We are pleased to announce the establishment of the American Ornithologists Union and the publication of the first number of the Bulletin of the American Ornithologists Union.

Birds are for everyone, and shared birds need shared words.

Mission

The American Ornithologists Union is an international organization dedicated to advancing knowledge and effective communication about birds. We focus on a scientifically based understanding of avian diversity and its associated nomenclature. “American” means “of the Americas,” including North and South America and the surrounding waters.

About

We host, publish, and manage lists of bird names, scientific and vernacular, to improve knowledge and communication about birds. We support scientifically based, stable ornithological nomenclature. Names matter. In most cases, stable, widely used names within a given language matter more.

We are not interested in politicizing bird names or forcing usage of different names. The names we present are the ones we use when trying to communicate as widely as possible, whether within or across audiences.

We also think that it is okay to have differences among bird lists, especially with respect to species limits, even under a single species concept (here, the biological species concept). We have a lot to learn still about species limits in birds. What we know is often not definitive and is open to alternative interpretations and new data. Such disagreements over scientific matters (not cultural) are the hallmark of an active science in which our knowledge remains incomplete.

Although we begin with scientific and English names, we encourage development and implementation of standardized lists of vernacular names in other languages. Scientific names adhere to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).

The American Ornithologists Union is a new organization. Historically, there was a different organization, the American Ornithologists’ Union, that was founded in 1883. They ceased to exist when they merged with the Cooper Ornithological Society in 2016 and became the American Ornithological Society. Our activities are not associated with that organization.

We are an umbrella organization focused on avian diversity and nomenclature. We are not a membership society (see Support). We do not plan to publish a typical scientific journal, but rather one that includes articles on avian diversity, taxonomy, and nomenclature. We do not plan to have meetings.

We use the biological species concept and recognize subspecies whenever possible (realizing that in some cultures and languages these criteria are not possible). Subspecies are phenotypically delimited. English or other vernacular names are sometimes warranted for major subspecific groups but are not generally or uniformly applied at the subspecies level.

Donations are gratefully accepted. All donations will be used to advance the mission of the American Ornithologists Union (see https://americanornithologistsunion.org).

Kevin Winker, Jack Withrow, Daniel D. Gibson, and Christin L. Pruett

Checklist of the avian diversity of Alaska: subspecies, breeding status, and taxonomy

Alaska is more than just a state. It constitutes the entire northwestern shoulder of North America. A vast area, it represents the eastern half of Beringia, a pivotally important area for the exchange of New and Old World avifaunas and for high-latitude avian endemism. It hosts breeding migrants from all seven continents, including tens of millions of birds from Asia.

Its geographic size and position on the globe, the diversity of its aquatic and terrestrial habitats, and its dynamic history of climatic and habitat fluctuations have produced a diverse assemblage of bird species and subspecies. The region’s high latitude causes extreme annual seasonality, making migration a predominant life-history strategy among the state’s birds. With migration, especially long-distance migration, comes enhanced dispersal, increasing the likelihood of vagrancy and colonization. The historic climatic dynamism of the Pleistocene continues today and into the future with global warming, which is occurring about four times faster in the Arctic. These changes affect avian occurrence and distributions in multiple ways, through habitat changes, but also through phenological release. Together, these drivers explain not only the current diversity of Alaska birds, but also in part why we expect Alaska’s avian diversity to continue to grow over time.

The starting point for this list is the 7^th edition of the American Ornithologists’ Union (now American Ornithological Society) Check-list of North American Birds and supplements through 2023 for phylogenetic sequence and the limits of families, genera, and species. As outlined elsewhere, we no longer follow this list. For subspecies, the starting point is Gibson and Withrow’s (2015) Inventory of the Species and Subspecies of Alaska Birds, 2^nd edition and two subsequent reports of the Alaska Checklist Committee (in 2018 and 2023). The Alaska Checklist Committee has been instrumental in collating, assessing, and publishing new records of Alaska birds. Designation of status (rare, casual, accidental) at the species level follows this committee’s Checklist of Alaska Birds, 31^st edition (https://shorturl.at/mkQto). Changes from these starting points are based on published evidence and are referenced and explained. The breeding status, based on primary literature and/or additional sources, for all taxa is also given; this is the first time this has been done.

Alaska’s avian checklist has grown at a remarkably steady average of 3.5 species per year since the mid-1900s and shows no sign of reaching an asymptote. Gabrielson and Lincoln’s seminal work on the birds of Alaska in 1959 discussed 311 species of birds, and that number has grown steadily through time. This checklist of Alaska’s birds now includes 549 species and an additional 119 subspecies. Of these 549 species, 55 are rare, 160 are casual, and 85 are accidental; 234 species regularly breed within the state (with an additional 75 regularly breeding subspecies). An additional 38 species have at one time or another bred within the state, and 8 probably have, but are not here considered a normal part of the nesting avifauna.

We are committed to maintaining an independent, scientifically rigorous accounting of the status of the state’s avian diversity—taxonomy, occurrence, and breeding—and greatly appreciate the widespread support and input from others interested in the birds of Alaska.

Jack Withrow, Dan Gibson, and Kevin Winker