Current Issues in the Taxonomy of American Birds

Jon L. Dunn and Kimball L. Garrett

Tue, Oct 11, 2022 7:00 PM

Since Jon and Kimball last talked for LA Birders on this subject, there have been two more Supplements (62nd and 63rd) of the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithological Society (“AOS-NACC” for short, referring to the North American Checklist Committee).

Jon and Kimball will review the more significant changes from those Supplements, as well as some proposals that were not accepted. They’ll also discuss other issues like the recent effort to work with the WGAC (Working Group of Avian Checklists of the International Ornithologists’ Union) for which the membership with the AOS-NACC (North American Classification Committee) is partly shared. They will review AOS-NACC operating and voting procedures and describe the geographical area that AOS covers; they’ll briefly touch on the South American committee (AOS-SACC) and their procedures as well.

Finally, they’ll broach the controversial matter of the 145 or so eponymous bird species names in the AOS area which have become a lightning rod of controversy and the subject of efforts by a committed group to change all of them. They’ll strive to accommodate as much Q&A and audience commentary as the webinar format will allow. Please join Jon and Kimball for educational and provocative session!

Here is a video of the webinar: