>In the recent issue of Winging It, there was an article on St Maries Idaho.
>One of the birds mentioned was the Spotted Towhee which I had heard was
>going to be split from the Rufous-sided Towhee. Is this official? Have
>there been any more recent splits?
>
>Thanks for the info.
>
>Bill and Nancy LaFramboise

The answer could be either "yes" or "no." The Spotted Towhee, supposedly,
is going to be split from the eastern forms (I don't recall what their
collective name will be). But this hasn't been done yet, so it's premature
for us to use "Spotted Towhee" in any way other than unofficially.

Unfortunately, the grapevine spreads the word of taxonomic decisions that
are being considered by the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list
Committee, and the intense interest among birders for what's to be split
and lumped carries these intended decisions to the four corners of
Birderdom well before they are official. Van Remsen, a member of both the
AOU committee and the American Birding Association's check-list committee,
has cautioned birders not to count their species before they're hatched, as
sometimes the AOU committee changes its mind before publication. The
decisions must be published, either in the new AOU Check-list which is on
its way, or in a supplement published in the Auk.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416