2012 AOU Checklist Supplement

Time for guidebook authors to shuffle the deck again.

The AOU has just published its 53rd Supplement to the Checklist.  Of most interest is that the AOU has moved the falconiformes (caracaras and falcons) and psittaciformes (parrots) to a pivotal position between Picidae (Woodpeckers) and Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers).

Yup, right before passerines.  As the Supplement notes, "recent phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences have shown that the Falconiformes, Psittaciformes, and Passeriformes form a monophyletic group" (Chesser et al., p. 578).

Here are some more detailed summaries by  Paul Hess and Rick Wright.