olsson et al methodology was confirmed: “…and we will not discuss these relationships again as the original results were corroborated here.” We interpret that as additional validation of the ORL’s approach on the large grey shrike taxa.

Manuel Schweizer and Reto Burri produced a lucid and elegant summary of the deconstruction of the ‘traditional’ Mourning Wheatear Oenenthe lugens complex, teasing out the subtleties in style.

Manuel Schweizer et al not only found that Western and Eastern Black-eared Wheatears were not closely related (O. hispanica, O. melanoleuca), but neither were Cyprus Wheatear and Pied Wheatear (O. cypriaca, O. pleschanka). However, Cyprus Wheatear was found to be a sister species to Eastern Black-eared Wheatear. In other words, the strong plumage similarities of the black-eared wheatears and of Cyprus and Pied Wheatears are examples of parallel evolution!

Sokolovskis et al 2018, by datalogging the yakutensis subspecies of Willow Warbler from easternmost Russia, discovered that it flies a 13,000km route to Mozambique over 3-4 months, returning slightly faster.

Sokolovskis et al 2019 conclude that yakutensis breeds east of the Urals to the Bering Strait and that acredula breeds west of the Urals, but migrates to further west in Africa than yakutensis. Both sspp pass through the OSME Region.

ORL Summary of changes reference:

Olsson, U, P Alström, L Svensson, M Aliabadian and P Sundberg. 2010. The Lanius excubitor (Aves, Passeriformes) conundrum—Taxonomic dilemma when molecular and non-molecular data tell different stories. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 55(2): 347-357.