Supplement to the Checklist of the avian diversity of Alaska: subspecies, breeding status, and taxonomy (Withrow et al. 2025), and by extension the 2026 (32nd) Alaska Checklist (https://www.universityofalaskamuseumbirds.org/products/checklist.pdf). (These changes have been incorporated into Withrow et al. 2026, Bull. Amer. Ornithol. Union 1.1.)
The Alaska checklist now stands at 551 species and an additional 120 subspecies. Of these 551 species, 55 are rare, 166 are casual, and 82 are accidental. The following changes are implemented:
Species new to Alaska:
Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis), status accidental, based on a bird photographed 12 July 2025 in the Bering Sea, ~130 km nnw of Dutch Harbor (54.921oN 167.511oW) by L. Weiskittel (photos ML).
Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus), status accidental, based on a bird photographed 15-17 Nov 2025 at Valdez, C. Andersen and J. Guthrie+ (photos ML).
Subspecies new to Alaska:
Branta canadensis moffitti Aldrich, 1946, status casual, based on several birds matching this description photographed with wild flocks of Canada Geese, predominantly in southeast.
Large, pale Canada Geese associated with wild, migrant flocks have been observed in spring in southeast (e.g., at Juneau, 30 Apr 2007 (G. Van Vliet), 18 May 2008 (P. Suchanek), 2-3 June 2022 (K. Kirkpatrick, G. Van Vliet), and 31 May 2023 (M. Schwan); and Ketchikan, 15-20 Apr 2023 (S. C. Heinl); photos ML for all) where they are unlikely to have been escapes (at least within the state of Alaska). We include here B. c. maxima Delacour, 1951 following Palmer (1976) and Pyle (2008), and further note the long history of introductions and intergradation between maxima and moffitti (Mowbray et al. 2002). An introduced population of moffitti and moffitti/maxima intergrades is thriving on Vancouver Island and the Fraser River delta in sw British Columbia (Dawe and Stewart 2010, Janus et al. 2022), and moffitti phenotypes have become more common in Washington west of the Cascades (Wahl et al. 2005). At least historically, large, pale geese ascribed to B. c. moffitti nested in most of central and southern British Columbia east of the Coast Mountains, but northern limits are unclear (see Munro and Cowan 1947, Campbell et al. 1990).
English name changes:
Common Hoopoe.
The English name Eurasian Hoopoe is changed to Common Hoopoe to conform to global usage (e.g., Dickinson and Remsen 2013, AviList 2025, Chesser et al. 2025).
Linear sequence approach:
We add the following to the Introduction:
Creation of a checklist’s linear sequence from complex phylogenies is as much art as science, governed by a set of conventions that have yet to be agreed upon by major world checklists. To have our list to depart minimally and only in substantive ways from others we will generally follow the linear sequence of the AOS’s North American Classification Committee.
Linear sequence changes:
The linear sequences of Columbidae, Gruiformes, Pelecaniformes, Charadriiformes, and Accipitridae are rearranged following new understandings of relationships (Chesser et al. 2025) and for conformity with the convention of listing more diverse clades or assemblages after less diverse ones.
Columbidae is reordered as follows:
Zenaida asiatica White-winged Dove
Zenaida macroura Mourning Dove
Patagioenas fasciata Band-tailed Pigeon
Streptopelia orientalis Oriental Turtle-Dove
Streptopelia decaocto Eurasian Collared-Dove
Columba livia Rock Pigeon
Gruidae precedes Rallidae in Gruiformes.
Anarhynchus nivosus Snowy Plover precedes Anarhynchus alexandrinus Kentish Plover.
Numenius hudsonicus Hudsonian Whimbrel precedes Numenius phaeopus Eurasian Whimbrel.
Sterninae precedes Larinae in Laridae.
Threskiornithidae comes first within Pelecaniformes.
Accipitridae is partially reordered as follows:
Accipiter striatus Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter nisus Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Astur gentilis Eurasian Goshawk
Astur atricapillus American Goshawk
Circus cyaneus Hen Harrier
Circus hudsonius Northern Harrier
Genus changes:
Bluethroat is removed from a monotypic Cyanecula and returned to Luscinia. Reversion to Luscinia reflects the close relationships within this group (Sangster et al. 2010, Zhao et al. 2023) and avoids multiple monotypic genera within a circumscribed Luscinia.
Lesser Whitethroat is removed from Sylvia and placed in Curruca reflecting a deep divergence within Sylvia senso lato (Voelker and Light 2011, Cia et al. 2019) and to conform to common global usage (e.g., Dickinson and Christidis 2014), although we note that there is wide variation in divergence across avian genera.
New Notes:
Little Ringed Plover.
Genetic work (Dos Remedios et al. 2015, Cerny and Natale 2022) has led some to place C. dubius in an expanded Thinornis, but we retain it in Charadrius given its plumage similarities to members of New World Charadrius, a preference for more inclusive genera, and the recognition that there remains much to learn about the relationships among Charadrius senso lato.
Herring Gull.
Members of the Herring Gull complex (and probably at least some other large white-headed gulls) are better treated as subspecies than species. Genetic diagnosability via clustering algorithms (e.g., Sonsthagen et al. 2016, Linklater et al. 2024), correlated with minor differences in phenotype and long-calls (e.g., Olsen and Larsson 2003), are not indicative of essential reproductive isolation in large white-headed gulls.
Oriental Honey-Buzzard.
The record from Shemya is on the brink of publication as Pohlen et al. (2026; Pohlen, Z. M., J. A. Johnson, R. B. Benter, and J. Helm. 2026. First North American record of the Oriental Honey-Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus). W. Birds 57:in press).
Warbling Vireo.
Treated by some as a species separate from V. g. gilvus (e.g., Phillips 1991, Browning 2019, Chesser et al. 2025). However, genetic work to date (Lovell et al. 2021 and Carpenter et al. 2022) showed rates of intergradation higher than we expect between biological species. Absent convincing evidence of reproductive isolation stronger than that found so far, we consider these to be subspecies of the same biological species.
Status changes:
Status of American White Pelican, Asian Rosy-Finch, Lesser Whitethroat, and Dickcissel are changed from accidental to casual based on a third record for each.
Corrections:
The second subspecies of Ixoreus naevius should be meruloides, not melanuroides; the authority remains correct. The authorship of Cepphuys grylle mandtii is (Lichtenstein, 1822), not (Mandt, 1822). Nazca Booby should have been listed as accidental not casual, it changed status only in the 32nd edition (2026) of the Alaska Checklist.
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