Check your eBird: New names announced today for scores of species, including some you know

When Nick Bonomo took this photo of redpolls, it showed two species.  The bird in the middle is a Hoary Redpoll, the others are Common Redpolls. eBird now considers them one species: Redpoll. Photo by Nick Bonomo.

October 22, 2024—Those noisy little brown birds that arrive in April and sing almost non-stop outside your window for months? They have a new name. And if you have a hard time distinguishing between a Cooper’s Hawk and a Sharp-shinned Hawk, you’ll no longer be able to shrug it off by saying, “It’s an Accipiter.”

Thank you, eBird. The massive bird database organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology announced changes this morning to the names and taxonomy of scores of bird species, including half a dozen that are familiar locally. 

The House Wren you see and hear in Connecticut is now Northern House Wren—still the same indefatigable singer, still the same tiny ball of energy, but a different name. The change was necessary because ornithologists agreed that the bird that has been called House Wren throughout the western hemisphere is actually seven distinct species.

If your life list includes a House Wren that you saw on any of several Caribbean islands, your list has now grown by one.

Cooper’s Hawk is now in the genus Astur instead of Accipiter. Sharp-shinned Hawk, however, remains an Accipiter.

Barn Owl is now three species, including American Barn Owl.

Herring Gull is now four species, including American Herring Gull (the common Herring Gull around here) and Vega Gull (previously a subspecies), which apparently has been seen once in Connecticut. Cory’s Shearwater is now two species. 

But the three redpoll species (including Common and Hoary) are now just one: Redpoll. 

The American Ornithological Society may or may not have adopted all these changes yet but eBird has, so if you’re an eBird user you might start to notice them on your checklists, and in the Merlin app.

The full explanation is fascinating and includes many birds you might encounter elsewhere. Read it here.