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House Wren Troglodytes aedon on stump with green background
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon), formerly considered one species, is now separated into seven species.

A “wrenaissance” for House Wrens; species and genus splits for Barn Owls and Plovers; and lumping of Redpolls included in 2024 Check-list changes

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 …

Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya perched on a stalk
Sayornis saya

American Ornithological Society Will Change the English Names of Bird Species Named After People

“There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today,” says president. “The time has come for us to transform this process and redirect the focus to the birds, where it belongs,” says CEO.  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:  media@americanornithology.org CHICAGO (November …

Species Limits and Taxonomy in Birds

How we determine what entities we call species has major impacts on ornithology at many levels; the units used in every field of scientific research and that are the focus of conservation and legislative planning are the result of this data-driven process. Once species limits are decided, the scientific and English names that we use …

Aves mexicanus

One of the curious traits shared by birders and professional ornithologists is an abiding interest in bird names, both common and scientific. With respect to common (English) names, I have previously highlighted attempts at standardization in the 1830s (here), one recognizing a woman (here), one that is obscure and obsolete (here), a recent name change …