Re: [cobirds] Mexican Duck on e-bird

Hi folks,

The AOS has a committee called the NACC as described by Mark, and that committee makes taxonomic decisions on changes to the official AOS checklist on a regular basis (biannually, I believe). For the purposes of discussion, the AOS and the NACC are functionally the same, as the NACC is a committee of the AOS.

As mentioned by Mark, the NACC *generally* accepts additions to the ABA checklist, but that may not necessarily apply to splits as opposed to extralimital vagrants (where the identification is beyond question). And so, in the case of this Mexican Duck, it becomes a bit perplexing as it comes down to what will end up on which list.

A proposal was submitted to the NACC to give full species status to Mexican Duck, but it was rejected this year by the committee by a 7-3 vote.

The eBird/Clements checklist, which *generally* abides by decisions of the NACC, has decided to go ahead and accept that Mexican Duck is a full separate species and add it to users checklists and to the official Clements global checklist.

So why would eBird/Clements go ahead and accept this proposal while the NACC resoundingly rejected it? Well, the proposal was submitted to the NACC by Tom Schulenberg himself....who also happens to be the co-manager of the eBird/Clements taxonomy! The lesson being, if you manage your own taxonomy, you get to accept your own proposals. :) 

And which authority will CFO abide by in this case? I have no idea.

Eric

p.s. As far as why there are so many checklists, it's true, different authorities or organizations do have different functions and purposes. The ABA list is a birder's checklist. The AOU/AOS list is used by birders but is designed more for Western Hemisphere ornithologists. The eBird/Clements checklist is used by both birders and ornithologists, but needs to be global in scope and so must bear in mind the effect of taxonomic changes where applicable on family/order taxonomies on other continents. This was especially true regarding the recent re-organization of Caprimulgiformes, which has member taxa all around the world but certainly has a strong representation in both North and South America.

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Eric DeFonso
Coal Creek Canyon, Jefferson County, CO (at exactly 8,000' ASL)

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