Hi @pjd1 -
As far as I can tell, the ICZN makes no recommendations on how to properly form intraspecific hybrid/intergrade names (if it does and I missed it, please let me know). The format I went with is the format eBird uses for intergrades, so it's at least a moderately established format/usage - it's not something I just made up. (It also fits in with iNaturalist's/NatureWatch's scientific name formatting [lack of capital letters {except the first} or punctuation in names] and official rules for hybrid names [i.e. don't repeat the genus after the ×, etc.] better than the maybe more technically correct Gallirallus australis australis × G. a. greyi).

I guess my personal arguments for Gallirallus australis australis × greyi would be: a. no source that I know of ever refers to a species and subspecies alongside each other without also including the genus (i.e. I've never seen things like australis greyi separate from Gallirallus australis greyi or G. australis greyi, since "australis greyi" isn't a taxon), but many sources (e.g. HBW, the Clements checklist, HANZAB, etc.) will refer to subspecies by just their subspecific epithets once the species being referred to is established (e.g. "subspecies greyi" or just greyi, rather than G. a. greyi every time it's mentioned); b. there is (and can be) only one greyi in Gallirallus, and prior knowledge would indicate that that's the North Island subspecies of G. australis; c. the taxon is still nested under G. australis on NatureWatch/iNaturalist, alongside the subspecies G. a. greyi, which should eliminate any potential confusion that could arise from greyi not being explicitly labeled as a subspecies in the hybrid name.

Regardless of what the final decision on iNaturalist's format for intraspecific hybrids/intergrades is, though, the Kapiti Island hybrid weka does still need to be swapped at least one more time, since my initial reason for swapping it was because 544595 (which you've swapped it back into) uses the wrong hybrid symbol - on iNaturalist/NatureWatch, hybrids should be denoted with the symbol ×, not the letter x.

Hi -

I usually just copy and paste the × from another hybrid on iNaturalist when I create a hybrid (it's probably not the quickest or most convenient way to do it, but it works). I generally create new taxa manually (at the page for creating a new taxon); are you importing hybrids from an external source, or is there another way to create hybrids that I'm unaware of?

I think I was wrong about the end of the last sentence of the first paragraph of my earlier comment (when I mentioned Gallirallus australis australis × G. a. greyi as being maybe more technically correct), sorry - as far as I know, zoologists (ornithologists at least) are perfectly fine with Genus species1 × species2, Genus species1 subspecies × species2, and I think generally Genus species subspecies1 × subspecies2 as well (otherwise Clements wouldn't be using the latter); and they're also fine with epithets without their associated genus, at least in certain situations (see e.g. HBW Alive's taxonomy and descriptive notes sections for polytypic species - if you don't have a subscription, one of the free sample accounts this week happens to be White Wagtail). I agree that it would be nice if botanists and other groups of researchers who form hybrid names differently from zoologists had the option to do so on iNaturalist, though (and not being able to capitalize letters in the middle of scientific names is a problem for animals, too, when it comes to intergeneric hybrids, of which there are a fair number among birds).

(Also, I'm sorry for the annoyance I created when I swapped a bunch of New Zealand plants to the Genus species1 × species2 format - I won't do that again.)

Max