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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