Isn't the Holarctic (holo- 'whole') covering the Nearctic and the
Palearctic?

Neotropical Migrants seem to me not restricted to any family but
geographically; now, whether a bird has to winter in the tropics of the
New World or whether it qualifies also just passing through it, like the
Upland Sandpiper from Kellys example, is another question. Answer?

Reto Riesen
Dept. Chem., UBC
Vancouver, B.C.
riesenr at chem.ubc.ca

> All I know is that the Neotropical zone consists of an area consisting of
> south and Central America, southern Mexico, and the Western Indies.
> Anything above that is the so called Nearctic zone and includes everything
> above what I described below, together they are treated by ornithologists
> as the Holarctic. So, birds which migrate from the north american breeding
> grounds into that region and have their family origination there
> (Neotropical zone) I think would be considered a Neotropical Migrant.
>
> Neotropical Area: Biogeographic region including South and Central America,
> southern Mexico and the West Indies which shares many species with the
> Nearctic zone, the two are sometimes treated by ornithologists as a single
> region, the "Holarctic". Many species in the Holarctic are migrants -
> Prof. John Wiens (Colerado State University)