IOC World Bird List

The pages in this section provide a complete list of the species of birds of the world.  Spreadsheets are available for download in two formats:

 

The pages of the IOC World Bird List are subdivided primarily by Order(s) and for Passeriformes by sets of related families. Separate pages (Family Index, Family Links) provide the current sequence of Orders and Families with links to the correct webpage. Please use the edit/find tool on your browser to locate a particular species on a page.

We Update the list every 3-4 months to acommodate DNA studies that unravel the relationships among world birds at unprecedented pace. The revisions that follow new phylogenies embrace two major principles. The first - Definition of taxa as monophyletic units - tends to break up classical genera to eliminate paraphyly. As a result, we can expect increasing instability of the genera of birds for a decade or so. In addition to adherence to monophyly, changes of genera must adhere to correct nomenclature including gender agreement of the species name. The second major principle - Aligning the sequence of taxa with their phylogeny - lists basal taxa first, followed by subsequent nodes. This is a controversial practice and trend, but even the most conservative taxonomic committees now sacrifice stability of classifications for improved representation of phylogeny. Yet continually improving sets of DNA sequences and analytical approaches may override previous conclusions. Cautious revisions of higher category taxonomy and sequences seem prudent.

Updates are summarized on separate pages for Species, English Names, Ranges, & Taxonomy.  Updates also are noted under “Comments” with more detail in the linked Footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnotes include citations to published authorities detailed separately in Literature Cited.

We strive to be proactive with respect to splits of species proposed by ornithologists in peer-reviewed publications and in leading handbooks.  In part, we applaud the trend to recognize distinct allospecies, rather than to (continue to) lump distinct and geographically separate populations by default, ostensibly under the Biological Species Concept. A summary of the conceptual foundations for this approach is being drafted for publication. We attempt to track taxonomic discussions as closely as we can, and to herald forthcoming changes. Discussions on BirdForum track the most recent literature. We also strive to accommodate pending decisions by assigning species updates to several categories, namely:

  • PS - Proposed Splits for splits that are being reviewed, listed on a separate web page starting with Version 2.0.
  • AS - Accepted Splits (AS) that are accepted by one or more leading authorities, and that we deem valid..
  • PL - Proposed Lumps for species that are likely to be treated as conspecific with another taxon and thus that may be DELETED from the IOC World Bird List.
  • AL - Accepted Lumps (AL) for species that are deemed to be conspecific with another and are DELETED .
  • ENG – Changes or corrections of English names, often required by proposed or accepted splits.
  • DIS - Changes or corrections of a species Range, often required by accepted splits

Version 2.0 (January 2009) of the IOC World List includes substantial updates of the Classification of the birds of the world. Major features are summarized below, and footnotes on the list itself document these changes with key references.  This is just the first step towards aligning the IOC list of world bird species with published molecular phylogenies, especially those of the last three years.  The IOC World List provides the species taxonomy for the Tree of Life, and will strive reflect those phylogenies with periodic updates of higher classification. It seems prudent to revise the classification conservatively, given the current rate of new informative publications