CHICAGO — July 18, 2024 — The 65th Supplement to the American Ornithological Society's (AOS's) Check-list of North American Birds, published today in Ornithology, includes several updates to the classifications of bird species found in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
A few highlights from this year's supplement, detailed below, include species splits for Troglodytes aedon (House Wren) and Tyto alba (Barn Owl); a lumping of Acanthis flammea (Common Redpoll), Acanthis hornemanni (Hoary Redpoll), and Acanthis cabaret (Lesser Redpoll); a genus merger for bitterns; and a genus split for plovers.
The Check-list, published since 1886, is updated in annual supplements from the AOS's North American Classification Committee (NACC). The Check-list and its supplements provide the taxonomic and nomenclatural foundation for bird research, conservation, management, and education throughout the region, and are relied on as the authority on avian biodiversity by government agencies, NGOs, scientists, and birders, among others.
The taxonomic work of the NACC is distinct from the work of the AOS English Common Names Pilot Project, in which new common names will be determined for an initial set of six species of North American birds, part of an effort to change English names under the AOS's purview that are harmful or exclusionary. A new ad hoc committee is being assembled to oversee this pilot project and to develop and test new procedures for guiding future changes to English bird names. This effort will include developing partnerships with multiple entities involved in selecting common names of birds throughout their geographic ranges, and designing a new process that engages the public in soliciting suggestions for suitable replacement English names. The NACC will continue to review proposals annually for taxonomic and distributional updates to the Check-list of North American Birds, and will be one of several groups working closely with the ad hoc English Common Names Pilot Project Committee on that new committee's efforts.
