2024 Animal Changes

A total of 88 birds were reviewed, resulting in rank changes for eight of them. Five of these changes resulted in a list change:

• Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii): changed from SUB,SUM (Unknown) to S2B,S4M (Red List) due to a very limited breeding in the province, but regular migration throughout the province.
• Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus): changed from SUM (Unknown) to S3S4M (Blue List) which is a relatively widespread migrant in the province but for which there is uncertainty around population sizes and trends but evidence of declines.
• Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) changed from SUM (Unknown) to S4M (Yellow List) due to being a widespread migrant through the province.
• Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) changed from SUM (Unknown) to S4?M (Yellow List) due to being a common migrant over offshore waters, but with some evidence of decline.
• Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) changed from SNRM (Not Reviewed) to S4M (Yellow List) due to being a regular migrant through (mostly coastal) B.C., albeit one that passes through in relatively low numbers.

There were two scientific and English name changes for birds based on revisions in taxonomy (Chesser et al. 2023).

• Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) including subspecies of A. g. laingi and A. g. atricapillus have been split from Eurasian Goshawk and are now called American Goshawk (Accipiter atricapillus), with subspecies A. a. atricapillus and A. a. laingi.
• Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis) has been lumped with Cordilleran Flycatcher (E. occidentalis) and is now known as Western Flycatcher (E. difficilis).

This year, 73 small mammals were reviewed, resulting in rank changes for 22 of them. Two of the changes resulted in a list change:

• Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa): S4 to S3 
  A review of the threats was conducted for this species. Threats were determined to be high, which changed the rank from S4 to S3, moving from the Yellow to the Blue List.
   
• Cascade Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Callospermophilus saturatus): S4 to S3?
  The number of occurrences was adjusted to capture the uncertainty, as search effort has been limited. Abundance, population trends, and potential threats are not well known for this species. The rank changed from S4 to S3?, moving from the Yellow to the Blue List.

Threats assessments were completed by a group of experts for Pacific Treefrog, Columbia Spotted Frog, Long-toed Salamander, Ensatina, Western Red-backed Salamander, Wood Frog and Chorus Frog. This caused slight changes to status ranks for four species, and all remain on the Yellow List:

• Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) (S4 to S5)
• Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii) (S4 to S5)
• Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) (S4S5 to S5)
• Boreal Chorus Frog (Pseudacris maculate) (S4S5 to S5?)

Due to an increase in range, Dione Copper (Lycaena dione) changed from S2 to S3, which moved it from the Red to the Blue List.

A subset of the terrestrial molluscs was reviewed which included seven snails and slugs. There was a total of three rank changes. Two did not result in a change to the Red/Blue/Yellow list and one changed lists:

• Sheathed Slug (Zacoleus idahoensis): S3? to S2.

Threats were evaluated in 2018 for the provincial management plan, which increased the previous level of threats from Medium to High (B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. 2018c). The rank changed from S3? To S2, moving from the Blue-List to the Red List.

The group of 20 Tiger Beetles were reviewed.  There were slight changes to four species which did not result in a list change.

Status ranks were not reviewed this year; however, there were two notable changes that occurred within the group:

• English names were changed for 80 species, based on Cannings, Cohen and McKnight (2023).
• The Salish Sea Sandpirate, Lasiopgon puyallupi, McKnight and Cannings (2020) split Lasiopogon puyallupi (= L. willametti puyallupi) from L. willametti (L. willametti is restricted to southern populations in Oregon). L. puyallupi is assessed as S4 and is on the Yellow List.

• Heron’s Cuckoo Carder Bee, Stelis heronae, is a newly described species that is endemic to B.C. (Sheffield 2024).

• Paruroctonus boreus was added to the list of arachnids in B.C. This is the only species of scorpion found in Canada. It has been recorded from southern B.C. (Cameron and Buddle 2019).

B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. 2018c (B.C. Multispecies Management
Plan for Magnum Mantleslug (Magnipelta mycophaga), Pygmy Slug (Kootenaia burkei), and Sheathed Slug (Zacoleus idahoensis) in British Columbia. B.C. Ministry of Environment Climate Change Strategy, Victoria, BC. 55 pp. https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eirs/finishDownloadDocument.do;jsessionid=132D39495EB139525FAE91BD4CC12401?subdocumentId=21911

Cameron, E. and C. Buddle. 2019. Pseudoscorpions and scorpions of Canada.  Zookeys. 819: 67-72
 https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/27121/

Cannings, R.A., C.M. Cohen and T.A. McKnight. A list of English common names for the robber flies
(Diptera: Asilidae) of North America north of Mexico. Robber Flies of the World alpha. https://www.robberfliesoftheworld.com/NA_CommonNames.php  Accessed May 16, 2024

Cheser, R.T., S.M. Billerman, K.J. Burns, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, B.E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez,
A.W. Kratter, N.A. Mason, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, K. Winker. 2023. Sixty-fourth Supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds, Ornithology, Volume 140, Issue 3, 11 July 2023, ukad023, https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukad023

McNight, T.A. and R.A. Cannings. 2020. Molecular phylogeny of the genus Lasiopogon (Diptera:Asilidae) and a taxonomic revision of the bivittatus section. Zootaxa 4835 (1): 001-115

Sheffield, C.S. 2024. A review of the Stelidium group of Stelis Panzer, 1806 (Hymenoptera:
Megachilidae) with two new species from western North America. Zootaxa 5054 (1): 134-166