Proposal (107) to South American Classification Committee

Change English name of Metriopelia morenoi

Effect on South American CL: This proposal would change the English name of a species on our list from a "Meyer de Schauensee" name ("Bare-eyed Ground-Dove") to an "HBW" name ("Moreno's Ground-Dove").

Background: Meyer de Schauensee (1966, 1970) used the name "Bare-eyed Ground-Dove" for Metriopelia morenoi, and this has been followed by essentially all literature, except for Goodwin (1983), who used "Moreno's Bare-eyed Ground-Dove." Baptista et al. (1997) changed this to "Moreno's Ground-Dove," without comment. This was also followed by Gibbs et al. (2001) and Mazar Barnett & Pearman (2001).

Moreno, according to Jobling (1991), refers to "Francisco Josue Pascasio Moreno (1852-1919), Argentine naturalist and founding director of La Plata Museum, 1884."

Analysis: "Bare-eyed" is accurate and has 30+ years of historical momentum. It is used in Olrog (1984), Narosky & Yzurieta (1987), and De la Peña & Rumboll (1998). I like the similarity to "Bare-faced Ground-Dove" (M. ceciliae), its presumed allospecies. I am uncertain as to why Baptista et al. used "Moreno's" unless it was in partial deference to Goodwin's name (and Goodwin had an exceptional penchant for ignoring Meyer de Schauensee names).

Recommendation: I vote NO on this proposal. I see no point in using a new name.

Literature Cited:

BAPTISTA, L. F., P. W. TRAIL, AND H. M. HORBLIT. 1997. Family Columbidae (pigeons and doves). Pp. 60-243 in "Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to cuckoos." (J. del Hoyo et al., eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

DE LA PEÑA, M. R., AND M. RUMBOLL. 1998. Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica. . Harper Collins.

GIBBS, D., E. BARNES, AND J. COX. 2001. Pigeons and doves. Yale University Press, New Haven.

GOODWIN, D. 1983. Pigeons and doves of the world, 3rd ed. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, New York.

MAZAR BARNETT, J., AND M. PEARMAN. 2001. Annotated checklist of the birds of Argentina. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

MEYER DE SCHAUENSEE, R. 1966. The species of birds of South America and their distribution. Livingston Publishing Co., Narberth, Pennsylvania.

MEYER DE SCHAUENSEE, R. 1970. A guide to the birds of South America. Livingston Publishing Co., Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

NAROSKY, T., AND D. YZURIETA. 1993. Birds of Argentina & Uruguay. A Field Guide. Asociación Ornitologica Del Plata, Buenos Aires.

OLROG, C. C. 1984. Las Aves Argentinas. Administración Parques Nacionales, Buenos Aires.

Van Remsen, March 2004

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Voting chart for SACC proposals 100-218

Comments from Stiles: "NO. Once again, if we start to get into the business of tinkering with English names, substituting every time a slightly better one comes along, we'll never finish. The old, accepted name isn´t inaccurate , so I see no reason to change it."

Comments from Nores: "NO, el nombre es apropiado, ya que la región periocular naranja es muy evidente. Aunque todas las especies de Metriopelia tienen este carácter, en M. morenoi está más desarrollado."

Comments from Jaramillo: "NO This was a difficult one for me, I must admit that in the field I have called Bare-eyed Ground-Doves, when I meant Bare-faced Ground-Doves and probably vice versa. Maybe it is ornithological dyslexia, maybe its English as a second language, maybe it is just a weak memory, but the names are rather similar, and the birds are pretty similar too. It is a trap that can confuse. Moreno's does do away with the problem, but unless you know who Moreno was and where he did his work, it doesn't help to differentiate morenoi from ceciliae. If the option had been to call it Argentine Ground-Dove, I would have been all over it. Given the history of Bare-eyed, and the fact that morenoi really only helps to get rid of an annoying similarity in names, but adds little other meaningful information (the name Moreno's that is), I think that it is best to remain with the old name."

Comments from Schulenberg: "NO. I admit that "Bare-eyed" and "Bare-faced" for two congeners has potential for causing confusion (although I've never had problems with this). But I'm still not wild about the idea of changing the English name."

Comments from Zimmer: "NO. This is exactly the type of "descriptive" name that often becomes confusing (Is it Bare-eyed or Bare-faced?). But given that the name is established and is not inaccurate, and lacking a pithy geographic modifier, I'd prefer to stay with the status quo."