The latest eBird/Clements avian taxonomy has been released, which means that our tiny green planet now supports 11,145 bird species across 254 families. The Cornell Lab taxonomy team made a plethora of updates to accompany this significant taxonomy change.
This year’s update involved 141 species gained through splits, 16 lumps, and three newly recognized species along with hundreds of updates to nomenclature, subspecies revisions, and other changes. The three newly recognized bird species include: White-tailed Tityra Tityra leucura, Timor Nightjar Caprimulgus ritae, and Ascension Night Heron Nycticorax olsoni.
Our taxonomy team (Pam Rasmussen, Marshall Iliff, and Shawn Billerman) joined us for our annual What’s New in Avian Taxonomy webinar on 14 November. WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE.
Dr. Pam Rasmussen and team published a thorough taxonomic exploration of this year’s update, which is now found on the main Clements Checklist website.
Meanwhile, over on eBird, you can find a full accounting of this year’s taxonomy update.
Stay tuned for more!
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