North American Check-list - American Ornithological Society

The AOS Check-list of North American Birds provides the taxonomic and nomenclatural foundation for bird research, conservation, and education in North and Middle America. It is used by scientific researchers, federal, state, and local government agencies, non-profit organizations, birdwatchers, and anyone else interested in birds of this region. It is overseen by AOS’s North American Classification Committee (NACC).

Recommended citation (65th Supplement): Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, O. Johnson, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, and P. C. Rasmussen. 2024. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.americanornithology.org/

Geographic Coverage

The geographic area covered by the AOS Check-list includes North and Central America from the North Pole to the boundary of Panama and Colombia, including the adjacent islands under the jurisdiction of the included nations; Greenland; the Hawaiian Islands; Clipperton Island; Bermuda; the West Indies, including the Bahama Islands, the Greater Antilles, Leeward and Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles (ending with Grenada); and Swan, Providencia, and San Andrés Islands in the Gulf of Mexico.

AOS Check-list: 7th Edition and Supplements

In addition to accessing the online version of the checklist through the link above, the 829-page hardbound volume, published in 1998, may be purchased from Buteo Books or downloaded in PDF format (file size up to 13 MB):

These documents do not incorporate changes made in the annual supplements to the Check-list. Users of the book must check the supplements or online list to determine whether changes have been made.

SEARCHABLE COMPOSITE OF SUPPLEMENTS, 2000–PRESENT

Individual open-access supplements published since the 7^th edition:

65th Supplement, Ornithology 2024, vol. 141:ukae019 (available on 18 July 2024)
64th Supplement, Ornithology 2023, vol. 140:ukad023
63rd Supplement, Ornithology 2022, vol. 139:ukac020
62nd Supplement, Ornithology 2021, vol. 138:ukab037
61st Supplement, Auk 2020, vol. 137:ukaa030
60th Supplement, Auk 2019, vol. 136:ukz042
59th Supplement, Auk 2018, vol. 135:798-813
58th Supplement, Auk 2017, vol. 134:751-773
57th Supplement, Auk 2016, vol. 133:544-560
56th Supplement, Auk 2015, vol. 132:748-764
55th Supplement, Auk 2014, vol. 131:CSi-CSxv
54th supplement, Auk 2013, vol. 130:558-571
53rd Supplement, Auk 2012, vol. 129:573-588
52nd Supplement, Auk 2011, vol. 128:600-613
51st Supplement, Auk 2010, vol. 127:726-744 (and Errata)
50th Supplement, Auk 2009, vol. 126:705-714
49th Supplement, Auk 2008, vol. 125:758-768
48th Supplement, Auk 2007, vol. 124:1109-1115
47th Supplement, Auk 2006, vol. 123:926-936
46th Supplement, Auk 2005, vol. 122:1026-1031
45th Supplement, Auk 2004, vol. 121:985-995
44th Supplement, Auk 2003, vol. 120:923-931
43rd Supplement, Auk 2002, vol. 119:897-906
42nd Supplement, Auk 2000, vol. 117:847-858

Subspecies

The last edition of the Check-list to include subspecies was published in 1957 (5th edition). For reasons of expediency, the Committee reluctantly excluded treatment of subspecies in both the 6th and 7th editions, although it continues to endorse the biological reality and practical utility of subspecies as a taxonomic rank. Subspecies that reflect biological diversity play an important role in flagging the attention of evolutionary, behavioral, ecological, and conservation biologists.

Although a complete revision of North American avian subspecies has not been done, we refer readers to Avibase, Clements, and other checklists (see below), as well as to Birds of North America, for more up-to-date treatments of subspecies. The Birds of North America project is systematically revising subspecies accounts for North American birds.