Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) ©WikiC

Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19 NKJV)

The newest update for the I.O.C. Version 3.5 came out September 30th. Lee’s Birdwatching Adventures Birds of the World has the latest changes.  There are now “10,507 extant species and 150 extinct species classified in 40 Orders, 232 Families (plus 5 Incertae Sedis) and 2284 Genera.  The list also includes 20,967 subspecies.”

After making changes to around 300 pages, you should be able to find one of those 10,507 avian friends with out too much difficulty. What did they change?

They (I.O.C.) added 22 new species, deleted 2 that they turned back to just a subspecies, changed the names or spelling of 47 birds (37 of those changed the name Madagascar to Madagascan), plus they made 30 taxonomy changes.

In those taxonomy changes, they took the Paridae – Tits, Chickadees family and threw it up in the air and let it fall totally different. At least, that is my description of it. Actually, because of DNA studies, they found that the birds are related differently in the family than they thought. They also shuffled the Aratinga species of Parakeets around.

These are the new birds that they added:

Reunion Sheldgoose (Alopochen kervazoi)
Ameline Swiftlet (Aerodramus amelis)
Ochre-backed Woodpecker (Celeus ochraceus)
Iberian Green Woodpecker (Picus sharpe)
Mistletoe Tyrannulet (Zimmerius parvus)
Venezuelan Tyrannulet (Zimmerius petersi)
Coopmans’s Tyrannulet (Zimmerius minimus)
Chico’s Tyrannulet (Zimmerius chicomendesi)
Junin Tapaculo (Scytalopus gettyae)
Delta Amacuro Softtail (Thripophaga amacurensis)
Pale-blue Monarch (Hypothymis puella)
Ua Pou Monarch (Pomarea mira) Extant – based on a recent sighting
Caspian Tit (Poecile hyrcanus)
Sierra Madre Ground Warbler (Robsonius thompsoni)
Cambodian Tailorbird (Orthotomus chaktomuk)
Chinese Wren-babbler (Pnoepyga mutica)
Zappey’s Flycatcher (Cyanoptila cumatilis)
Magnificent Sunbird (Aethopyga magnifica)
Maroon-naped Sunbird (Aethopyga guimarasensis)
Bohol Sunbird (Aethopyga decorosa)
Luzon Sunbird (Aethopyga jefferyi)
Zarudny’s Sparrow (Passer zarudnyi)
Taiwan Rosefinch (Carpodacus formosanus)

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(Black-faced) Quailfinch (Ortygospiza atricollis) ©WikiC Now only called a Quailfinch

These are the two they deleted. They went back to being supspecies of the Black-faced Quailfinch, which is now only called a Quailfinch (Ortygospiza atricollis).

African Quailfinch (Ortygospiza fuscocrissa)
Black-chinned Quailfinch (Ortygospiza gabonensis)

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Madagascan Pochard (Aythya innotata) ©WikiC

Their spelling changes caused me to hunt down 37 Madagascar birds and rename them Madagascan. Here are those changes:

Madagascan Blue Pigeon (Alectroenas madagascariensis)
Madagascan Buttonquail (Turnix nigricollis)
Madagascan Buzzard (Buteo brachypterus)
Madagascan Cisticola (Cisticola cherina)
Madagascan Cuckoo (Cuculus rochii)
Madagascan Cuckoo-Hawk (Aviceda madagascariensis)
Madagascan Cuckooshrike (Coracina cinerea)
Madagascan Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides)
Madagascan Flufftail (Sarothrura insularis)
Madagascan Grebe (Tachybaptus pelzelnii)
Madagascan Green Pigeon (Treron australis)
Madagascan Harrier-Hawk (Polyboroides radiatus)
Madagascan Hoopoe (Upupa marginata)
Madagascan Ibis (Lophotibis cristata)
Madagascan Jacana (Actophilornis albinucha)
Madagascan Lark (Mirafra hova)
Madagascan Magpie-Robin (Copsychus albospecularis)
Madagascan Mannikin (Lemuresthes nana)
Madagascan Nightjar (Caprimulgus madagascariensis)
Madagascan Owl (Asio madagascariensis)
Madagascan Partridge (Margaroperdix madagarensis)
Madagascan Plover (Charadrius thoracicus)
Madagascan Pochard (Aythya innotata)
Madagascan Pratincole (Glareola ocularis)
Madagascan Pygmy Kingfisher (Corythornis madagascariensis)
Madagascan Rail (Rallus madagascariensis)
Madagascan Sandgrouse (Pterocles personatus)
Madagascan Serpent Eagle (Eutriorchis astur)
Madagascan Snipe (Gallinago macrodactyla)
Madagascan Sparrowhawk (Accipiter madagascariensis)
Madagascan Spinetail (Zoonavena grandidieri)
Madagascan Starling (Hartlaubius auratus)
Madagascan Stonechat (Saxicola sibilla)
Madagascan Swamp Warbler (Acrocephalus newtoni)
Madagascan Wagtail (Motacilla flaviventris)
Madagascan Wood Rail (Canirallus kioloides)
Madagascan Yellowbrow (Crossleyia xanthophrys)

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There are other changes and they can be seen at the I.O.C. World Bird List Website:

• English Name Updates
• Species Updates
• Taxonomic Updates

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