Costa Rica & Clements life list recording errors

The official Costa Rica list by Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica is now online.

Hello Mike, hope all is well. I am experiencing a few glitches completing my Costa Rican trip list and automatically updating my Clements life list.

- the CR list seem out-of-date and species such as Chiriqui Foliage-Gleaner is not on there so I need to manually add these to my Life/CR lists.

- When recording certain species the Clements list seems to select another species in error e.g. Variable Seedeater was automatically recognised as Wing-Barred Seedeater, that does not occur in CR to my knowledge, I spotted it and manually went into my Clements list and deleted the entry. Similarly (but probably due to the CR checklist being out of date both on common and scientific names) when I recorded Gray (Grey) Hawk (seen in the NW) on the CR list the Clements list recognised and recorded Gray-lined Hawk (found only in Pacific SW).

- I am also often getting this message when trying to automatically update the Clements life list when recording a sighting on my CR list: species not available for this location & authority. However it is usually available (e.g. white-lored gnatcatcher) but I have to go and manually add it to my Clements list.

I want to make you aware of it in case it can easily be resolved.

Thanks & best wishes,

Ben

Hi Ben

Yes, these are all because our Costa Rica list was out of date with latest (AOS) taxonomy. I've updated this now. I haven't gone through listaoficialavesdecostarica.wordpress.co...ista-oficial-online/ to add any new species though. If you're a Costa Rica regular you might like to become an editor , otherwise if you notice any species missing I will add them.

Hello Mike, thanks so much, that's saved me a lot of manual updating of the names.

Unfortunately I am not a CR regular, this is my first visit and actually I am just delighted that I was able to go and spend this September there, like most world birders I am going loopy with the ongoing travel restrictions. CR was just fabulous and so worth the hassle & expense I went through to get there. Highlights was a personal little milestone achievement of seeing all 14 described owl species on my first visit and well over 500 species in total with >340 Lifers....I can't think of where and how I would ever be able to repeat that Lifer number on a 1-country trip in my lifetime!

The species that I noticed are missing:

Canebreak Wren, Isthmian Wren & Cabanis's Wren (all split off the Plain Wren group and recognised by Clements as full species)

Gray Hawk, Buteo plagiatus - full species recognised by Clements (the CR list at present only has Grey-lined Hawk available)

I am a regular Birder to South Africa as I return every year for a family visit, in fact with any luck I'll be flying out there next week for a 3-month stay. If you need it I would be happy to put myself fwd as an Editor for this list although I have little clue of what is involved but assume it is not too onerous!

Best wishes & great birding,

Ben

Ben Geldenhuis wrote: well over 500 species in total with >340 Lifers....I can't think of where and how I would ever be able to repeat that Lifer number on a 1-country trip in my lifetime!

Been to India before?! I started Bubo Birding a year ago, but then of course COVID-19 hit so I've unfortunately been grounded here in Bangalore. I admit that 340 lifers might be tough going, but it's possible for some people!

Ben Geldenhuis wrote: Canebreak Wren, Isthmian Wren & Cabanis's Wren (all split off the Plain Wren group and recognised by Clements as full species)
Gray Hawk, Buteo plagiatus - full species recognised by Clements (the CR list at present only has Grey-lined Hawk available)

Ah yes, missed those. Now added.

Ben Geldenhuis wrote: I am a regular Birder to South Africa...

It's not onerous I can assure you! Until recently we have had all our African lists based on ABC, but they don't appear to support their country lists any more, nor have updated the taxonomy of their African list. We therefore have an IOC Africa list, and I've just put up an IOC South Africa list, which could do with a check. I'll send you an email about this: thanks for the offer of help. I really must put up IOC lists for all other African countries soon...

Hi Mike,

I like your Bubo Birding website - very cool. Yes I've been thinking about India a lot lately, I did a backpacking trip there in 2011 for 3 months and did some serious birding in Gujarat state - Rann of Kutch and also in the Western Ghats and so on and saw 289 species then went on to Sri Lanka. However the focus was on exploring India, seeing special mammals like Lions, Wild Ass, Tigers etc rather than 100% birding focussed and there is so much more to see in terms of birds - I hope to return in the not too distant future & I'll definitely keep your birding tours in mind.

Look fwd to doing some editing on SA list as soon as time allows.

Couple of things I noticed on the Costa Rica list:

- Rufous-Necked Wood-Rail to be removed as this has been split and the new species are available on the list for recording.

- Buff-Throated and Chiriqui Foliage-Gleaners have been split and are fully recognised by Clements.

Best wishes
Ben

I think Rufous-necked Wood-Rail should be on the list: Gray-necked was the species that was split into Gray-cowled and Russet-naped, so there should be three different Wood-Rails now?

Foliage-Gleaners: ah yes, missed this split. Now done, thanks.

Enjoy SA and see you in India some time!

Ah spot on Mike - that's right. I saw Gray-Cowled and Russet Naped but not Rufous-Necked. The field guide is confusing as it only shows 2 species of wood-rail (with the old names as well) so I never realised that there were in fact 3 x species of Wood-Rail in CR - seems a bit top-heavy in wood-rails, if you asked me!

Wouldn't that be fabulous to go to India again! - depending on quarantine requirements I may have about 2.5 weeks from mid-jan to mid-feb to do some sort of birding trip, but if it happens it will be an extremely last minute decision, as I am only back in Germany 11 Jan. There is anyway little point in making medium-term travel plans right now.

Best wishes

Ben