Proposal
(131) to South American
Classification Committee
Change
English name of Microcerculus marginatus from "Nightingale
Wren" to "Southern Nightingale-Wren"
This will be the
second-shortest, second-flimsiest proposal I've written so far.
Microcerculus marginatus was
known "forever" as "Nightingale Wren" until that
troublemaker Gary Stiles showed that there were two parapatric species-level
taxa in Costa Rica.
For better or worse, the
AOU solution to the split was to elevate the two "groups" of the 1983
Checklist to species and carry the English names with them, namely
"Nightingale Wren" for the northern philomela group,
and "Scaly-breasted Wren" for southern marginatus group
(including all of South America).
Ridgely & Tudor (1989)
chose to go with "Northern Nightingale-Wren" and "Southern
Nightingale-Wren" for the two. In some ways this is better (albeit
insipid) because to use the former name "Nightingale Wren" for one of
the daughter species, especially the one with the junior name, can cause
confusion. Ridgely & Tudor (1989) didn't mention that -- what they did say
was:
"[The AOU] ... suggested calling M.
marginatus the Scaly-breasted Wren, an unfortunate choice, as birds
from most of its range do not have scaly breasts."
I beg to differ with the
latter statement. Our large series of marginatus from Central
America to Bolivia and Brazil shows lots of individual (age?) and some
pronounced geographic variation, but "scales" are present on the
breast, or certainly their sides, in a high % of the specimens. Even the
cleanest-breasted birds have "scales" at the margins of the official
breast in the flanks and upper belly. "Scaly-breasted" isn't a great
name for these birds, but the statement above is clearly in need of revision.
The lurking problem that
most of you know about is that within the species we currently treat as one, it
is likely that two or more additional species-level taxa exist. For example,
the trans-Andean luscinia group differs more strongly in
plumage from cis-Andean birds than it does from parapatric philomela.
Within Amazonia, song differences are dramatic and screaming out for a formal
analysis. Therefore, it's likely we'll be facing further fragmentation of marginatus.
The relevance to the English name situation is that we should be thinking
ahead, namely would you rather have additional "Something
Nightingale-Wren" compound names or come up with additional "single
names". The name "Whistler Wren" is already available for
the luscinia group, which I find personally more appealing
than "Whistler Nightingale-Wren" or something like that.
Recommendation: I vote
NO on this because of a personal preference (echoed, by the way, by many or
most birders as well as ornithologists that I know) for simpler, non-compound
names.
Van
Remsen, August 2004
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Voting chart for SACC proposals 100-218
Comments from Stiles:
"NO. I am not enamored of "Scaly-breasted Wren" (in cis-Andean
forms, only the juveniles have truly "scaly" breasts), but I like
three-part names even less (ESPECIALLY when "disguised" by hyphens,
as in "barn-owl", "slaty-antshrike" - or
"nightingale-wren"). Since the group is ripe for a good study with
some splitting likely, let's stay with "scaly-breasted" until
somebody does it, then sort out the English names!"
Comments from Robbins:
"NO, there is no need to start changing names until this complex receives
a thorough analysis and species limits are defined."
Comments from Nores:
"YES, estoy de acuerdo. Por un lado, me
parece bien conservar el nombre nightingale para las
dos especies y además el detalle del pecho no es tan importante como para
denominar comúnmente a la especie. Pienso que los nombres muy particulares
deberían ser mantenidos cuando se separa una especie en dos especies.
Supongamos que se comprueba que las poblaciones europeas de Anas
platyrhynchos son diferentes específicamente de
las americanas. Yo no estaría de acuerdo en decirle Mallard
a uno de ellos y Green-headed Duck al otro, por ejemplo. Yo les pondría
American Mallard y European
Mallard."
Comments from Zimmer: "This
is another one (see Proposal #130) where I vote "NO" with extreme
reluctance. I have real problems with calling the birds in Brazil
"Scaly-breasted Wren" when the adults are so white-breasted. The best
name for the group as a whole (excluding the northern Philomela group,
for which we use "Nightingale Wren") is Gary's "Whistling
Wren," which he applied specifically to the luscinia group. I would
be tempted to push for that name being applied to what we currently call
"Scaly-breasted Wren", because it would be a much more accurate name
when the entire group is taken into account. However,
assuming that someone will eventually split this marginatus complex up
into multiple species (as is suggested by both morphological and vocal
distinctions), it would be nice to be able to retain the name "Whistling
Wren" for luscinia. I share the reluctance of others to use
the longer, hyphenated names if a better alternative can be found. That brings
us back to Scaly-breasted Wren, which I dislike intensely, given that it is
downright misleading over a large part of the range (You may be able to discern
scaling at the margins of the breast on specimens, but try explaining the name
to a group of birders looking at what appears to be a clean white breast
glowing out of the gloom of the forest understory!). I would like to just punt
on this one ... "
Comments from Stotz: "
NO. I actually don't know what to do here. I have to say that my South American
perspective has me a bit irritated that Nightingale Wren has been appropriated
for the Central American form. To me the birds I hear in Amazonia will remain
Nightingale Wrens. Having said that, I think it would be a mistake to go
change this English name when we all know that the taxonomic situation is not
stable, and it would essentially argue for changing the extralimital
Nightingale Wren to Northern Nightingale-Wren (or something). Marginatus
will certainly be split up. When it is, I hope that the author provides us with
good English names."
Comments from Pacheco:
"[NO] Acompanho o
voto de Remsen, pela simples razão por ele apresentada. Quando uma revisão do
complexo estiver disponível, novos nomes em Inglês
serão necessários."
Comments from Jaramillo:
"NO. Retain Scaly-breasted Wren, these hyphenated names are
some of my least favorite names of all!"