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