The polytypic group White-browed Scrubwren (Spotted) Sericornis frontalis [maculatus Group], with subspecies balstoni, maculatus, mellori, and ashbyi, is elevated to species rank as Spotted Scrubwren Sericornis maculatus, based on patterns of genetic divergence (Norman et al. 2018). Inclusion of subspecies ashbyi in Spotted Scrubwren is provisional; this treatment is consistent with the traditional delineation of these groups (e.g. Mayr 1986) and with patterns of variation in iris color (Cake 2019); but genetic data links ashbyi instead to White-browed Scrubwren (Norman et al. 2018).