[obol] DNA bar coding... or, Mary Anne gets her wish

[M A SOHLSTROM]

YIPPEE!  I knew if I waved my magic wand loud enough someone would pay 
attention!  But, the realist in me knows that the purists and listers ain't 
gonna let it happen.  Oh, well - it will be fun while it lasts.

On a birdy note:  I've had a very interesting Black-capped Chickadee in the 
backyard of my office (on the Tualatin River in East Tualatin).  It is 
frosted with white on the head and back with a nearly white tail.  Almost 
looks like a minature Snow Bunting.

Sohlstrom
"You know, mom, GULL is a 4-letter word!"  Jeff Sohlstrom, June2006

>From: Greg Gillson <greg at thebirdguide.com>
>To: OBOL <obol at lists.oregonstate.edu>
>Subject: [obol] DNA bar coding... or, Mary Anne gets her wish
>Date: Tue,  3 Apr 2007 11:13:40 -0700
>
>
>The latest issue of The Birding Community E-bulletin - April 2007 has
>a brief article on a new DNA technique called DNA bar coding.
>
>This new (and, likely, controversial) technique sounds fast and less
>expensive than other DNA techniques, and leads to some interesting
>possible splits and lumps.
>
>Mary Anne's call to "lump larids!" gets overwhelming support from DNA
>bar coding. Nearly all large gulls would be lumped: California,
>Herring, Thayer's, Iceland, Lesser Black-backed, Western,
>Glaucous-winged and Glaucous Gull. While this may make Mary Anne
>happy, she would have to be prepared to "sacrifice" other species,
>lumping such birds as Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teal, Townsend's and
>Hermit Warbler, and Golden and White-crowned Sparrows.
>
>However, we'd get even more Scrub Jays, Warbling Vireos, Winter Wrens,
>and Ravens.
>
>Here are the details:
>
>"Look-alike taxa representing 15 potential "splits" include Northern
>Fulmar, Solitary Sandpiper, Western Screech-Owl, Warbling Vireo,
>Mexican Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee,
>Bushtit, Winter Wren, Marsh Wren, Bewick's Wren, Hermit Thrush,
>Curve-billed Thrasher, and Eastern Meadowlark."
>
>"The "lumps" of "virtually identical" taxa potentially include: Snow
>Goose and Ross's Goose; Black, Mallard and Mottled Duck; Blue-winged
>and Cinnamon Teal; King and Common Eider; Western and Clark's Grebe;
>Laughing and Franklin's Gull; California, Herring, Thayer's, Iceland,
>Lesser Black-backed, Western, Glaucous-winged and Glaucous Gull;
>Red-naped and Red-breasted Sapsucker; Black-billed and Yellow-billed
>Magpie; American and Northwestern Crow; Townsend's and Hermit Warbler;
>Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrow; Dark-eyed and Yellow-eyed
>Junco; Snow and McKay's Bunting; Great-tailed and Boat-tailed Grackle;
>   and Common and Hoary Redpoll."
>
>Previous issues of The Birding Community E-bulletin are online at:
>http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
>
>Greg Gillson
>Hillsboro, Oregon
>greg at thebirdguide.com
>http://thebirdguide.com
>
>
>
>
>
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