herlihy@HERLIHY.CAMELOT.CS.CMU.EDU (Maurice Herlihy) (04/01/88)
A spokesman for the International Ornithological Association recently announced further name changes to bring American usage more into conformance with British usage. The Common Loon has become the Great Northern Diver, the Purple Gallinule the Purple Moorhen, the Northern Chickadee the Northern Tit, and the Canada Goose has become the Colonial Goose. The IOA also confirmed today that the organization is proceeding with a controversial decision to split the North American Robin (Turdus migratorius) into two distinct species: the ``Greater Robin'' (Turdus fischi) and the ``Lesser Robin'' (Turdus bogus). Birders are advised that the two species are most easily distinguished by tongue color: the Greater Robin's is dark brown, while the Lesser Robin's is lighter, except in eastern races where the coloring is reversed. Birders are cautioned, however, that the two species overlap extensively in range, and often hybridize. The publishers of the popular Petersen's field guide series confirmed today that the plates and descriptions for the Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla) and the Canada Warbler (Wilsonia canadensis) were inadvertantly reversed in the past fifteen editions of the guide. ``We regret the error,'' the press release stated, ``but surely everyone knows that the Wilson's is the one with the neclace and the Canada is the one with the black cap.'' [The above were taken from the April 1st edition of the Newsletter of the Western Pennsylvania Pelagic Birding Association. - MPH]