Global taxonomic issues

With eBird now a global program, many birders are going back and entering their sightings from their trips to Africa, Australia, or Asia from many years ago. This can be a challenging endeavor, not only because

Taxonomic changes are always exciting, as they shed new light on the diversity of the planet, and they also tend to increwase our bird lists (since the changes tend to be "splits" these days). But th

As complicated as it is, ultimately it is the eBirder's responsibility to understand what bird you saw and what it is called in the eBird taxonomy. We will help in any way we can (ask us at ebird@cornell.edu if the below does not help), but in the end, we do not know what you saw.

A few tips shoudl help you find the right bird.

Show Scientific names: The first tip is to go to eBird Preferences and select "show Common name and Scientific Name". This will give you additional information to try to

Avibase: Second, and this one is surely the most useful, if you have ANY questions about taxonomy, these can be answered by going to Avibase and using the Search box. If you type a species common name or scientific name, Avibase will tell you exactly what it has been called by various different bird list authors (e.g., Clements, Howard and Moore, Sibley and Monroe, AOU, SACC, etc.).

eBird cheat sheet:

The eBird taxonomic cheat sheet

The below lists,


EUROPE

Caspian vs. Yellow-legged Gull

European Herring Gull

Black Vulture

Lesser Redpoll - Be aware that redpolls breeding in central Europe are now split as Lesser Redpool (Acanthis cabaret).

Common Redpoll - Be cautious about entering Common Redpoll, which is a rare winter visitor to northern Europe. See Lesser Redpoll above

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Taiga Flycatcher

Yellow Wagtail -


AUSTRALIA

Black-shouldered Kite vs. Australian Kite

Black-winged Stilt - The Australian population is split off as Pied Stilt

Chestnut-eared Finch - see Zebra Finch

Gray Fantail vs. New Zealand Fantail

Mallee Ringneck

Singing Bushlark

Yellow Oriole

Yellow Robin

Zebra Finch - Now split into two species; Zebra Finch of Indonesia and Chestnut-eared Finch of Australia

SOUTH AMERICA

Very complicated, but in addition to Avibase, you should be sure to check the South American Checklist Committee website to keep up with current taxonomy. Almost every species on the list has a footnote relating to potential splits or lumps that have occurred.

American Flamingo - See Greater Flamingo

Blue-crowned Motmot - See discussion here.

Violaceous Trogon -

Greater Flamingo


NORTH AMERICA

Common Snipe

Yellow Wagtail


ASIA

Vega Gull

Heuglin's Gull