It contains a list of bird species recorded from the former Soviert Union, together with details of their distribution, taxonomic relationships and subspecies.

Taxonomic changes

The following is a list of the species splits & lumps proposed by Stepanyan:

• Siberian Herring Gull (Larus heuglini), together with the race vegae to be regarded as a separate species from Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
• Asian and Lesser Short-toed Larks to be regarded as separate species
• Yellow-headed (Motacilla lutea), Green-headed (M. taivana) and Black-headed (M. feldegg) Wagtails split from Yellow Wagtail (M. flava)
• Masked (Motacilla personata) and Black-backed (M. lugens) Wagtails split from White Wagtail (M. alba)
• Eastern Great (Parus minor), Turkestan (P. bokharensis), and Grey (P. cinereus) Tits split from Great Tit (P. major)
• Grey-bellied (Pyrrhula griseiventris) and Grey (P. cineracea) Bullfinches split from Common Bullfinch (P. pyrrhula)

References

Bibliography

• Madge, Steve (1991) Splitting and lumping in the Soviet Union Birding World 4(11):401-4
• Voous, K. H. (1977) List of recent Holarctic bird species