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BARC Checklist v2015Jan is released (30 Jan 2015)

By Birding-Aus, on January 30th, 2015

BARC Checklist v2015Jan is released (30 Jan 2015)Greetings birders,A new version of the BARC Australian Checklist v2015Jan willbe available later this evening (30 January 2015) on the BARC website. It willbe a downloadable Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (BARC_Australian_Checklist_v2014Jul.xls).The BARC Website is at:http://www.tonypalliser.com/barc/barc-home.htmlLike previous versions, thischecklist is intended to follow the IOC World Bird Names checklist to theletter, in terms of species taxonomy, scientific and English names, spellingand sequence. As with previous versions, subspecies are not included. Usually,there are no intended deviations from the IOC list (other than abbreviating itto species and Australia) and there are no novel taxonomic opinions expressedby BARC in that regard. However, in this edition, there is one deviation, thecontinued inclusion of the extinct Norfolk Ground Dove Gallicolumbanorfolciensis on the BARC Checklist. This upgrade includes changes to the IOC list up to 16 January2015 (Gill, F & D Donsker 2015; IOC World Bird List v 5.1; http://www.worldbirdnames.org/). If you download the spreadsheet you will find twoworksheets. One worksheet is the full v2015Jan. The second worksheet is anupgrade tool for those who are already using the BARC Checklist (v2014Jul) andwould prefer to modify their personalised lists rather than start with a blankchecklist again. It contains a set of instructions for converting the old BARCChecklist v2014Jul to this new v2015Jan. Upgrading involves inserting three newspecies (two splits by the IOC and a new species accepted by BARC), merging twofamilies into one, and replacing two rows due to name changes. The upgradeworksheet will also allow users to identify the changes that have been made in v2015Jan.Summary of changes:The IOC has split two species since v2014Jul was released(Silver-backed Butsherbird and Western Whistler):One species new for Australia has been accepted by BARC sincev2014Jul (Nicobar Pigeon).One extinct species, the Norfolk Ground Dove Gallicolumbanorfolciensis, has been deleted from IOC v.4.4 and subsequent versions,as the name has been formally suppressed and the validity of species requiresconfirmation. It remains in BARC v2015Jan pending further clarity.The bell magpies and the woodswallows are merged into asingle family with a revised species sequence. Minor name changes affect one species and one family headerrow.  These changes bring the total Australian list to 927confirmed species, 18 of which are extinct or extirpated. There are also updates to three other BARC lists, coincidingwith this new version of the checklist. All are available on the BARC website:BARC_Index_of_Cases_v2015Jan.xlsIncludes a list of cases received up to 30 January 2015 andlinks to finalised case summaries.  BARC_Review_List_ v2015Jan.xlsThe one species new to the Australian list has been added. Nospecies have been removed. BARC_Unsubstantiated_List_v2015Jan.xlsThe “Unsubstantiated Species List” contains species whichmight be added to the Australian list in the future, but which BARC has so farnot accepted. To qualify for inclusion there needs to be some evidence such aspublished and unambiguous photos, reports of a museum specimen, a submissionthat BARC is reviewing, etc. The intention is that the BARC Australian Checklist will beupdated every 6 months (in Approximately January and July). The other threelists will all be updated at the same time. The versions of each will beidentified by year and month as follows: [list]_v2014Jul.xls, [list]_v2015Jan.xls,etc. The IOC World Bird List site contains more information aboutthe open processes, dynamic revisions and cooperative approach of the IOC checklistsystem. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/The BARC Australian Checklist v1 was first released inNovember 2011 and this current version is the 5th update.Thanks are due to Rohan Clarke and Tony Palliser for helpfulcomments on this update. Good birding to you all, David James

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