Dave,
Is there a version of current IOC list out there that DOES include all current subspecies?
John
To: “Frank O’Connor” <> Subject: Splits, lumps, taxonomies, check-lists, whatever. From: Dave Torr <> Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 07:23:06 +1100
Good comments Frank.
I think a key is that all databases etc should be recording subspecies – and many unfortunately don’t. If subspecies are recorded then splits can be handled very easily – if not then it is sometimes possible to process a split based on location (eg Shrike-tit) but often impossible. Lumps of course (which seem much rarer these days!) of course present no real issues for recording birds – except that hopefully the system that is used records the new subspecies that is created by the lump, which will help if/when a split occurs!
On 7 January 2013 00:00, Frank O’Connor <> wrote:
> > Thanks to Bob Inglis for discussing this. It is a subject that needs to > be revisited annually. > > A few comments on his detailed contribution. > > C&B2008 is not the only “Australian” taxonomy. The CSIRO has one, which > is used by the Australian Government in legislation. In Western Australia, > the WA Museum has its own (which I believe is used in WA government > legislation). It is not a simple task to change the taxonomy for the > Australian or WA governments. This could very well mean that legislation > needs to be amended to reflect the changes. > > It is not a simple decision for BirdLife Australia to adopt a new > taxonomy. I believe that BARC has recommended that BA adopt a “living” > taxonomy, and has suggested the IOC rather than the BirdLife International > taxonomy. BA has many projects such as the Atlas. It is quite a big task > to change the taxonomy for projects such as that. It is not something that > you want to do every 3 months or so when the IOC issues an update. Even > annually. It is not just a case of reprinting forms. > > Bob mentions that he wants it mostly to be able to name his photos. I > have my own photos, and I also catalogue the photos for the BirdLife WA > digital image library. I name the photos such as “Restless Flycatcher > nana” and “Restless Flycatcher inquieta”. This really isn’t a big deal > when the taxonomy is updated. The big deal is that the order of everything > changes. The order of the families, and the order within the families. > This requires a lot of work changing bird lists, spreadsheets, folders, > etc. > > So we need to accept that taxonomies change (and that this is a good > thing); that there will be different taxonomies (and this can’t be > avoided); that BA will at some point update its taxonomy (to reflect > changes such as Swan River Honeyeater, Western Ground Parrot, Western > Grasswren, Western Quail-thrush, etc) but that it won’t do it very often; > and this discussion will (properly) reoccur at fairly frequent intervals on > birding-aus. > > > ______________________________**______________________________**_____ > Frank O’Connor Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au > Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email : > ==============================**= > > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, > send the message: > unsubscribe > (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) > to: <> > > http://birding-aus.org > ==============================**= > ===============================
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