This is the ninth Supplement since publication of the seventh edition of the Check-list of North American Birds (American Ornithologists' Union [AOU] 1998). It summarizes decisions made between 1 January and 31 December 2008 by the AOU's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature—North and Middle America. The Committee has continued to operate in the manner outlined in the 42nd Supplement (AOU 2000). Terry Chesser became chair of the Committee and Keith Barker became a member of the Committee in 2008.

Changes in this Supplement include the following: (1) seven species are added to the main list (including one transferred from the Appendix) on the basis of new distributional information (Anser anser, Patagioenas plumbea, Ninox scutulata, Tolmomyias flaviventris, Empidonomus aurantioatrocristatus, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, and Emberiza chrysophrys), one of which (Ninox) also represents a new genus for the main list; (2) the distributional statement of one species (Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger) is changed by a split of extralimital taxa; (3) one species is changed (to Notharchus hyperrhynchus) by being split from an extralimital species (N. macrorhynchos); (4) three generic names (Acanthis, Spinus, and Chloris) are added as a result of splits from the genus Carduelis; (5) one genus (Cichlherminia) is lost by merger (into Turdus), and the scientific name of one species (Turdus lherminieri) is thereby changed; (6) the gender of the adjectival names of two species (Poecile hudsonicus and P. cinctus) is changed, owing to correction of the gender of the generic name; (7) the citation for one genus (Dives) is changed; (8) three English names are changed (Vireo caribaeus becomes San Andres [rather than Saint Andrew] Vireo, Ammodramus nelsoni becomes Nelson's [rather than Nelson's Sharp-tailed] Sparrow, and A. caudacutus becomes Saltmarsh [rather than Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed] Sparrow); and (9) one species is added to the Appendix (Circus buffoni). In addition, the scientific names of two species in the Appendix are changed (to Chroicocephalus genei and C. novaehollandiae [rather than Larus genei and L. novaehollandiae]); this change, based on a committee decision from 2007, was overlooked in the Supplement published in 2008 (Banks et al. 2008).

A new sequence is adopted for species in the genus Trogon, the Numididae are recognized at the family level, and the sequence of families within the Galliformes is rearranged. A newly recognized family, the Mohoidae (Hawaiian honeyeaters), is added to the main list. The five species in this new family (all extinct) were formerly considered part of the Meliphagidae (honeyeaters); the latter family is now deleted from the Check-list. The family placement of six passerine genera (Chlorothraupis, Habia, Piranga, Granatellus, Amaurospiza, and Saltator) is changed on the basis of new information on their phylogenetic relationships. The offshore limit for acceptable records is changed to 200 miles [320 km] to conform to international convention. Finally, a system of regional consultants for bird distribution in North America and Middle America is established and is being implemented.

Literature that provides the basis for the Committee's decisions is cited at the end of this Supplement, and citations not already in the Literature Cited of the seventh edition (with Supplements) become additions to it. An updated list of the bird species known from the AOU Check-list area is available at  www.aou.org/checklist/north/index.php.

The following changes to the seventh edition (page numbers refer thereto) and its Supplements result from the Committee's actions:

p. xii. The offshore limit for acceptable records is changed to 200 nautical miles (370 km). This change brings the Check-list into conformity with international convention regarding the jurisdictional limits of nations over offshore natural resources. Delete the last sentence under Geographic Coverage and insert the following: Records of occurrence within 200 nautical miles offshore from any coast, including islands, in the Check-list area are included unless such records are within territory or territorial waters of a country or other geographical entity outside the AOU Check-list area (e.g., Russia).

pp. xvii–liv. Change the number in the title of the list of species to 2,055. Insert the following names in the proper position as indicated by the text of this Supplement:

Anser anser Graylag Goose. (A)

Delete the following names:

Change the English names of the following species:

Change the sequence of families and subfamilies of GALLIFORMES to:

Rearrange the species in Trogon to the following sequence:

p. 58. After the account for Anser erythropus, insert the following new account:

p. 112. Within Galliformes, elevate Numidinae to family status and change the sequence of families and subfamilies, with their included species (Cox et al. 2007) to:

Under the heading Order GALLIFORMES: Gallinaceous Birds, insert the following:

Notes.—Sequence and taxonomic rank of families follow Cox et al. (2007).

p. 220. Before the account for Patagioenas subvinacea, known as Columba subvinacea until the 44th Supplement (Banks et al. 2003), insert the following new account:

p. 266. After the account for Aegolius ridgwayi, insert the following new account:

pp. 315–317. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences (Moyle 2005, DaCosta and Klicka 2008) has shown that relationships among North American members of the genus Trogon are not reflected accurately in the linear sequences of previous classifications. Their phylogenetic conclusions result in a new sequence of species, as follows:

Under the heading Genus TROGON, insert the following:

p. 325. Notharchus hyperrhynchus is recognized as distinct from N. macrorhynchos, following the AOU South American Classification Committee (Remsen et al. 2009). The hyperrhynchus subspecies group, which also includes N. h. paraensis of Amazonian Brazil, was formerly considered a separate species, but was merged, along with N. swainsoni, into the single species N. macrorhynchos by Peters (1948), who did not provide a rationale for the change. Notharchus swainsoni was recently re-elevated to species status, and it was suggested that the hyperrhynchus group might also warrant species rank (Rasmussen and Collar 2002, Remsen et al. 2009). Vocal (e.g., Hilty 2003) and morphological differences between macrorhynchos and the hyperrhynchus group are typical of species differences in this genus, and the two are not known to intergrade where their distributions are parapatric.

Replace the account of N. macrorhynchos with the following:

p. 360. Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger is recognized as distinct from L. affinis. Although many recent authors, following Peters (1951), have treated South American lacrymiger as conspecific with L. affinis, this merger was never supported by an explicit rationale, and many authors have retained them as distinct species. The plumage patterns of the two groups differ strongly, more so than those of some pairs of woodcreeper species with similar distributions. Ridgely and Tudor (1994) stated that the vocalizations of the two groups differ strongly, although no analysis of these characters has been published.

In the account for L. affinis, delete information on the lacrymiger group and the words “[affinis group].” Change Notes to read: Formerly included L. lacrymiger (Des Murs, 1849) [Montane Woodcreeper], here considered specifically distinct on the basis of larger size, differences in plumage, and apparent differences in vocalizations, following Cory and Hellmayr (1925), Zimmer (1934), Eisenmann (1955), Ridgely and Tudor (1994), and Marantz et al. (2003).

p. 411. After the account for Empidonomus varius, insert the following new account:

pp. 427, 530. Recent genetic work (Fleischer et al. 2008) indicates that Chaetoptila angustipluma and the four species of the genus Moho, extinct Hawaiian species traditionally included in the family Meliphagidae, form a distinct clade unrelated to the Meliphagidae. Further studies of the phylogenetic position of this family, endemic to Hawaii, are in progress. The Mohoidae are most likely sister to the Ptilogonatidae (R. Fleischer pers. comm.) and are provisionally placed between the Bombycillidae and the Ptilogonatidae.

Change Family MELIPHAGIDAE: Honeyeaters to Family MOHOIDAE: Hawaiian Honeyeaters and move family and included genera and species to a position following the account for Bombycilla cedrorum, p. 530.

Under the heading Family MOHOIDAE, insert the following:

Notes.—The genera Chaetoptila and Moho were formerly placed in the Meliphagidae. Genetic studies (Fleischer et al. 2008) indicate that these two genera form a clade unrelated to the meliphagids, and that morphological and behavioral similarities to the meliphagids are the result of convergent evolution. The Mohoidae are closely related to the Bombycillidae—Ptilogonatidae—Dulidae clade within the Passerida and are placed between the Bombycillidae and the Ptilogonatidae pending further data.

p. 431. Change the English name of Vireo caribaeus to San Andres Vireo (following Hilty and Brown 1986, Salaman et al. 2001, BirdLife International 2004, Gill and Wright 2006). Under Notes, add before first sentence: Previously known as St. Andrew Vireo.

p. 463. The generic name Poecile is masculine (David and Gosselin 2008). The committee adopted Poecile (replacing Parus) in the seventh edition and retained the masculine endings for the species names that are adjectival. In the 42nd Supplement (AOU 2000), we concluded that Poecile is feminine and changed the endings of all adjectival species names. Poecile atricapilla was subsequently changed to P. atricapillus because the species epithet is a noun. Reversing an earlier determination, David and Gosselin (2008) have shown that Poecile is in fact masculine, necessitating changing the gender of two adjectival names to hudsonicus and cinctus.

Change the names Poecile hudsonica and P. cincta (which were treated as feminine by AOU 2000) to Poecile hudsonicus and P. cinctus.

p. 490. After the account for Acrocephalus familiaris, insert the following new account:

p. 512. The genus Cichlherminia is merged into Turdus on the basis of genetic studies (Klicka et al. 2005, Pan et al. 2007, Voelker et al. 2007). Delete the heading for the genus Cichlherminia and move the citation for it to the synonymy of the genus Turdus on p. 507, immediately following the citation for Turdus. Change the heading for the species to Turdus lherminieri Lafresnaye. Forest Thrush. Add the following to the end of the species account:

Notes.—Formerly placed in the genus Cichlherminia, but genetic studies indicate a position within Turdus (Klicka et al. 2005, Pan et al. 2007, Voelker et al. 2007).

pp. 568, 636. Remove the genus Granatellus and included species from the family Parulidae on p. 568 and transfer them to a position in the Cardinalidae on p. 636, following the account for Pheucticus melanocephalus. Substitute the following for the Notes under the generic name:

Notes.—Recent mitochondrial genetic data (Lovette and Bermingham 2002, Klicka et al. 2007) show that the genus Granatellus is not a member of the Parulidae and instead indicate strong support for placement in the Cardinalidae (Klicka et al. 2007). Although Granatellus was traditionally included in the Parulidae, this placement had been questioned on morphological grounds (Meyer de Schauensee 1966, Lowery and Monroe 1968, Storer 1970).

pp. 573, 576–577, 631. Remove the genera Chlorothraupis, Habia, and Piranga, and their included species, from the family Thraupidae on pp. 573, 576–577 and transfer them to a position at the beginning of the Cardinalidae on p. 631, in the order Piranga, Habia, Chlorothraupis. No changes in English names are implemented at this time. Substitute the following for the Notes under each generic name:

Notes.—Mitochondrial genetic data from several studies (Burns 1997; Burns et al. 2002, 2003; Klicka et al. 2000, 2007) provide strong evidence that this genus, previously placed in the Thraupidae, is a member of the Cardinalidae.

pp. 594, 636. Remove the genus Amaurospiza and included species from the family Emberizidae on p. 594 and transfer them to a position in the Cardinalidae on p. 636, preceding the account for Cyanocompsa and following the account for Granatellus sallaei (as repositioned above). On p. 591, in the Notes under the family Emberizidae, change 16 genera to 15 genera.

Substitute the following for the Notes under the generic name:

Notes.—Recent mitochondrial genetic data show that this genus is not a member of the Emberizidae, and instead indicate strong support for placement in the Cardinalidae (Klicka et al. 2007), Although Amaurospiza had been placed near the emberizid genera Sporophila and Oryzoborus (e.g., Hellmayr 1938, Meyer de Schauensee 1970, Paynter 1970), this placement had been questioned on the basis of morphology and habitat (Ridgway 1901, Paynter 1970).

p. 618. Change the English name of Ammodramus nelsoni to Nelson's Sparrow. Under Notes, add before the first sentence: Previously known as Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (as in AOU 1998), but this name was widely considered unnecessarily cumbersome.

p. 619. Change the English name of Ammodramus caudacutus to Saltmarsh Sparrow. Under Notes, add before the first sentence: Previously known as Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow (as in AOU 1998), but this name was widely considered unnecessarily cumbersome.

p. 628. After the account for Emberiza leucocephalos, insert the following new account:

pp. 631, 591. Remove the genus Saltator and included species from the family Cardinalidae on p. 631 and transfer them to a position under the heading Genus INCERTAE SEDIS on p. 591, following the account for Tersina viridis. Under the Notes for the generic name, add before the first sentence: Recent genetic data (Klicka et al. 2007) suggest that the genus Saltator is a member of the Thraupidae rather than the Cardinalidae. This is likely its correct placement, but additional data are needed.

p. 644. Change Genus DIVES Deppe to Genus DIVES Cassin. Delete the first citation to Dives and replace it with Dives Cassin, 1867, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 18 (1866 = 20 July 1867): 413. Type, by tautonomy, Lampropsar dives Bonaparte = Icterus dives (Lichtenstein) Deppe.

Under Notes add after the last sentence: Previous attribution of Dives to Deppe, 1830 by AOU (1983, 1998) followed Blake (1968), who was in error. Deppe did not use the name in a generic sense.

pp. 664–668. The subgenera Acanthis and Spinus are elevated to genera, and the genus Chloris is split from the genus Carduelis.Acanthis and Spinus were considered genera before merger into Carduelis (AOU 1983), in part following Mayr and Short (1970), although they continued to be listed as subgenera. Recent mitochondrial genetic data (Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2008) indicate that Carduelis is polyphyletic and that Acanthis spp., Spinus spp., Carduelis carduelis, and Chloris sinica belong to different clades.

Move Genus CARDUELIS Brisson and its citation (p. 664) to p. 668 to replace Subgenus CARDUELIS Brisson.

Under the heading for the genus Carduelis insert the following:

Notes.—See comments under Acanthis.

Change Subgenus ACANTHIS Borkhausen (p. 664) to Genus ACANTHIS Borkhausen, and add the following:

Notes.—The following two species were formerly (AOU 1983, 1998) listed in Carduelis. Acanthis and Spinus were considered separate genera prior to their merger into Carduelis (AOU 1983), in part following Mayr and Short (1970), although they continued to be listed as subgenera. Recent mitochondrial genetic data (Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2008) indicate that Carduelis is polyphyletic and that Acanthis spp., Spinus spp., Carduelis carduelis, and Chloris sinica belong to different clades.

Change the following names previously listed in Carduelis as follows, and change generic names and abbreviations in Notes for A. hornemanni accordingly:

Acanthis flammea (Linnaeus). Common Redpoll.

Acanthis hornemanni (Holböll). Hoary Redpoll.

Substitute the following for the Notes for A. flammea:

Notes.—Known in Old World literature as the Redpoll. Acanthis flammea and A. hornemanni appear to constitute a superspecies (Mayr and Short 1970). See comments under A. hornemanni. Formerly included Acanthis cabaret (Müller, 1776) [Lesser Redpoll], recently treated as a separate species by Knox et al. (2001).

Change Subgenus SPINUS Koch (p. 665) to Genus SPINUS Koch, and add the following:

Notes.—The following ten species were formerly (AOU 1983, 1998) listed in Carduelis. See comments under Acanthis.

Change the following names previously listed in Carduelis as follows, and change generic names and abbreviations in Notes accordingly:

Substitute the following for the Notes for S. pinus:

Notes.—See comments under S. spinus.

Delete the Notes in the accounts for S. atriceps, S. notatus, S. xanthogastrus, S. cucullatus, S. lawrencei, and S. tristis.

Substitute the following for the Notes for S. dominicensis:

Notes.—This species is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus Loximitris.

Delete the last sentence in the Notes for S. psaltria.

Following the account for Carduelis carduelis (p. 668), insert the following:

Insert the following names in the proper position as indicated by the text of this Supplement:

Rearrange, with appropriate changes, the sequence of families and subfamilies from CRACIDAE to ODONTOPHORIDAE to the following sequence, with no change in French names:

Rearrange the species in Trogon to the following sequence, with no change in French names:

Move the species from Moho braccatus to M. nobilis to a position following the newly inserted heading MOHOIDAE, with no change in French names.

Move the species from Saltator albicollis to S. grossus to a new heading INCERTAE SEDIS in a position following Tersina viridis, with no change in French names.

Proposals considered but not accepted by the committee include: transfer of White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) to the main list (Pranty et al. 2008); division of Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) into two species (Proudfoot et al. 2006); transfer of Straight-billed Woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus picus) to the genus Dendroplex (Aleixo et al. 2007); merger of Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher (Myiobius sulphureipygius) into M. barbatus; change of Ptilogonatidae, Dulidae, and Mohoidae to subfamilies within the Bombycillidae (Spellman et al. 2008); change of the family-level placement of several genera currently placed in the Emberizidae (e.g., Klicka et al. 2007); division of Passerculus sandwichensis into as many as four species (Rising 2007); and division of Spinus into three genera (Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2007, 2008). Proposals to change the English names of Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) and to remove the hyphen from the English names of Mountain-gem (Lampornis spp.) were rejected. Any of these proposals may be reconsidered pending further data or discussion. The status of current proposals under consideration by the Committee can be followed at  www.aou.org/committees/nacc/proposals/pending.php3.