Aou Checklist Changes

The 50th supplement to the American Ornithologist's Union was released over a month ago. (that's how far behind I am on these posts.) There were some notable changes, though no major splits. They include:

-The Sharp-tailed Sparrows are now Nelson's Sparrow and Saltmarsh Sparrow.

-Some scientific names of chickadees were changed.

- A new family of Hawaiian birds was created. The only issue- they are all extinct.

-The finches were shuffled and scientific names were changed, so the pine siskin is now Spinus pinus, which is a great name.

So the only thing that really affects birders is that the sparrows now have shorter names.