>Does any one out there have any information on the bird splits over the last
>year or so? (Scrub Jay, Green Heron, Rufous-sided Towhee & Northern Oriole
>are the ones that come to mind. I think there are more?)
>
>Are these and any other splits official?
>
>If so, what are the new bird names and what makes them different from their
>originals?
>>
>Please reply directly to me.
>And thanks . . .
>
>Laurinda

Laurinda, I'm replying to the whole group because this question has come up
before, and I think a lot of people are interested in it.

Of your list, the Green Heron was split from the Old World and South
American Striated Heron a couple of years ago, so there is no more
Green-backed Heron. The two are quite distinct in plumage, and their
combination was premature, just because people had said they thought there
were hybrids between them in Central America.

None of the others has been "officially" split, as the AOU Check-list
committee has not yet published the very deliberations that have been going
around the birding community for many months. Rumor has it (and freely
dispenses it, apparently) that all the other species will be split, into 3,
2, and 2 species respectively. I'm not sure what common names the
committee has finally chosen for a few of the species, so I'll pass on
that. We'll have Spotted Towhees and Bullock's Orioles again, anyway.
Stay tuned. As soon as any new decisions appear officially, I'll be happy
to post them on tweeters.

Dennis Paulson 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