At its recent meeting, at the suggestion of our journal editors, who were keen to keep up with current thinking, Council agreed that from now on we would follow the taxonomy of AviList 2025 in our journals.
AviList 2025 is the first unified global checklist of bird species, released in June 2025 by the Working Group on Avian Checklists. It combines previous, conflicting lists into a single, authoritative taxonomy and will be updated annually to reflect new research and species discoveries. The project involved major ornithological organisations, including BirdLife International, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the American Ornithological Society, and is intended to serve as a standard reference for ornithologists, conservationists, and birders worldwide. It currently recognises 11,131 species and 19,879 sub-species. Deepest commiserations to anyone who has lost a few lifers!
