Check-list of North American Birds

The Check-list of North American birds is the official source on the taxonomy of birds found in North and Middle America, including adjacent islands. This list is produced by the North American Classification Committee (NACC), an official committee of the American Ornithologists' Union.

More information on the North American Classification Committee, including current members, general philosophy, operating procedures, and subspecies treatment can be found on the NACC committee page.

Geographic Area Covered

The geographic area covered includes North and Central America from the North Pole to the boundary of Panama and Colombia, including the adjacent islands under the jurisdiction of the included nations; the Hawaiian Islands; Clipperton Island; Bermuda; The West Indies, including the Bahama Islands, the Greater Antilles, Leeward and Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles (ending with Grenada); and Swan, Providencia, and San Andrés Islands in the Gulf of Mexico. Greenland is not included in the coverage of the Seventh Edition of the Check-list, although it was included in earlier editions and will be in the next edition.

7th Check-list and Supplements

The NACC produces the Check-list of North American Birds, currently in its 7th edition, as well as annual supplements to the latest edition (published in the July issue of The Auk). The complete printed version of Check-list of North American Birds, 7th edition and its supplements are available to download. This list below incorporates changes made in all Supplements to the 7th Check-list.

Recent Updates

• 5 August 2010: Avibase links on the search results page have been updated to reflect the 51st supplement changes.
• 4 August 2010: Corrected the French name of Donacobius atricapilla which was changed to Donacobe à miroir in the 46th supplement (2005, Auk 122:1030). This change was not previously made to the online check-list.
• 4 August 2010: An error in the 51st supplement is noted; no corrections need to be made to the online check-list.
• 1 August 2010: Two errors made in the 51st supplement have been corrected.
• 1 August 2010: Changes made in the 51st supplement have been incorporated.
• 1 October 2009: Corrected the French name of Leptotila plumbeiceps which was not updated online correctly: Colombe à calotte gris is now Colombe à calotte grise.
• 11 August 2009: Corrected the French name of Branta sandvicensis which was misspelled in the print version of the 7th edition: Berrnache néné is now Bernache néné.
• 11 August 2009: Corrected the French names of eight species which were not updated online correctly: Spizaetus melanoleucus, Spizaetus ornatus, Spizaetus tyrannus, Butorides striata, Butorides virescens, Ardeola bacchus, Charadrius leschenaultii, Charadrius mongolus, and Piaya cayana.
• 7 August 2009: Changes made in the 50th supplement (PDF) have been incorporated.
• August 2008: Changes made in the 49th supplement (PDF) have been incorporated.

Proposals

The NACC operates on a proposal basis, in which proposals are submitted and reviewed for taxonomic changes, English name changes, acceptance of distributional records, and other items related to the charge of the committee. Anyone may submit a proposal for consideration by the committee. Guidelines for submitting a proposal, as well as a list of pending and prior proposals, can be found on the commitee's page:

• Proposal guidelines
• Pending Proposals
• Prior Proposals