About the AKN Taxonomy

The AKN does not change provider data without explicit permission, and this applies to Scientific Names as well as other data fields. However, in order to provide data views that look across datasets, we have pool data that refer to the same species but use a different Scientific Name. We do this by running those data through our taxonomy table, which lines up the various Scientific Names contributed to the AKN with our accepted scientific name, common name, and taxonomic sort order.

The AKN uses the eBird Taxonomy, which was developed specifically for use with the online bird checklist program, eBird. Click here to download an excel version. It is unique in that it provides an integrated list of all species in the Western Hemisphere, along with escapees, select subspecies and subspecies groups, hybrids, feral populations, and uncertain species.

For species, nomenclature and phylogenetic order are consistent with the 7th edition (and supplements through 2008) of the AOU Checklist, maintained by the American Ornithologists' Union's North American Classification Committee.

The eBird Taxonomy also includes South American species, and it follows the South American Classification Committee and its online Check-list of South America birds. The process of merging the NACC and SACC lists was imperfect, since the two taxonomies do not agree in some areas (especially species placement). The eBird Taxonomy defers to the NACC with only a couple exceptions; otherwise, it follows SACC quite well with regard to naming, but does not agree completely on taxonomic order.

The eBird Taxonomy also includes a number of potential escapees, possible vagrants, and other taxa from around the world that were worthy of inclusion; ultimately, this taxonomy will include all bird species of the world. Currently, we follow Clements (2007, and supplements) as a guide to the naming and placement of species not covered by NACC or SACC.

Finally, the eBird Taxonomy is unique in that it also includes taxa not at the species level (the NACC and SACC lists only include full species). These fall into four classes: subspecies and subspecies groups; hybrids; feral populations; and spuhs, or taxa that could involve any of several species (e.g., scoter sp. or Common/Thick-billed Murre). We have made an effort to include all field identifiable bird taxa within the Western Hemisphere.

Many monitoring projects record these non-species taxa, so it was logical to use the eBird taxonomy, which has consistent rules governing the naming and placement of these other forms. Examples of these on-species taxa are below:

Subspecies and subspecies groups: Since subspecies taxonomy is open to much debate, the eBird Taxonomy includes only those subspecies or subspecies groups that are field identifiable by voice or appearance, or are very likely worthy of status as full species. In cases where intergrade populations are distinct, those are included as well.
Examples:

Feral populations: In some areas, domesticated birds have gone feral and occur in naturalized ("wild") populations. We designate these as distinct taxa, since wild individuals are often separable from their feral conspecifics based on plumage or behavior. Two common examples are:

Hybrids: Many hybrid combinations occur quite commonly and are routinely identified by field researchers and birders. A couple frequent examples are listed below:

Spuhs: In many cases it is possible to identify a bird only to Genus or to a group or pair of species. Many researchers and birders recognize the value of recording this information, even if identification has not been made to the species level. There are many examples of confusing species-pairs and difficult Genera that are listed in the eBird Taxonomy. A range of examples is below:

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