44th Supplement AOU Checklist Changes The 44th Supplement to the AOU Check-list of North American Birds was recently published in The Auk 120(3):923-931, 2003. Only a few of the changes affect species in the Midwest:
The waterfowl and then the gallinaceous birds now occur before loons in the checklist sequence. (Multiple lines of evidence suggest that Anseriformes and Galliformes are closely related and together form a sister group to the remainder of the presently recognized Neognathae.) Rock Dove is now Rock Pigeon. All the other New World Columba (e.g. Band-tailed Pigeon) are now Patagioenas. All Otus (except Flammulated Owl) are now Megascops, so Eastern Screeh-Owl is now Megascops asio. Snowy Owl. Nyctea scandiaca is now Bubo scandiaca. Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus, is now American Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides dorsalis (split from Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker). Black-capped Vireo. Vireo atricapillus should be Vireo atricapilla. Black-capped Chickadee. Poecile atricapilla should be Poecile atricapillus . Ovenbird. Seiurus aurocapillus should be Seiurus aurocapilla. You can download a complete copy of the checklist in pdf or Excel format at http://www.aou.org/aou/birdlist.html.
