SEO Riders:
– AviList consolidates 11,131 bird species and nearly 20,000 subspecies in one global database.
- – Developed by Cornell Lab, BirdLife, IOU, AOS, and Avibase over four years.
– Standard taxonomy enhances coordination in policy, research, eBird, Red List, and beyond.
The long-awaited AviList, a unified global checklist of the world’s birds, has officially launched, cataloguing 11,131 species, 19,879 subspecies, 2,376 genera, 252 families, and 46 orders. Created over four years by an international coalition—including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BirdLife International, the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithologists’ Union, and Avibase—it harmonizes previously competing taxonomies (Clements, IOC, BirdLife) to establish an authoritative, annually updated standard.
Experts emphasize that a single taxonomy enables more effective global bird conservation, reducing confusion across platforms—from field apps and policy reports to international treaties . Dr Stuart Butchart of BirdLife said it “removes the confusion and uncertainty resulting from multiple lists,” while Dr Paul Donald added that AviList “should become the standard reference on global avian diversity for decades to come”. The checklist, freely available online in several formats (.xlsx, .csv, short and full versions), will soon align with major platforms like eBird, IUCN Red List, and BirdLife DataZone, facilitating coordinated monitoring and policy action
