Proposal (20) to South American Classification Committee

Change of English name for Podiceps taczanowskii

Background.

Called 'Puna Grebe' as first used by Meyer de Schauensee (1966) and most subsequent authors. 'Junin Flightless Grebe' was proposed by Fjeldså and Krabbe (1990) to emphasize its flightlessness.

Comments.

Publications (6) by ICBP/BirdLife International now call it 'Junin Grebe' (see references).

Conclusions.

The species is endemic to Lake Junín, so 'Junín Grebe' is a very good name as this is also the name used in Spanish: Zambullidor de Junín. As other species of grebes also live in the 'puna,' 'Junin Grebe' would be very specific. There is aprecedence on the name change of a grebe due to its restricted range. In Guatemala Podilymbus gigas name was changed from Giant Pied-billed Grebe to Atitlán Grebe, because it was only known from Lake Atitlán.

Proposal.

I propose that the name be changed to Junín Grebe as it is very specific as to its present distribution.

References.

Meyer de Schauensee, Rodolphe. 1966. The species of birds of South America and their distribution. Livingston Publishing Company, Narberth, Pennsylvania, p. 11.

Collar, Nigel J., and Paul Andrew, (Eds.) 1988. Birds to watch: the ICBP world checklist of threatened birds. Intern. Council Bird Preserv. Tech. Bull., no. 8: 6, 241.

Fjeldså, Jon, and Niels Krabbe. 1990. Birds of the high Andes. A manual to the birds of the temperate zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America. Zool. Museum, Univ. Copenhagen, pp. 66-67.

Collar, Nigel J., Michael J. Crosby, and Alison J. Stattersfield. 1994. Birds to watch 2: the world list of threatened birds. BirdLife Conserv. Ser., no. 4: 31-32, 311.

Collar, Nigel J., Luis P. Gonzaga, Niels Krabbe, Alberto Madroño Nieto, Luis J. Naranjo, Theodore A. Parker III, and David C. Wege. 1992. Threatened birds of the Americas: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data Book. 3rd edition, Part 2. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, England, pp. 43-47.

Wege, David C., and Adrian J. Long. 1995. Key areas for threatened birds in the Neotropics. BirdLife Conserv. Ser., no. 5: 242, 290

Stattersfield, Alison J., Michael J. Crosby, Adrian J. Long, and David C. Wege. 1997. Endemic bird areas of the world: priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife Conser. Ser. no. 7: 227, 680.

BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened birds of the world. Lynx Editions and BirdLife International, Barcelona and Cambridge, UK, p. 45.

Manuel A. Plenge, 20 June 2002

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From Mark Robbins:
"I vote "yes" for both of Manuel's proposals. Both proposed names are far more informative than their current English names."

From Tom Schulenberg:
"With regard to Proposal 20, English name change of Podiceps taczanowskii from Puna Grebe to Junin Grebe, I vote YES.

"I usually prefer to retain established names, but for this species, "Puna" is an odd (less appropriate) choice, and since "Junin" rapidly is becoming entrenched as "the" established name, I can go along with the substitution. "

From Gary Stiles:
"I much prefer toponyms for geographically restricted birds, as it calls attention to their small ranges (On the other hand, I don’t go much for naming widespread birds from their type localities - but I suppose it’s 'way too late to do in Philadelphia Vireo or Tennessee Warbler..)."

From Alvaro Jaramillo:
"YES, Junin Grebe is a good change. It may cause some confusion with P. occipitalis juninensis, but not enough to concern me. "