Hi all -
Passing along a couple links with info on the latest AOU check-list committee decisions, released yesterday. The 54th supplement is out in print, though not on the website yet:

These two blogs talk at length about the decisions:
http://blog.aba.org/2013/08/2013-aou-check-list-changes.html
http://birdaz.com/blog/2013/08/02/the-fifty-fourth-supplement-to-the-aou-check-list/

I haven't yet seen the supplement itself, but from those blogposts, here's what I could glean:

For Washington, the changes and non-changes of note look to be:

1. Say hello to our newest name for the WA list: Sagebrush Sparrow --- Sage Sparrow was split into Bell's and Sagebrush -- 'our' Sage Sparrows are now "Sagebrush Sparrow"

2. Lots of re-re-organization and re-categorization of the shorebirds -- no lumps, no new common names, but a lot of new genus assignments and shuffling for the shorebirds.

3. Jaegers & Skua , along with Alcids are now listed ahead of gulls & terns

4. Flammulated Owl gets its own genus [no more a screech-owl]

5. Mimids reorganized [for us , the Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Sage Thrasher & Northern Mockingbird, in that order].

6. Re-organized order for : House, Purple & Cassin's Finch [of the genus Haemorhous, recently pulled out of Carpodacus].


Non-changes mentioned but not adopted:

a. No lumping of the Rosy-Finch

b. No splitting of White-breasted Nuthatch

c. No splitting into smaller groups of the Canada/Cackling Geese.

I think that about covers it -- gonna take some work to update the checklists for the next round!

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA