Proposal (1034) to South American Classification Committee

Add Pygoscelis adeliae to main list

The Adelie Penguin Pygoscelis adeliae is essentially a resident of Antarctica with only a handful of hypothetical vagrant records from southernmost South America.

Effect on South American CL: This would add a species considered to be hypothetical onto the main list.

New evidence: A seemingly lost photograph, once posted on Facebook, of an individual being handled on the Falklands on 21 December 2020 has now been permanently documented https://ebird.org/checklist/S196320693 at our request. Another photograph in this post shows the same bird crossing a road, far from the sea, before it was captured and relocated.

Furthermore, a series of photographs taken at San Sebastian frontier post, northern Isla Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina on 29 December 2023 have come to light and are published here https://ebird.org/checklist/S157617698.

In both cases, the records refer to lone adults and there is no doubt over the identification of this distinctive species.

We recommend a straight forward YES vote to add the species to the main SACC list and as a vagrant for the Falklands and Argentina lists.

Santiago Imberti and Mark Pearman, September 2024

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vote tracking chart: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCPropChart968-1043.htm

Comments from Remsen: “YES. Archived, identifiable photos require transfer from Hypothetical List to main list.”

Comments from Jaramillo: “YES.”

Comments from Stiles: “YES -- no problem with the data or identification.”

Comments from Areta: “YES, no doubts here.”

Comments from Bonaccorso: “YES. There seems to be enough evidence to add the Adelie Penguin to the SACC list. It would be fantastic to tag those individuals to understand what is going on.”

Comments from Robbins: “YES.”

Comments from Lane: “YES. Documentation clear.”

Comments from Zimmer: “YES. The photographic evidence from both the 2020 record and the 2023 record conclusively support adding this distinctive species to our list.”

Comments from Claramunt: “YES.”