65th Supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds released

[Laura Bies]

From the American Ornithological Society - 

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. 

Read the rest here.

The full 2024 Check-list supplement is available here.