Taxonomists have been working overtime with the endpoint that today in our wonderful green, blue, and white planet a total of 11,145 bird species are officially recognized and categorized into 254 families of birds! This year’s worldwide update involves 3 newly recognized bird species, 141 species added by “splitting” existing species, although 16 species were also “lumped.” There are also hundreds of updates to nomenclature, subspecies revisions, and other changes described. The 3 newly recognized species are the Timor Nightjar, Ascension Night Heron, and White-tailed Tityra.

Thursday you can join the taxonomy team that includes Drs. Pam Rasmussen, Marshall Iliff, and Shawn Billerman for the annual “What’s New in Avian Taxonomy” webinar November 14 at noon EST. You can register in advance for the Free 1½ hour webinar at Webinar Registration - Zoom. The associated website will have open access from November 14 thru 18 to encourage more opportunity for birders, biologist, taxonomists, and others interested in the process and results to learn more about the changes.

You can learn more at Birds of the World at 2024 Taxonomy Update—IN PROGRESS! - Birds of the World and soon, Dr. Pam Rasmussen and the team will publish a thorough taxonomic exploration of this year’s update, which will be found on the main Clements Checklist website. Meanwhile, on eBird you can find a full accounting of this year’s taxonomy update.