Warbler Guy, do you think the Myrtle and Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler subspecies will be designated new species (i.e., the YRWA species will be split?)?

Mari (in Phoenix), it's an interesting question that continues to be debated as researchers and American Ornithological Society (AOS) committee members continue to debate whether the Yellow-rumped Warbler species should potentially be split into two new species (Audubon's and Myrtle)....or, perhaps, even three or four (based on how two other subspecies — Black-fronted and Goldman's — within this species occur outside the USA's 48 lower states.

Currently, the defining organization for this question — the AOS — does not have a new proposal to entertain a split that would result in species status for Myrtle and Audubon's. In fact, in recent years, an AOS committee turned down a proposal to create species status for more than Myrtle and Audubon's, but also, perhaps, Black-fronted and Goldman's subspecies within the Yellow-rumped complex.

For more current information, the following link is worth reading:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/goodbye-yellow-rump-will-we-see-a-return-to-myrtle-and-audubons-warblers/

I'll provide more updates on this question as I learn of new information.

Regards to all, Daniel

WarblerWatch

Birding Guide (since the 1980s)

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Consulting Avian Biologist (with five survey permits from the US Fish & Wildlife Service

(permit # TE 107043 valid through March, 2024) and CA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife

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