Proposal (921e-x.2) to South American Classification Committee

With the rejection of SACC 921e-x.1 (acceptance of all English names proposed by Dickens et al. – see below), we move on to ranked choice voting for the various proposed names, including each of the ones proposed by Dickens et al. See previous proposal versions for pros and cons on each name.

It is pretty clear that no completely satisfactory solutions are available for this group, because there are problems with every name choice. No one will be happy with every choice.

Keep in mind that T. tenellus barely gets into SACC territory – this is really one for NACC to decide, so this vote is mostly advisory.

Voting procedure – rank each choice from 1 to however many there are for each species. The choices are listed with the Dickens et al. names first, then alphabetical:

A. Trogon tenellus Cabanis, 1862: Central America to extreme NW Colombia (dpto. Chocó)

1. Graceful Black-throated Trogon

2. Central American Black-throated Trogon

3. Mesoamerican Black-throated Trogon

4. Northern Black-throated Trogon

B. Trogon cupreicauda (Chapman, 1914: N Colombia south on Pacific slope to NW Ecuador

1. Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon

2. Choco Black-throated Trogon

3. Colombian Black-throated Trogon

4. Pacific Black-throated Trogon

5. Western Black-throated Trogon

C. Trogon rufus Gmelin, 1788 (including nominate rufus of Guianan Shield, T. r. sulphureus of western Amazonia, and T. r. amazonicus of eastern Amazonia)

1. Amazonian Black-throated Trogon

2. Central Black-throated Trogon

3. Cisandean Black-throated Trogon

4. Common Black-throated Trogon

5. Interior Black-throated Trogon

D. Trogon chrysochloros Pelzeln, 1856: Atlantic Forest region

1. Southern Black-throated Trogon

2. Atlantic Black-throated Trogon

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Comments from Remsen:

“A. T. tenellus

1 = 1. Graceful. Yeah, I know, it’s not any more graceful than any other trogon. But it’s memorable, catchy, and unique. Being memorable is an important ingredient, in my opinion, to choosing English names, especially when we have so many phenotypically similar Trogon species. See Tom’s comments on this one. Add historical use of this name plus translation of the species name, and we have the best choice in my opinion.

2 = 4. Northern. Insipid but unambiguously accurate.

3 = 2. Central American. OK, but not restricted to Central America.

4 = 3. Mesoamerican. I can’t abide with this one because much of its range is beyond that associated with Mesoamerica. I kind of like the name, but let’s wait for a species restricted to Mesoamerica. Also, is it spelled this way or MesoAmerica or Meso-America?

B. T. cupreicauda:

1 = 1. Kerr’s. A major (but not the only) complaint with eponyms is the historical domination by males. Here’s a chance to correct that, for a highly deserving woman who was responsible for the discovery of the species. Her story inspired a new article by eight Latin American women; let me know if you need a pdf. That’s a strong endorsement. Here’s our chance to commemorate this woman. One of the recent articles in favor of use of eponyms made the point that eponyms are “gateways” into getting interested in a species – I like that. “Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon” is a gateway into the interesting history of the discovery of this species and into Colombian ornithology. If that name inspires just one person to get interested in ornithology or trogons or pioneering fieldwork, then we’ve done more good than we ever would with yet another geography-based English name.

3.5 for the remaining 4 choices. It’s not the only member of the group in the Chocó; one of 3 members of the group in Colombia; it’s not the western-most member of the group, at least technically; and I dislike using the name of an ocean for a bird not associated with the ocean (despite precedence in other land bird names).

“C. T. rufus

1 = 1. Amazonian. Not a good name but perhaps the “least bad” of the choices. Yes, it’s also in the Orinoco, and yes there’s an “Amazonian Trogon”. I’m working on a proposal to insert group names in most of those trogon complexes, so the latter problem will hopefully go away. (And I like Don’s “Amazon Black-throated” even better.)

2. = 4. Common. Yeah, I know, obvious problems …. but see Tom’s comments. It is the most widespread and familiar member of the group. Desperate times calls for desperate names.

3. = 3. Cisandean. I’m lukewarm on using this technical and obscure term in an English name. Being mildly dyslexic, I get cis- and trans- confused regularly. Also, should it be rendered this way, or CisAndean or Cis-Andean?

4.5 = Central and Interior.

“D. T. chrysochloros. Would someone please introduced a one-word name for this distinct biogeographic region! It’s time.

1 = 1. Southern. Technically accurate for the complex and already in use since the original paper in 2021.

2 = 2. Atlantic. I am personally opposed to using names of oceans for land birds. Technically, T. rufus has just as big a claim to that name. Yes, we all know what we’re trying to get at with the “Atlantic” name here, and I appreciate that, but looking at this from the outsider’s view “Atlantic” makes no sense. I can’t help but think the non-specialist reaction would be “what were they thinking!” “Atlantic Puffin”, perfect, but “Atlantic B-t Trogon”, barf.

Votes from David Donsker:

“A. Trogon tenellus

1. Northern Black-throated Trogon

2. Graceful Black-throated Trogon

3. Central American Black-throated Trogon

4. Mesoamerican Black-throated Trogon

“B. Trogon cupreicauda

1. Western Black-throated Trogon

2. Pacific Black-throated Trogon

3. Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon

4. Choco Black-throated Trogon

5. Colombian Black-throated Trogon

“C. Trogon rufus

1. Common Black-throated Trogon

2. Amazonian Black-throated Trogon

3. Central Black-throated Trogon

4. Interior Black-throated Trogon

5. Cisandean Black-throated Trogon

“D. Trogon chrysochloros

1. Southern Black-throated Trogon

2. Atlantic Black-throated Trogon”

Votes from Stiles:

“A. T. tenellus

1. Graceful, based on historical momentum; also, it's not inappropriate with respect to its frequently sympatric congener, T. massena.

2. Northern, though Western would be at least equally appropriate considering the overall distribution

3.5 each for Mesoamerican and Central American given that neither encompasses the entire area from Mexico to Panama.

“B. Trogon cupreicauda

1. Kerr's - gives credit to whom it is long overdue, also brief.

2. Chocó - OK for distribution, given that it will include B-t, which at least lessens possible confusion with T. comptus.

3. Pacific - in deference to Van's dry-land hydrophobia. Pacific-slope would cure this, but adding a syllable, which I dislike given that it's already a long name.

4. Western - as it only applies to South America.

5. Colombian -- two other members of the group occur in Colombia.

“C. Trogon rufus

1. Amazonian, which at least describes the bulk of its distribution succinctly. (Amazon OK as well).

2. Cisandean - although subject to dyslexia problems and inconsistent use in the past, it is the best descriptor taking the complex as a whole.

3.5. each for Interior and Central, which strike me as being vague and insipid.

5. Common - generally applied with respect to abundance, not geographical distributions

“D. Trogon chrysochloros

1. Southern, as originally proposed, and now with some wide acceptance.

2. Atlantic, which unfortunately stimulates hydrophobia. Atlantic-forest, while perhaps the most appropriate, has the downside of adding 5 syllables and thus is a difficult mouthful to swallow.

Votes from Steve Hilty (voting for Jaramillo):

“T. tenellus

1. MesoAmerican [#2 and 3 also are all fine; any of them could be my favorite!]

3. Northern

3. Graceful (this one is fine too, but a bit awkward when attached to the full name, Graceful Black-tailed Trogon.

3. Central American

“T. cupreicaudus

1. Kerr's

3.5. Colombian [ as far as I am concerned #2, 3, and 4 will also all work equally well]

3.5. Pacific

3.5. Western

5. Choco (could be a little confusing because T. comptus sometimes called Choco Trogon)

“T. rufus

1. Amazonian

2. CisAndean [not sure this is a good idea, but it is intriguing]

3. Interior

4. Central

5. Common (nah, this one not very helpful)

“T. chrysochloros

1. Atlantic

2. Southern

Votes from Don Roberson (voting for Pacheco):

“A. Trogon tenellus

1. Graceful Black-throated Trogon -- only 3 birds have Graceful as an English name, all in the Old World (a pitta, a honeyeater, a prinia). None of those are the "most graceful" of Family or Genus, so that's not the point. For the Honeyeater and Prinia, the Latin name is "gracilis," and was just an English translation. So this is a memorable name for the New World, even if all the trogons are more or less graceful. In addition, it has a historic background.

2. Central American Black-throated Trogon

3. Mesoamerican Black-throated Trogon

4. Northern Black-throated Trogon

“B. Trogon cupreicauda

1. Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon -- nice opportunity to honor a woman ornithologist, and was suggested by the authors of the split. "Choco" is already in use for Blue-tailed Trogon by another world checklist

2. Colombian Black-throated Trogon

3. Pacific Black-throated Trogon

4. Western Black-throated Trogon

5. Choco Black-throated Trogon

“C. Trogon rufus

1. Common Black-throated Trogon -- is the most widespread; Tom's comments have influenced this pick. "Amazonian" is not geographically accurate; "Central" suggests limited to the interior and "Interior" suggests the same, and I had to look up what "Cisandean" meant ...

2. Amazonian Black-throated Trogon

3. Interior Black-throated Trogon

4. Central Black-throated Trogon

5. Cisandean Black-throated Trogon

“D. Trogon chrysochloros

1. Southern Black-throated Trogon -- in prior usage. If "Central American" is chosen, why not "Atlantic Forest"? Too many syllables? If Northern and Western were chosen, maybe Southeastern? Only one extra syllable.

2. Atlantic Black-throated Trogon -- only worthwhile if Pacific was chosen for cupreicauda. Otherwise, I prefer oceanic names for pelagic birds, e.g., Pacific Wren a bad choice that should not be encouraged.”

Comments from Gary Rosenberg (voting for Bonaccorso): “Here are my ranked votes - I would prefer “Atlantic Forest Black-throated Trogon” - but everyone would probably freak out about the length - maybe there is another word that conveys the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil??? (If this continues to a third round). I still think Southern is a name that may be accurate, but is misleading. I know you like “Graceful” and it has a history of use, and I might have chosen it if it really was any more graceful - seems like a random name that is sort of meaningless when it comes to trogon ID? I still prefer Kerr’s for all the reasons you mentioned.

“Anyway….

“A. Trogon tenellus

1. Northern Black-throated Trogon

2. Central American Black-throated Trogon

3. Graceful Black-throated Trogon

4. Mesoamerican Black-throated Trogon

“B. Trogon cupreicauda

1. Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon

2. Choco Black-throated Trogon

3. Western Black-throated Trogon

4. Pacific Black-throated Trogon

5. Colombian Black-throated Trogon

“C. Trogon rufus

1. Amazonian Black-throated Trogon

2. Common Black-throated Trogon

3. Central Black-throated Trogon

4. Interior Black-throated Trogon

5. Cisandean Black-throated Trogon

“D. Trogon chrysochloros

1. Atlantic Black-throated Trogon

2. Southern Black-throated Trogon”

Comments from Zimmer:

“A. T. tenellus

1. Graceful Black-throated Trogon - Meaningless, but unique, and therefore, memorable, and with some historic precedent. As I’ve said many times before in these discussions, no one ever said that a name had to be descriptive, it just has to be unique.

2. Northern Black-throated Trogon - Boring, but accurate.

3. Central American Black-throated Trogon - Just as accurate as the preceding, but more than a mouthful.

4. Mesoamerican Black-throated Trogon - Catchier, and not as boring as “Northern”, but I agree that this unique name should be reserved for a taxon that is truly restricted to Mesoamerica.

“B. T. cupreicauda

1. Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon - Deserving, regionally & historically appropriate, unique, short, and, because I like eponyms (so shoot me!).

2. Chocó Black-throated Trogon - A close 2^nd choice in my opinion, even though the range extends somewhat beyond the true Chocó region.

3. Colombian Black-throated Trogon

4. Pacific Black-throated Trogon

5. Western Black-throated Trogon - Yuck! Especially since tenellus occurs west of this species.

“C. T. rufus

1. Amazonian Black-throated Trogon - To me, hands-down the best name, given that we are using the group-name of Black-throated Trogon. “Amazonian”, to me, includes everything in the Amazon Basin (from the Guianan Shield in the north to the Brazilian Planalto in the south), and, faunistically, it’s not much of a reach to include the Orinoco drainage, even though it lies north of the Guianan Shield. I’ve seen definitions of the Amazon Basin that basically include all lowland regions east of the Andes in northern South America. See my 2^nd choice below.

2. Basin Black-throated Trogon - Fewer syllables to say essentially the same thing as Choice #1, for those who prefer shorter names.

3. Cis-Andean Black-throated Trogon - Accurate, but, I agree, potentially confusing, clunky, and not entirely exclusive to T. rufus since T. chrysochloros also has a distribution east of the Andes.

4. Interior Black-throated Trogon & Central Black-throated Trogon - tied. I don’t really like either of these names, but either would be preferable in my mind to “Common”.

5. Common Black-throated Trogon - I really dislike this name. “Common”, as proposed here, is being used to infer “widely distributed”, when, in fact, it is usually understood to refer to relative abundance. Collectively, the taxa comprised by T. rufus are no more “common” than any of the other species in the complex, and in any region outside of the Amazon Basin and adjacent Guianan region, the species is not only not the “common” Black-throated Trogon representative, it is the “non-existent” Black-throated Trogon representative. This isn’t a whole lot better in terms of reflecting geocentric bias than were the long-used Wren, Swallow, Blackbird, etc, in Europe.

“D. T. chrysochloros

1. Sooretama Black-throated Trogon - Sorry to upset the applecart again by introducing a name not on our list, but I noted Van’s plea for a one-word name that encapsulates the Atlantic Forest region. My understanding is that Sooretama is an indigenous (Tupi) word that means just that. It is a Municipality in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, which sits pretty much in the middle (north to south) of Brazil’s coastal strip of Atlantic Forest, and the name has also been given to one of the most important remaining reserves of lowland Atlantic Forest in the same state. Mort & Phyllis Isler and Bret Whitney also used this name for the Atlantic Forest representative (ambiguus) of the Thamnophilus punctatus complex in their 1997 paper when they split that complex into multiple species. A quick Google search suggests that the literal English translation of the Tupi word Sooretama is ‘home of the forest animals’, which has a nice ring to it. To my thinking, using Sooretama as a shorter, regionally appropriate substitute for the accurate, but clunky (given the compound group-name of Black-throated Trogon) modifier of “Atlantic Forest” is far and away preferable to the broadly accurate but really boring ‘Southern’, and to the more restricted, but hydrophobic-triggering ‘Atlantic’.

2. Southern Black-throated Trogon

3. Atlantic Black-throated Trogon”

Comments from Josh Beck (voting for Claramunt): “I strongly prefer geographic descriptors. For me it is not about the merit of Kerr as a name, or an anti-patronym crusade; Kerr's would otherwise be a fine name. Graceful would otherwise be a fine name. But these names really don't serve English name users and I think that there is a bit of a bias to want to recognize someone here rather than want to choose the most plainly useful names possible. In this case I greatly prefer the geographic names (with the excellent suggestion of Common for T rufus). Northern, Pacific (or Western), Common, Atlantic is, in my view, simply the most concise and useful set of names."

"A. Trogon tenellus

1. Northern

2. Central American

3. Mesoamerican

4. Graceful

“B. Trogon cupreicauda

1. Pacific

2. Western

3. Colombian

4. Choco

5. Kerr's

“C. Trogon rufus

1. Common

2. Central

3. Amazonian

4. Interior

5. Cisandean

“D. Trogon chrysochloros

1. Atlantic

2. Southern”

Comments from Lane: “Generally, I am not a fan of long compound names, but given that this complex overlaps so broadly with so many other Trogon groups, and no single morphological feature really make them stand out among congeners, I fear we are trapped in using "Black-throated" as part of the name... also, to connote the relationship among them and the link to the former unified species. I will point out, however, how useless this name has always been. Nearly *all* Trogon males have black faces, and this complex is one of those within Trogon in which the female lacks it. So, whence did this English name arise? Still, we've plodded forward with worse names and not been strongly offended, I guess... so here goes:

"A. Trogon tenellus

1. Graceful Black-throated Trogon: Honestly, I like the uniqueness of this name, as well as the historical continuity. None of the other options are really inviting to me at all.

2. Northern Black-throated Trogon

3. Mesoamerican Black-throated Trogon

4. Central American Black-throated Trogon

“B. Trogon cupreicauda

1. Kerr's Black-throated Trogon: As per other's comments above, I feel this is a well-deserved recognition, and additionally unique.

2. Choco Black-throated Trogon: I could see this name used, but having T. comptus on the playing field does make it potentially a source of confusion.

3. Colombian Black-throated Trogon: Yes, there are other trogons (and members of this complex) in Colombia, but most of its distribution is contained within this country, and so it is a valid descriptor. Honestly, to try to create a regional name that is 100% accurate in what it includes and excludes within it seems a fool's errand. As long as it is memorable, useful, and not wildly inaccurate, I think a name has value. We have "Virginia Rail" and "Carolina Wren". Neither species is even remotely contained by those US state boundaries, yet the names don't feel strongly "wrong," although perhaps they are so ingrained we don't notice. Similarly, "Canada Jay" is not confined to Canada, nor "California Quail" to California, but those names "feel right" to me. How have we become so damned hypersensitive to a name that colors just a little outside of the lines?

4. Pacific Black-throated Trogon

5. Western Black-throated Trogon

“C. T. rufus

1. Amazonian Black-throated Trogon: This one is far and away the most accurate in describing the distribution of the species (even if the Guianas and Orinoco regions aren't technically Amazonian.... see my comments above under "Colombian"). The other options here simply don't have appeal for me.

2. Central Black-throated Trogon

3. Common Black-throated Trogon

4. Cisandean Black-throated Trogon

5. Interior Black-throated Trogon

“D. Trogon chrysochloros

1. Sooretama Black-throated Trogon: I like Kevin's option here, and I was not aware of the meaning of the name! I thought it was referring to the reserve in Espírito Santo, but if it has the meaning he gives, it seems a more useful name indeed!

2. Atlantic Black-throated Trogon: Honestly using "Atlantic" or "Pacific" for non-oceanic birds doesn't bother me at all, especially as they are shorthand for longer, and more elaborate, concepts ("Atlantic Forest" or "Pacific Slope" or what have you). Folks will get the general gist from the name, and that's what is valuable here. I can live with this. But if not, why not ...

3. Matatlantica Black-throated Trogon: Here is an unambiguous name that means the Atlantic Forest, although it is not regularly used by English speakers. We do have "Yungas," "Campo" and "Pampas" and other non-English habitat/region names in our lexicon, so I don't see why we can't include this one?

4. Southern Black-throated Trogon: Not factually incorrect here (from the map, it appears that about 80% of this species' distribution is south of all the rest), but a bit bland.”

Comments from Robbins:

“A. T. tenellus. Central American B-t Trogon. I had thought that Mesoamerica included the area from Mexico through Panama. Apparently a present day definition doesn't even include Panama and even part of Costa Rica.  So, that name is inappropriate.  This trogon is no more graceful than the others and Northern tells me less than Centra American.

Ranking: 1. Central American 2. Northern 3. Graceful 4. Mesoamerican

B. T. cupreicauda. Choco B-t Trogon. Distribution is almost entirely encompassed within the Choco.

Ranking: 1. Choco 2. Pacific 3. Kerr's 4. Western

C. T. rufus. Amazonian B-t Trogon. The best of those options.

Ranking: 1. Amazonian. The rest are truly poor choices. 2. Cisandean 3. Central 4. Interior

D. T. chrysochloros. Atlantic B-t Trogon. Distribution largely fits that moniker and is more informative than a nebulous "Southern".

Ranking: 1. Atlantic 2. Southern

Comments from Pam Rasmussen (voting for Robbins):

A. Trogon tenellus

1. Graceful Black-throated Trogon

2. Northern Black-throated Trogon

3. Central American Black-throated Trogon

4. Mesoamerican Black-throated Trogon

“I’ve chosen this order because I prefer shorter, more succinct names over the 6 syllables of 3 and 4. I agree it likely isn’t more graceful than others. but it doesn’t have to be to merit the name, as long as it’s not particularly clumsy for a trogon. The name has the distinct advantage of echoing its scientific epithet, and it’s pleasing (I think). Northern is boring but OK. Mesoamerican seems to usually refer to a more northerly area, and it’s overlong.

B. Trogon cupreicauda (Chapman, 1914: N Colombia south on Pacific slope to NW Ecuador

1. Colombian Black-throated Trogon

2. Choco Black-throated Trogon

3. Pacific Black-throated Trogon

4. Western Black-throated Trogon

5. Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon

“In this case we don’t already have a Colombian anything Trogon, and its range is largely within that country, so I prefer that even though it’s a bit long. I do think Choco will be somewhat confusing with comptus, even though SACC and Clements use Blue-tailed, but with the qualifier “Black-throated” it should be an OK alternative. I’m not as averse to using ocean names for species bordering one as some are, but in this case part of the range is closer to the Caribbean, and it just isn’t a great choice. Western is even worse—it’s only western within South America, not within the group.

“If Transandean were an option I’d probably rank that 1 or 2. I don’t think most people using such lists will have a problem with this. It looks to me like it can be hyphenated or not, and I’d prefer not.

C. Trogon rufus Gmelin, 1788 (including nominate rufus of Guianan Shield, T. r. sulphureus of western Amazonia, and T. r. amazonicus of eastern Amazonia)

1. Amazon Black-throated Trogon

2. Cisandean Black-throated Trogon

4. Central Black-throated Trogon

4. Common Black-throated Trogon

4. Interior Black-throated Trogon

“Here I prefer the short form of Amazon, which gets the basic region right and is at least somewhat different than the long-used Amazonian. Cisandean would be great if we were using Transandean for cupreicauda. I think that starting to use these very helpful terms would quickly lead to familiarity and uptake. The other three? Equally bad. I agree that although Common can mean ordinary or widespread, it isn’t understood that way by most, and it is only Common where it occurs.

D. Trogon chrysochloros Pelzeln, 1856: Atlantic Forest region

1. Atlantic Black-throated Trogon

2. Southern Black-throated Trogon

“Again, I’m not allergic to using ocean names for species bordering them, and no one will be confused and think this is a seabird. But I agree that Mata Atlantica could be a good choice, if it weren’t that it comes with a couple of pesky extra syllables that make it as clunky as Atlantic Forest. Sooretama is even more confusing, I think, and if people google it they will mostly see the reserve or municipality in Espiritu Santo (or the antbird).”

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Proposal (921e-x.1) to South American Classification Committee

Establish English names for the species in the Black-throated Trogon (T. rufus) complex

Background: Proposals 921a-d reached threshold, with the result we will treat T. rufus as four species as follows:

• Trogon tenellus Cabanis, 1862: Central America to extreme NW Colombia (dpto. Chocó)

• Trogon cupreicauda (Chapman, 1914: N Colombia south on Pacific slope to NW Ecuador

• Trogon rufus Gmelin, 1788 (including nominate rufus of Guianan Shield, T. r. sulphureus of western Amazonia, and T. r. amazonicus of eastern Amazonia)

• Trogon chrysochloros Pelzeln, 1856: Atlantic Forest region

Now we have to establish English names for these four species. Here's the map (from Dickens et al. 2021), which will be useful in evaluating the proposal:

Here is a screen shot of the outstanding color plate by Eduardo Brettas that illustrates the taxa, which also should be helpful in this proposal:

Dickens et al. proposed the following English names

• Trogon tenellus = Graceful Black-throated Trogon

• Trogon cupreicauda = Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon

• Trogon rufus = Amazonian Black-throated Trogon

(• Trogon muriciensis = Alagoas Black-throated Trogon – we did not pass that part of the proposal)

• Trogon chrysochloros = Southern Black-throated Trogon

• Trogon chrysoc

Our subproposal 921E was on whether to go with compound names or not, not whether to adopt these particular names. Although most people don’t like long compound names, the vote was 5-3 of using them in this case. (See comments there against compound names by Jaramillo and Lane, and for them by Whitney and Beck.) I don’t particularly like them either, but my recommendation and vote was in favor of compound names because in this particular case mainly because it keeps intact the link to Black-throated Trogon, thus making it clear within a long list of trogon names which species are members of the T. rufus superspecies, and maintaining a connection to the original name. Also, if one drops the “Black-throated”, then we would have to invent new names for two of the species because “Southern Trogon” and “Amazonian Trogon” are misleading names from the perspective of the genus as a whole. “Southern Black-throated Trogon”, as noted by Dickens et al., resurrects a historical name, thus providing continuity with older literature. The name “Black-throated” may not be useful in distinguishing the males from other sympatric trogons, and may actually be misleading in implying that it is an important character; however, we’ve got lots of such names (Gray Antwren, Blackish Antbird, Greenish Elaenia, etc. etc. … ), yet we’ve managed to get by.

I’m going to make the first round of this proposal a YES/NO vote on whether to adopt the Dickens et al. names, as is. NO means another proposal will have to be written with replacement names, to be determined, for one or more of the modifiers of Black-throated, especially Graceful and Kerr’s. Therefore, I address those two names as follows:

As noted in 921e, “Graceful” is somewhat unsatisfactory for tenellus (Latin for “delicate”, fide Jobling), with or without Black-throated, although as noted by Dickens et al., it resurrects the historical name used in Middle American bird literature from at least Ridgway (1911) on, until Eisenmann (1955) changed it to Black-throated after its lump (Peters 1945) into T. rufus. Some people don’t care about historical continuity, but for researchers, it is helpful, e.g. “Graceful Trogon” currently brings up 478 hits on Google, including Gould’s monograph on trogons, and 14 hits in Google Scholar.

“Kerr’s” is an eponym, which will anger those militantly opposed to eponyms, in part because the vast majority bear the name of white males. However, Kerr was a woman who was collecting birds, which was highly unusual for the era (1912!). She was an American living in Colombia, and she collected the type specimen. In my opinion, not only deserves the honor but also calls attention to her generally overlooked contributions. See this link provided through Gustavo Bravo, admirably dug out by Andrés Cuervo. (You may have lost your chance to buy Ingram’s Milkweed Cream, unfortunately). A typical argument against eponyms is that they don’t tell you anything about the bird. Correct, but usually open a window into the history behind the bird’s discovery. Although most people don’t care, some people do indeed appreciate ornithology’s rich history. Only about 5% of our English names are eponyms, so why not acknowledge the interest by some people in this topic instead of discriminating against those with such interest? In the spirit of tolerance and diversity, what’s wrong with a mere 5% share for people who like eponyms? In this case, maybe a young woman would be inspired by Kerr’s example to do that sort of fieldwork; that might be a stretch, but why not take advantage of this rare opportunity to honor a woman who was clearly exceptional for the era?

A NO vote also means that one thinks we can come up with better names, so also please be constructive with the NO votes and offer alternatives. Nigel Collar’s suggestions, for example, were as follows (see his justification in SACC 921e):

Northern Black-throated Trogon T. tenellus

Western Black-throated Trogon T. cupreicauda

Central Black-throated Trogon T. rufus

Southern Black-throated Trogon T. chrysochloros

Josh Beck also suggested “Choco Black-throated” for cupreicauda and “Central American Black-throated” for tenellus.

References:

DICKENS, J. K., P.-P. BRITTON, G. A. BRAVO, AND L. F. SILVEIRA. 2021. Species limits, patterns of secondary contact and a new species in the Trogon rufus complex (Aves: Trogonidae). Zoological Journal Linnean Society: 1–42.

Van Remsen, January 2023

Comments from Donsker (voting for Areta): “This has been a challenge.

“I vote “NO” for the English names proposed by Dickens et al. 2021.

“Based on the good arguments expressed by many that retaining “Black-throated Trogon” as the shared element in the English name of the species within this group is desirable, I support that concept. I am further resigned to the use of geographical adjectives as a shared theme in the modifiers. At the very least, those names help to better visualize and comprehend the split of these species, and, in my opinion, it is more useful than a mix of geographic, descriptive and eponymic adjectives in that regard.

“Northern, Western and Southern Black-throated Trogon are perfectly appropriate. The challenge is T. rufus. Amazonian Black-throated Trogon would be a very appropriate name if it weren’t for the fact that another species, T. ramonianus, is already named Amazonian Trogon. I fear that this would cause unlimited confusion. Central Black-throated Trogon, offered by Nigel, would eliminate that problem, but it is, perhaps, less than desirable. An alternative adjective with a similar meaning, but may have a better ring to it, would be “Interior”. I would offer Interior Black-throated Trogon for consideration, although I have my own concerns that it’s a much better choice.

“Just as I would discourage the use of Amazonian Black-throated Trogon because of its close similarity to Amazonian Trogon, I would also discourage adopting Choco Black-throated Trogon for T. cupreicauda in order to avoid confusion with the English name assigned by some to a different species: T. comptus. Although the English name for T. comptus is Blue-tailed Trogon here and in Clements/eBird, that species is named Choco Trogon by HBW/BirdLife, Ridgely & Greenfield in Birds of Ecuador, and in the IOC World Bird List.

“To conclude, here are my suggestions:

Northern Black-throated Trogon T. tenellus
Western Black-throated Trogon T. cupreicauda
Interior Black-throated Trogon T. rufus
Southern Black-throated Trogon T. chrysochloros”

Comments from Josh Beck (voting for Claramunt): “NO. I've been pondering the Trogon names and, while I could live with all of the proposed names if others feel strongly, I do feel that a couple of them aren't the most useful or best names in my opinion. So I vote NO on the proposed names, but not a terribly strong NO. I understand the precedent of historical names - Southern and Graceful particularly, but I'm not sure that historical precedent here is more important than utility in the field going forward. As already discussed, Trogon names are already a particularly confusing bunch and one of the groups where I've witnessed the most confusion trying to remember which name maps to which bird.

“For tenellus, I think that Middle American, Central American, or Northern would be a better name than Graceful, and this is the one that I feel most strongly about. Graceful unfortunately tells you nothing about the bird. For chrysochloros, Atlantic might be a slightly better name than Southern - largely in terms of helping to differentiate from whatever T rufus ends up named - but I don't feel strongly about this. For rufus (sensu stricto), Amazonian would be the clear best choice if there weren't already an Amazonian Trogon. Central or Interior both work but are a bit dull (no offense to David or anyone else, these are really hard birds to name, and I don't have a better suggestion!). Perhaps someone else will be inspired here to coin a new name. For cupreicauda I am not vehemently opposed to eponyms but also still feel that a name that tells you something about the bird is more pragmatic. Given that Choco exists as an alternate name for Blue-tailed Trogon, I agree with David we should avoid it, and thus would prefer Western to Kerr's.

“Assuming this proposal were to pass, resulting in Graceful and Kerr's, we would have two daughter species where it is merely a case of rote memorization to associate the names with the birds. In cases like this I think back to the case of the Wedge-billed Hummingbird and White-tailed Hillstar splits and ensuing English names. For the Daggerbills, it's incredibly helpful that one of them got a geographic name - there is never any issue remembering or sorting out which is which. On the other hand, White-tailed Hillstar daughter species are easy enough to tell in the field but if I'm at home and it's been a while since I've seen either of them, I have to use google to check which one is on which side of the Andes. Maybe that's just a poor memory, but I know I'm not alone in struggling to remember every bird name out there.”

Comments from Remsen: “YES to all. First, I like the compound names (and I wish we had gone in this direction for the other recent trogon splits, such as in Violaceous Trogon). Retaining the compound name retains the connection to the original broadly defined species and makes it easy for people like me to remember which trogon name goes with which group. Yes, they are long and clunky, but they are also very, very helpful, in my opinion. Second, all else being equal, or nearly so, I favor adopting the published recommended names in the original paper as long as they make sense, which these do. Graceful might be useless as an identifier, but it is a unique and classy name. Kerr’s honors and calls attention to a remarkable woman whose accomplishments and struggles were recently highlighted by Soto-Patiño et al. (2023), which I strongly recommend reading. See also my comments in the proposal about the potential benefits of this eponym beyond field identification.”

Comments from Whitney (voting for Pacheco): “I will always vote to use compound English names that convey fundamentally important information about intrafamilial relationships, at the same time reducing or avoiding a layer of confusion with another (usually fairly closely related) species complex — at the minor cost of an additional couple of syllables. Furthermore, after such names are in use for a while, and everyone is accustomed to hearing them, the spoken name naturally undergoes a shortening that all understand and adopt. Net result: compound English names truly function.

“I think the Dickens et al. names are fine, certainly including Kerr’s, but for the highly distinctive chrysochloros, I have thought it would be better to go with Atlantic Black-throated Trogon instead of Southern B-t Trogon, as also suggested by Josh. I mean… “Southern”… when it’s actually eastern or southeastern, or kind of east-southeastern-ish…? Honestly, I would encourage the SACC to revisit the English names of a great many species complexes to go forward with compound names. As intimated by Van, it would certainly help out with the trogons.”

Comments from Gary Rosenberg (voting for Bonaccorso): “I vote “NO” on the Dickens et al. proposed names only because it appears to be a yes/no vote on ALL the names. My vote is not a strong no.

“I agree with others that using compound names, in some case, is very worthwhile - and this is one of those cases. I think it is important to retain “Black-throated” within the name for the obvious reason that it will certainly help zeroing in to this species group - which will be important - and creating 4 new names for this complex will lead to confusion and more tedious learning - keeping Black-throated will allow birders and scientists to quickly make the necessary association. I agree with Josh that just creating brand new names can lead to confusion - and the Daggerbills are a great example - I am always confused as to which one is on which slope - so I am typically in favor of including a geographical component to new name - when appropriate.

“Thus - with regard to the trogons, I find the name Southern to not really being appropriate - and does not convey that it is in the Atlantic Rainforest. I would think that Bret’s suggestion of Atlantic makes the most sense.

“I like the idea of Kerr’s and agree that using Choco, while it satisfies my desire for a descriptive geographical component, would potentially be a bit confusing with “Choco” Trogon, which is sometimes used for Blue-tailed (but see comments below about Amazonian). Maybe using Pacific to contrast it with the Atlantic would make sense, but of course the one in Central America is also on the Pacific side - so tricky? Thus, Kerr’s might be best - and I very much like the idea of honoring an ornithologist like Kerr - although someone will probably discover that she once said something negative in her life, and disqualify her!

“I don’t like Graceful - is this species more graceful than other trogons? - and would be happy with either Central American or Middle American as an alternative.

“The forms in Amazonia create the biggest conundrum in my opinion. The obvious choice is Amazonian Black-throated Trogon - and I echo the other’s concerns with confusion with Amazonian Trogon. Maybe calling it just Amazon Black-throated, as opposed to “Amazonian” can mediate any potential confusion, but I also think that retaining the Black-throated part of the name will help differentiate Amazonian from Amazonian (or Amazon) Black-throated. Honestly, I don’t really think it will be as large a confusion as some are worried about.”

Comments from Don Roberson (voting for Zimmer): “Given the plethora of possible English names, and that no one's set of four names strikes me as wonderful, perhaps it is wisest to go with the names proposed by the authors of the taxonomic split. This issue of compound name "Black-throated" has already been determined, so given that the issue is that far along, I vote "yes" to

> • Trogon tenellus = Graceful Black-throated Trogon
> • Trogon cupreicauda = Kerr’s Black-throated Trogon
> • Trogon rufus = Amazonian Black-throated Trogon
> • Trogon chrysochloros = Southern Black-throated Trogon

“I do like the connections to historic names for Graceful and Southern, and I'm fine with eponyms that are worthy of the honor. Yet, if it wasn't a Y/N vote, I would prefer Amazon (over Amazonian) and I would have preferred Atlantic over Southern (as Whitney discussed, despite the historic connection), but those are just not important enough issues to get wrapped up in the weeds. Having just been in the Choco region, and encountered the wide use of Choco for Blue-tailed Trogon, that choice has too much possible confusion. So the fallback for the four-way split to the published paper and their proposals may have to suffice.

Comments from Stiles: [Which I am interpreting tentatively as a NO to blanket acceptance of published names] “I´m willing to go along with using Black-throated Trogon for all, and given the difficulty in using plumage features, the geographic dimension sems the best way to go. However, I suggest here some possibly more appealing names rather than north-interior-south- west ones suggested in the proposal as it stands.

• tenellus: Mesoamerican B-t Trogon (the best one-word modifier I could think of)

• cupreicauda: Pacific B-t Trogon (describes succinctly its distribution on the Pacific slope)

• rufus: Cisandean B-t Trogon: given its wide distribution entirely east of the Andes and including the Guianas (which are actually north of much of the distribution of tenellus and outside of Amazonia)

• chrysochloros: Atlantic B-t Trogon (same logic as with cupreicauda, plus the Atlantic-Pacific pairing calls attention to their extreme opposite distributions in South America).

“So, perhaps worth running them up the flagpole and see whether people shoot them or salute them?”

Comments from Schulenberg: “NO to the Dickens names, future names to be determined.

“Looks as if we are headed to compound names. The advantage of course is that we don't need to create four completely new names, although if we were starting from scratch that's just what we would have done. But there are some downsides. I don't think every superspecies needs a separate group name, so I'm skeptical of using that as an argument here in favor of compound names. And I'm not convinced that we need to keep intact the link to Black-throated Trogon. I think everyone underestimates how quickly the community can adapt to new names and move on; new names always are jarring, but within a few years most become established and before too long, no one knows anything different. In particular, keep in mind that we're trying to select names that will be in use 100 or 200 years from now (good luck with that, I suppose, but that should be the goal). Anyway, another reason to steer clear of the compound names is that it puts a premium on a single word modifier. I can see why, then, some have suggested a suite of geographically oriented names. That's fine where it works, but it does create some new problems. For my part, I'm fine with a mix of names that are geographically based and some that are not; I don't see any reason why every species needs a compass-direction name.

“So, I have no problems with 'Graceful'. It's a sweet name. Sure, lots of trogons are 'graceful', but then plenty of trogons are 'Elegant', 'Black-headed', 'Green-backed' (!), and so on. Holding out for names that are uniquely descriptive is just asking for trouble; feel free to take any decent name that is suitable, and this one fits the bill just fine. If 'Choco' is out, as I guess it is, I'd prefer 'Pacific' over 'Western'. And 'Atlantic' for sure over 'Southern'. Nominate rufus is the pill. I consider 'Central' or 'Interior' to be DOA (sorry, David). 'Cisandean' is more descriptive, but seems a little out there for general use. My suggestion is one that no doubt will make some of you retch, but hear me out: 'Common Black-throated Trogon'. 'Common' of course doesn't refer to abundance, but to the most widespread and familiar species in a group - which in this case fits Trogon rufus to a T. This is exactly why we have 'Common Anything', it's a name designed to safely get one out of a jam. Think about it!”

Comments from Steve Hilty (voting for Jaramillo):

“Tentatively a NO (rather than a blanket Y/N on the four Dickens et al. choices).

“1) Let me also say that I will almost always prefer compound names (even long ones), and especially if they aid in geographical placement; field identification; clarify taxonomy; or provide historical context. I also have no issues with eponyms, especially because they add historical dimensions. Also, I always prefer retaining as much of the original name as possible (despite AOS rulings). In this case I would vote to keep the "Black-throated adjectives. And, frankly, I would recommend a revisit of the current names for the "old" White-tailed and Violaceous Trogons [and a few others as well]. The current names, following those splits, aren't very helpful, and I really think it would be worthwhile for SACC to revisit several of these situations where too much emphasis was placed on abbreviated names.

“2) Reading through the comments of others here has been helpful; several good naming ideas emerged that we could borrow. Least favorite on the Dickens et al. list, for. me, is "Graceful" for the Central American species. Somehow, it is an awkward fit. "Kerr's" was new to me (but a little history is always worthwhile), and I am fine with it. And I think we can do better than "Southern" for SE Brazilian chrysochloros. Also, I find the "Northern, Western, Interior (Central), and Southern" designations to be both bland and imprecise in this particular taxonomic example. The westernmost form, for example, is actually tenellus in C. America).

“My Picks:

MesoAmerican Black-throated Trogon. “I like Gary's choice, and it's one of the first times this term has been applied to an English bird name.]

Kerr's Black-throated Trogon. I like the historical connection and would vote to use this name. As a good alternative, Pacific Black-throated Trogon also works well. Finally, the range of cupreicauda is about 90% in Colombia so "Colombian Black-tailed Trogon might be an alternative (although hardly unique). 

Amazonian Black-throated Trogon. This works well enough, especially if T. (violaceus) ramonianus is eventually changed to Amazonian Violaceous Trogon, which it should be. There are a lot of trogons in Amazonia so calling it Amazonian Trogon was not very helpful. Also I have a little trouble with "Central" or "Interior." These names need context to be useful. That said, SACC should amend the Amazonian Trogon name for T. ramonianus). 

Failing these alternatives: I am not at all opposed to Gary's suggestion of Cisandean Black-throated Trogon. It is a little "out there" for most English users, but maybe it's time for birders to learn a new term. If not Amazonian (which isn't 100% accurate anyway, because of its Guianan distribution), then I would certainly propose using this alternative.

Atlantic Black-throated Trogon [better than "Southern"]. Is there any single or compound term (English or Portuguese) that identifies this southeastern portion of Brazil? Geographical names will rarely be 100% accurate but, nevertheless, can still be useful—and in the case of this trogon, I think "Atlantic" works well enough.”