Joel G. Jorgensen and W. Ross Silcock | joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov, silcock@rosssilcock.com | 28 December 2020 The Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a common species that has two field identifiable subspecies, the “yellow-shafted” flicker (YSFL) and the “red-shafted” flicker (RSFL). The problem and challenge for Nebraska birders is that YSFLs and RSFLs regularly interbreed and the intergradation […]
GREAT KISKADEE
Pitangus sulphuratus texanus Status: Accidental in spring. Taxonomy: A recent decision by AOS (Chesser et al 2018) rearranged the order of subfamilies within the Tyrannidae, placing Tyranninae (Nebraska-occurring genera Myiarchus, Pitangus, Tyrannus) ahead of Fluvicolinae (Nebraska-occurring genera Contopus, Empidonax, Sayornis, Pyrocephalus). We follow this order of genera. Of ten recognized subspecies (AviList 2025), only one occurs […]
BLACK PHOEBE
Sayornis nigricans semiATRA Status: Accidental in spring. Taxonomy: Six subspecies are recognized (AviList 2025), two of which occur in South America and four in central America and Mexico, only one of which occurs north of Mexico, semiatra. The Nebraska record is presumed semiatra. Note that the describer of this subspecies (Vigors 1839), used the spelling […]
[MEXICAN WHIP-POOR-WILL]
Antrostomus arizonae Status: No accepted records. Taxonomy: There are five subspecies, only one north of Mexico: arizonae, occurring in the southwestern USA into Mexico (AviList 2025). This species was split from Eastern Whip-poor-will (former Caprimulgus vociferus, now A. vociferus) in 2010 based on differences in vocalizations and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA; the two species also […]
Making sense of eBird’s Canada Goose subspecies
Joel Jorgensen | 8 January 2020 | joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov eBird (eBird.org), the dominant platform used by birders these days, provide birders the opportunity to report certain birds to recognized subspecies. Birds of Nebraska – Online (BONO) provides detailed information about recognized subspecies in the taxonomy section of each species account. In some instances, though, eBird merges […]