A taxonomic revision of the genus Chondrohierax

The North American Classification Committee (NACC, hereafter “the committee”) solicits proposals to change the taxonomy of bird species in North America. These proposals are summaries of the background information on a given taxonomic problem, summary of new information, and recommendations on best taxonomic treatments, under the Biological Species Concept (https://americanornithology.org/nacc/). What follows is a summary of the information pertinent to the taxonomic status of taxa in the genus Chondrohierax. The genus is currently considered monotypic, with the sole representative containing three allopatric subspecies. One of these, wilsonii of the island of Cuba, is distinct in plumage and genetics. Here, I provide a summary of the taxonomic history of the complex, genetic information, and novel morphological (plumage) data. These data support the treatment of wilsonii as a species distinct from other Chondrohierax.