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Species assessment of allopatric taxa is problematic. Here we consider the case of the Naung Mung Scimitar Babbler (Jabouilleia naungmungensis) from northern Myanmar. This bird was recognized as a new species in its original description, but was subsequently considered to be a subspecies of J. danjoui. We review the procedures used to make this assessment, and consider them in light of morphological (significantly different bill and hallux claw lengths) and new genetic (7.0% genetic distance, cytochrome b) information. Based on this reconsideration, taking acoustic information into account, we conclude that the data unequivocally confirm the recognition of J. naungmungensis as a full species.

Exurban development is an accelerating land use trend in the United States with new housing units emerging in formerly closed forests. Conservation practitioners and planners suspect exurban development alters ecological processes and biodiversity to a considerable larger extent than suspected by inhabitants of exurban development areas, but empirical support for this assertion is lacking. To examine the consequences of exurban development, we studied forest bird communities in exurban development and forests located in and around Shenandoah National Park and Massanutten Mountain in northern Virginia, USA. We conducted point-count surveys for birds three times at 106 sample locations from April to July 2006. We recorded 44 species in total; 30 species were present in both exurban development and forests, 9 species were only found in exurban development, and 5 species only in forest. Bird species composition differed significantly between land-use types based on analysis in a multi-response permutation procedure (MRPP; P

We collected several individuals of the Slaty-bellied Tesia Tesia olivea in the temperate rain forest of the sub-Himalayan region of northeastern Burma/Myanmar in February/March 2004 and March 2006. Subsequent comparison of these with T. olivea from northeastern India and northern Thailand revealed that while our northeastern Burma/Myanmar birds were similar to those from northeastern India, specimens of both populations were distinctly different from T. olivea from Chiang Mai Province of northern Thailand and northern Vietnam. Herein, we designate the latter populations as members of a new subspecies of T. olivea based on analyses of variations in morphometric characters, plumage, song, and mitochondrial (mt)DNA sequence.

The Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno is a restricted-range species occurring from Chiapas (Mexico) to Panama, generally at elevations above 1,400 m. P. mocinno is a frugivore that feeds on a variety of fruits. Listed as “Lower Risk/Near Threatened Species” and in CITES Appendix I, P. mocinno is dependent on standing dead and mature trees for breeding holes, which are only formed in primary cloud forest, even if tree stumps occur temporally in secondary growth as remnants of primary cloud forest. A population of P. mocinno in the northernmost Guatemalan mountain range (Chelemha Plot, Sierra Yalijux, Alta Verapaz) was studied in 2002 and compared with a census at the same location in 1988. Between 1988 and 2002, the number of males did not change significantly: a small increase took place from 15 to 18 individuals per 100 ha. The species’ breeding behaviour is linked to the long-term existence of primary forests such as the few remaining in highland Guatemala. Breeding success was proven and at least three juveniles from two breeding pairs were observed until the end of September 2002.