The Channel Islands of southern California are renowned for their many endemic plants and animals. Among land birds, 22 endemic species or subspecies have been described. Not all of these are valid, however, and their distinctiveness spans a wide spectrum. Johnson (1972) categorized the islands’ land birds in five strata ranging from the Island Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma insularis) of Santa Cruz Island to those not known to differ from mainland populations. The last includes both species of which no subspecies endemic to the islands have been proposed, such as the Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), and described subspecies whose supposed differences have been discredited or found to be insufficient to meet the criteria for recognition. These synonymized names include Colaptres cafer sedentarius van Rossem, 1944 (with C. auratus collaris; AOU 1952), Vireo mailliardorum Grinnell, 1903 (with V. h. huttoni; AOU 1908), Salpinctes obsoletus pulverius Grinnell, 1898 (with S. o. obsoletus; Grinnell 1929), Amphispiza belli clementae Ridgway, 1898 (with A. b. belli; Patten and Unitt 2002), and Melospiza melodia micronyx and M. m. clementae (the last two with M. m. graminea; Patten and Pruett 2009).