British list total to lose one species!

Bucking the general trend of splitting, it appears the latest IOC update ( version 9.1 Jan 2019) has re-lumped Steppe Grey Shrike L. pallidirostris as a subspecies of Great Grey Shrike L. excubitor, "pending full resolution of this complex".

As the BOU now follow IOC ruling, Steppe Grey Shrike should be removed, as a separate species, from the British list

Jeremy Hurley

In due course, probably yes that will be the case. However, BOURC will be making updates on an annual basis rather than trying to follow IOC in "real time". Therefore, BUBO Listers can enjoy Steppe Grey Shrike for a few more months at least. We'll wait until BOU officially adopts the change. In theory, it is possible that IOC could reverse this decision in a subsequent update...

[Ed: glad I haven't got round to twitching one yet ]

Revelation of this recent IOC decision was particularly disappointing for me Andy as I had "twitched" one way back in November 1996 and in my home county of Essex to boot!

Kind regards,

Jeremy