Any member of the ornithological community may submit a proposal for consideration by the North American Classification Committee (NACC). Proposals should detail taxonomic, nomenclatural, or distributional recommendations for revision. Submission of a proposal does not guarantee acceptance. Proposals are reviewed by the Committee and must receive a majority two-thirds vote to pass. Proposals not accepted by the Committee may be resubmitted in revised form if substantive new evidence warrants further review.
Important Note: The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is currently examining and revising our procedures for reviewing proposals to change English bird names. Consequently, the North American Classification Committee (NACC) is not actively considering proposals for the sole purpose of changing English bird names, unrelated to a taxonomic revision, at this time. We will update this announcement when our revised procedures and guidelines have been established.
A proposal to the NACC should adhere to the following guidelines to standardize the information presented:
- Title of proposal
- Background, including a description of the problem and prior classification or nomenclatural history
- New information, including citations, that warrants review and possible revision
- Recommendation, including changes in wording to Check-list
- Literature cited
- Name and affiliation of submitter
- Date of proposal
Submit proposals electronically to Dr. Terry Chesser, Committee Chair, preferably as a Word document. Download a template here.