B I R D I N G • N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 938

This is the 20th published report of the

ABA Checklist Committee (hereafter,

CLC), covering the period July 2008–

July 2009. There were no changes to commit-

tee membership since our previous report

(Pranty et al. 2008). Kevin Zimmer has been

elected to serve his second term (to expire at

the end of 2012), and Bill Pranty has been

reelected to serve as Chair for a fourth year.

During the preceding 13 months, the CLC final-ized votes on five species. Four species were acceptedand added to the ABA Checklist, while one specieswas removed. The number of accepted species on theABA Checklist is increased to 960. In January 2009,the seventh edition of the ABA Checklist (Pranty et al.2009) was published. Each species is numbered from1 (Black-bellied Whistling-Duck) to 957 (EurasianTree Sparrow); ancillary numbers will be inserted forall new species, and these numbers will be includedin our annual reports. Production of the seventh edi-tion of the ABA Checklist occupied much of Pranty’sand Dunn’s time during the period, and this commit-ment helps to explain the relative paucity of votesduring 2008–2009 compared to our other recent an-nual reports.

New Species Accepted––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma monorhis).ABA CLC Record #2009-02. One individual, thoughtto be a juvenile in slightly worn plumage, in the At-lantic Ocean at 34°57’ N, 75°05’ W, approximately 65kilometers east-southeast of Hatteras Inlet, Cape Hat-teras, North Carolina on 2 June 2008. Discovered andwell-photographed by J. Brian Patteson, Steve N. G.Howell, and others on an organized pelagic trip (Pat-teson et al. 2009). Accepted unanimously by the CLC.

The Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel breeds in the westernPacific Ocean, primarily on islands off Japan, and

W W W . A B A . O R G 39

ranges during the non-breeding season tothe Indian Ocean, with nearly annual reportsrecently in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean(Patteson et al. 2009). Questions remainabout whether there may be a breeding pop-ulation in the Atlantic. Howell and Patteson(2008) provide identification criteria for sep-arating Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel from otherdark-rumped storm-petrels. The CLC re-jected a previous report (#2002-06) of Swin-hoe’s Storm-Petrel off North Carolina on 8August 1998 (O’Brien et al. 1999) becausethe photographs submitted were of insuffi-cient quality to rule out a dark-rumpedLeach’s Storm-Petrel (Robbins et al. 2003);this record was likewise rejected by the AOU(2000) but was accepted by the North Car-olina Bird Records Committee (LeGrand etal. 2001). The record of a Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel off Alaska on 5 August 2003was added to the unsubstantiatedlist by the Alaska Checklist Com-mittee (D. D. Gibson, personalcommunication). Flood (2009)discusses reports of dark-rumped storm-petrels in the east-ern Atlantic and concludes thatmost or all pertain to this species.

Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel (146.1) is placedon the ABA Checklist as a Code 5 speciesprovisionally between Band-rumpedStorm-Petrel (146) and Wedge-rumpedStorm-Petrel (147), pending acceptanceand placement by the AOU.

White-crested Elaenia (Elaenia albiceps).ABA CLC Record #2008-10. One calling in-dividual at South Padre Island, Texas on 9–10 February 2008. Found by Daniel Jonesand observed, photographed, and audio-recorded by Martin Reid and several others(Reid and Jones 2009). Identified as anElaenia by its crest and conspicuous whitecoronal patch, identified to species byplumage and vocalizations, and identifiedas the migratory subspecies E. a. chilensis byvocalizations and photographic analysis ofplumage and wing formula (Reid and Jones

2009). Accepted unanimously by the TexasBird Records Committee and by the CLC.

The chilensis subspecies of White-crestedElaenia breeds in the southern two-thirdsof Chile and Argentina and is a long-distantmigrant to its wintering grounds, primarilyin the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, but withscattered reports over a wide region of cen-tral and southern South America. Vagrantshave appeared in Colombia, the FalklandIslands, and the Drake Passage betweenSouth America and Antarctica (Reid andJones 2009).

White-crested Elaenia (554.1) is placedon the ABA Checklist as a Code 5 speciesprovisionally between Greenish Elaenia(554) and Tufted Flycatcher (556), pendingacceptance and placement by the AOU.Note that Caribbean Elaenia (555) has

been removed from the Checklist(see next page).

Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher(Empidonomus aurantioatro-cristatus). ABA CLC Record

#2009-03. One adult male pho-tographed alive and then col-

lected at Peveto Beach Woods,Cameron Parish, Louisiana on 3 June 2008.The bird was observed alive solely by PaulConover and Buford Myers (Conover andMyers 2009). Identified by its size (equiva-lent to an Eastern Phoebe); pale gray faceand underparts with a yellowish tinge to thevent and undertail coverts; gray-brownback and wing coverts; blackish lores, eyepatch, and auriculars separated from theblackish crown by a gray supercilium; andblackish soft parts. The specimen, preparedas a study skin (LSUMNS #180361 atLouisiana State University Museum of Nat-ural Science), was heavily worn with nomolt, and had accumulated heavy fat de-posits. Accepted unanimously by theLouisiana Bird Records Committee(Dittmann 2008) and by the CLC.

The Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher breedsfrom Bolivia to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay,

Bill Pranty8515 Village Mill Row

Bayonet Point, Florida 34667

Jon L. DunnR.R. 2, Box 52R

Bishop, California 93514

Steven C. HeinlP.O. Box 23101

Ketchikan, Alaska 99901

Andrew W. KratterFlorida Museum of Natural History

P.O. Box 117800

University of Florida

Gainesville, Florida 32611

Paul E. Lehman11192 Portobelo Drive

San Diego, California 92124

Mark W. Lockwood402 East Harriet Avenue

Alpine, Texas 79830

Bruce Mactavish37 Waterford Bridge Road

St. John’s, Newfoundland A1E IC5

Kevin J. Zimmer1665 Garcia

Atascadero, California 93422

A B A C H E C K L I S T R E P O R T

and central Argentina. Some individuals migrate northward towinter (during the boreal summer) in Amazonia, north toEcuador, Colombia, and Brazil. Coincidentally, this SouthAmerican species was just added to the AOU Area on the basisof a record from Panama in December 2007 (Robb et al. 2009).

Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher (587.1) is placed on the ABAChecklist as a Code 5 species between Variegated Flycatcher(587) and Tropical Kingbird (588).

Sinaloa Wren (Thryothorus sinaloa).ABA CLC Record #2008-11. One singingindividual, presumably an adult, at an el-evation of 4,000 feet at Patagonia–SonoitaCreek Preserve, Santa Cruz County, Ari-zona found on 25 August 2008 and pres-ent into August 2009. Discovered andphotographed by Matt Brown and RobinBaxter, and observed, photographed, andaudio-recorded by many others (no for-mal paper published through August2009). Distinguished from other med-ium-sized wrens by its rich, varied, war-bling song; moderate black streaking onthe auriculars and neck; brown back con-trasting with rusty tail; and plain under-parts with gray breast. Distinguished fromthe similar Happy Wren (T. felix), a po-tential stray to the ABA Area from north-

western Mexico, by voice, barring on wing coverts, and pale(rather than buffy) underparts (Howell and Webb 1995). Ac-

cepted unanimously by the Arizona Birds Committeeand by the CLC. A second Sinaloa Wren was found atFort Huachuca, Arizona on 14–18 April 2009.

The Sinaloa Wren is endemic to the Pacific slope ofMexico, resident from Sonora to western Oaxaca (How-ell and Webb 1995). It may be expanding its range, asit now breeds north to at least Santo Domingo, about110 kilometers south of the U.S. border (Russell andMonson 1998). It is found in thickets in thornscruband tropical deciduous forest, particularly areas withlarge emergent trees, and in arroyo banks and adjacentlower slopes where undergrowth is prevalent.

Sinaloa Wren (677.1) is placed on the ABA Checklistas a Code 5 species between Canyon Wren (677) andCarolina Wren (678).

Species Removed–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica). ABA CLCRecord #2009-01, a reevaluation of a previous CLCrecord (Gill 1985). One singing individual at Fort Pick-

ens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Escambia County, Floridaon 28 April 1984. Discovered by Evelyn Barbig, photographedby Robert Duncan, and observed by several others. Acceptedby the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee(FOSRC; Powell 1986) and by the CLC, after much “soul-searching” and admission that the identification represented a“borderline case” (Gill 1985). The single, marginal photographshows a rather elongated tyrannid flycatcher with a small

head and short bill. Thebird is conspicuouslycrested, with white visible atthe rear of the crest. The un-derparts are hidden by aleaf, but were describedas white. The bird showsconspicuous white wing-bars. The song was de-scribed as a short series ofpleasant whistles in com-plex phrases, but was notaudio-recorded.

Having strengthened itscriteria for accepting speciesto the official Florida birdlist, the FOSRC in 2009reevaluated this record be-cause the identification tospecies was based on a des-

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After rejecting a previous record off North Carolina because the photo-graphs were of marginal quality, the ABA Checklist Committee unanimouslyaccepted Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel based on this well-photographed indi-vidual, shown here flanked by Wilson’s Storm-Petrels. Records off the U.S.Eastern Seaboard follow numerous records from the eastern Atlantic inrecent years. 65 kilometers east-southeast of Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina;2 June 2008. © Steve N. G. Howell.

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The superb documentation that accompanied thisrecord, including high-quality photographs of thespread wings and audio-recordings, allowed the ABAChecklist Committee to accept White-crested Elaeniaof the highly migratory chilensis subspecies, whichbreeds in Chile and Argentina. South Padre Island,Cameron County, Texas; 10 February 2008. © Erik Breden.

cription rather than arecording of the bird’s song.The FOSRC (Kratter inpreparation) agrees that thebird was an Elaenia, butcannot rule out the possi-bility that the bird was aWhite-crested Elaenia.Thus, the FOSRC has“downgraded” the record to“Elaenia species.” Becausethe CLC was consideringadding White-crested Elae-nia based on the recentTexas record (see above),the committee could notaccept an identification tothat genus, as had theFOSRC. Following the de-cision by the FOSRC, theCLC reconsidered the sta-tus of Caribbean Elaenia.Although one committee member believed that the Floridabird was indeed a Caribbean Elaenia based on the descriptionof the song, the CLC unanimously agreed to remove thespecies because the song was not audio-recorded.

In accepting this record originally as Caribbean Elaenia, theCLC relied heavily on commentary from John W.Fitzpatrick and Robert S. Ridgely. Fitzpatrick be-lieved that on the basis of plumage, the Floridabird could be one of only two species, CaribbeanElaenia or White-crested Elaenia, but he was un-willing to take the identification beyond that. Ineliminating White-crested Elaenia, the CLCbased its conclusion on a statement made byRobert Ridgely (personal commentary to FrankGill) that White-crested Elaenia could be elimi-nated by vocalizations. However, the White-crested Elaenia is a polytypic species composedof six subspecies in three groups that may repre-sent two or more species (Rheindt et al. 2009),and the described song of the highly migratorysubspecies E. albiceps chilensis (Jaramillo 2003,Schulenberg et al. 2007) seems to resemble thedescription of the Florida elaenia. Ridgely’s assess-ment of the song of White-crested Elaenia did notspecify to which group or subspecies he referred,and is thus ambiguous. Removal of CaribbeanElaenia (555) from the ABA Checklist brings theCLC in accordance with the American Ornithol-ogists’ Union (AOU 1998), which does not accept

the Florida bird as a definitive record.The Caribbean Elaenia is a resident of

islands off the eastern Yucatan Peninsula,the Caymans and other islands in thewestern Caribbean Sea, and Puerto Ricoand the Virgin Islands south through theLesser Antilles to Grenada. It has alsobeen found on the Yucatan Peninsula,but whether it is a local resident there isuncertain (Howell and Webb 1995).

Votes in Progress–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––The CLC voted on two other species dur-ing July 2008–July 2009 but did notreach consensus.

First, the CLC was prepared to acceptFea’s Petrel (Pterodroma feae) based onone or more birds well-photographed offNorth Carolina in recent years. But theCLC delayed final action because authorsof the recently published Petrels Night and

Day (Robb and Mullarney 2008) have split the two popula-tions of Fea’s Petrels into separate species: Fea’s Petrel (P. feae)breeding on the Cape Verde Islands; and Deserta’s Petrel (P. de-serta) breeding on the Desertas Islands about 1,200 miles tothe north. The AOU has not yet acted on this recommended

split. Furthermore, ques-tions remain as to whetherat-sea identification betweenFea’s/Desertas Petrel andZino’s Petrel (P. madeira) isunambiguous; see Shirihai(2009).

Second, the CLC couldnot agree on whether a gullphotographed in Louisianain December 1987 was aGray Gull (Larus modes-tus) or a melanistic Laugh-ing Gull based on the twophotographs examined. Therecord of this gull is notaccepted by the LouisianaBird Records Committee aspertaining to Gray Gull(Dittmann and Cardiff2003). The CLC has thusfar been unsuccessful intracking down other photo-graphs and an audio record-

W W W . A B A . O R G 41

✓✓

✓✓Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher was recently added to theAOU’s Check-list of North American Birds, based on onephotographed in Panama during December 2007. Soonthereafter, this South American resident also appeared inthe ABA Area. The bird was collected almost immediately,so only the original two observers saw the bird live inthe field. Peveto Beach Woods, Cameron Parish, Louisiana;3 June 2008. © Paul Conover.

A Mexican endemic that is expanding its rangenorthward, Sinaloa Wren was expected to even-tually appear in the ABA Area. What perhaps wasnot expected is that two separate Sinaloa Wrenswould be found within an eight-month period.The first wren remained for more than a year,while the second wren, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona,was present for a few days in April 2009. Patago-nia–Sonoita Creek Preserve, Santa Cruz County, Ari-zona; 28 September 2008. © Brad Carlson.

A B A C H E C K L I S T R E P O R T

ing that another ob-server has or had in hispossession.

Votes Underwayand Anticipated––––––––––––––––––––––––The CLC is currentlyvoting to accept Rufous-tailed Robin from Alaska(DeCicco et al. 2009).

Five other potentialfirst records for the ABAArea have been reportedrecently, and the CLCwill vote on these if theypass state-committee re-view: Cuban Black-Hawk from Georgia,Sungrebe from NewMexico (Williams et al.2009), Solitary Snipefrom Alaska (Bieber and Schuette 2009), and Gray-collaredBecard and Brown-backed Solitaire from Arizona.

AOU Taxonomic and NomenclatorialChanges Affecting the ABA Checklist––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––The 50th supplement to the AOU’s Check-list of North AmericanBirds (Chesser et al. 2009) was published in July 2009. Becausethe CLC automatically accepts all nomenclatorial and taxonomicchanges made by the AOU, the following changes to English or

scientific names and the placement of species should bemade to the seventh edition of the ABA Checklist:

· Boreal Chickadee (661) becomes Poecile hudsonicus.·Gray-headed Chickadee (662) becomes Poecile cinctus.· The genus Piranga is moved from the beginning of the

family Thraupidae (Tanagers) to the beginning of thefamily Cardinalidae (Cardinals and Allies). HepaticTanager (826) becomes (894.1), Summer Tanager(829) becomes (894.2), Scarlet Tanager (830) be-comes (894.3), Western Tanager (831) becomes(894.4), and Flame-colored Tanager (832) becomes(894.5). The Western Spindalis (833) is the only ABAArea species retained in the family Thraupidae.

·Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow (867) becomes Nelson’sSparrow.

· Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow (868) becomesSaltmarsh Sparrow.

· Common Redpoll (945) becomes Acanthis flammea.· Hoary Redpoll (946) becomes Acanthis hornemanni.· Eurasian Siskin (947) becomes Spinus spinus.· Pine Siskin (948) becomes Spinus pinus.· Lesser Goldfinch (949) becomes Spinus psaltria.· Lawrence’s Goldfinch (950) becomes Spinus lawrencei.

· American Goldfinch (951) becomes Spinus tristis.· Oriental Greenfinch (952) becomes Chloris sinica.

Literature Cited––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––AOU [American Ornithologists’ Union]. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds,

7th edition. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington.

AOU [American Ornithologists’ Union]. 2000. Forty-second supplement to the

American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American Birds. Auk

117:847–858.

Bieber, G., and S. Schuette. 2009. First record of Solitary Snipe (Gallinago soli-

taria) for North America on Saint Paul Island, Alaska. North American Birds

63:178–181.

Chesser, R.T., R.C. Banks, F.K. Barker, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette,

P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winkler. 2009. The

fiftieth supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North

American Birds. Auk 126:705–714.

Conover P.E., and B.M. Myers. 2009. First United States record of Crowned Slaty-

Flycatcher (Empidonomus aurantioatrocristatus) from Louisiana. North Amer-

ican Birds 62:638–639.

DeCicco, L.H., S.C. Heinl, and D.W. Sonneborn. 2009. First North American

records of the Rufous-tailed Robin (Luscinia sibilans). Western Birds in press.

Dittmann, D., ed. 2008. Newsletter of the Louisiana Bird Records Committee, An-

nual Report 2008. <http://tiny.cc/5rF44>.

Dittmann, D.L., and S.W. Cardiff. 2003. Ninth report of the Louisiana Bird Records

Committee. Journal of Louisiana Ornithology 6:41–101.

Flood, R.L. 2009. “All-dark” Oceanodroma storm-petrels in the Atlantic and

B I R D I N G • N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 942

The ABA Checklist Committee acceptedCaribbean Elaenia in 1985, but admittedthat the identification represented a “bor-derline case.” Although the elaenia vocal-ized frequently, its calls were notaudio-recorded. Because the Florida Or-nithological Society Records Committeerecently downgraded this record to “Elae-nia species,” the ABA Checklist Committeealso reevaluated the record and decidedthat the lack of audio-recordings left doubtas to its specific identity. Ironically, this birdmay have been a White-crested Elaenia,which was added to the ABA Checklistbased on a recent Texas record. Fort Pick-ens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida;28 April 1984. © Robert A. Duncan.

Although the identity of this Sungrebe is not in question, themeans by which it arrived in the ABA Area may be a topic of discus-sion when the ABA Checklist Committee votes on this record. Notknown as a long-distance migrant or vagrant, this Sungrebe wasnearly 1,400 kilometers from its nearest known population innorthern Mexico. However, the species is apparently unknownin captivity. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, NewMexico; 18 November 2008. © Jerry R. Oldenettel.

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??

neighbouring seas. British Birds 102:365–385.

Gill, F.B. 1985. Report of the ABA Checklist Committee for 1984–1985. Birding

17:261–265.

Howell, S.N.G., and J.B. Patteson. 2008. A Swinhoe’s Petrel off North Carolina, USA,

and a review of dark storm-petrel identification. Birding World 21:255–262.

Howell, S.N.G., and S. Webb. 1995. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern

Central America. Oxford University Press, New York.

Jaramillo, A. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Kratter, A.W. in preparation. Eighteenth report of the Florida Ornithological So-

ciety Records Committee: 2008. Florida Field Naturalist.

LeGrand, H., and the North Carolina Bird Records Committee. 2001. 1999–2000

report of the North Carolina Bird Records Committee. Chat 65:83–89.

O’Brien, M., J.B. Patteson, G.L. Armistead, and G.B. Pearce. 1999. Swinhoe’s

Storm-Petrel: First North American photographic record. North American

Birds 53:6–10.

Patteson, J.B., S.N.G. Howell, and K. Sutherland. 2009. Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel

(Oceanodroma monorhis) off North Carolina. North American Birds 62:518–520.

Powell, P. 1986. FOS Records Committee report. Florida Field Naturalist 14:107–109.

Pranty, B., J.L. Dunn, S.C. Heinl, A.W. Kratter, P.E. Lehman, M.W. Lockwood, B.

Mactavish, and K.J. Zimmer. 2008. Annual report of the ABA Checklist Com-

mittee, 2007–2008. Birding 40(6):32–38.

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Mactavish, and K.J. Zimmer. 2009. ABA Checklist: Birds of the United States and

Canada. American Birding Association, Colorado Springs.

Reid, M., and D. Jones. 2009. First North American record of White-crested Elae-

nia (Elaenia albiceps chilensis) at South Padre Island, Texas. North American

Birds 63:10–14.

Rheindt, F.E., L. Christidis, and J.A. Norman. 2009. Genetic introgression, incom-

plete lineage sorting, and faulty taxonomy create multiple cases of poly-

phyly in a montane clade of tyrant-flycatchers (Elaenia: Tyrannidae).

Zoologica Scripta 38:143–153.

Robb, M., and K. Mullarney. 2008. Petrels Night and Day. Sound Approach, Dorset.

Robb, R.R., D. Arendt, K. Larsen, and P. Sherrell. 2009. First North American record

of Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher. Cotinga 31:50–52.

Robbins, M.B., D.L. Dittmann, J.L. Dunn, K.L. Garrett, S.[C.] Heinl, A.W. Kratter, G.

Lasley, and B. Mactavish. 2003. ABA Checklist Committee 2002 annual report.

Birding 35:138–144.

Russell, S.M., and G. Monson. 1998. The Birds of Sonora, University of Arizona

Press, Tucson.

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of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Shirihai, H. 2009. The Zino’s Petrel at sea, expedition II—and the best pelagic

birding in the western Palearctic. Birding World 22:204–218.

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Wings(new)