[Posted by Chuck Almdale]

If you use eBird or read Birds of the World, keep a lifelist, county list, trip list or any kind of bird check list, OR utilize avian phylogeny in any way OR are just interested in how birds evolved to be the 11,000+ species in 252 families of toothless, feathered, singing dinosaurs they now are, then you might want to watch this 90-minute webinar about the development of the soon-to-arrive although not-100%-complete checklist with which you and all the rest of the birders and ornithologists in the world will be dealing.

YouTube Descriptive Blurb
Birds of the World is the world’s leading scholarly ornithological platform featuring bird life histories and data resources for every bird in the world. This global ornithological resource drives scientific research, education and biodiversity conservation around the world.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
03:00 Pam Rasmussen (background and history)
16:00 Marshall Iliff (how AviList emerged)
36:00 Paul Donald (a Birdlife and conservation perspective)
45:00 Pam Rasmussen (species concepts)
58:00 Marshall Iliff (phase 2 Avilist, alignment with eBird/birders’ taxonomy)
1:09:00 Questions

Description:
Join us for a deep discussion about AviList, a unified global avian checklist that provides the most current and authoritative taxonomy of birds. AviList was released in June 2025 by experts in taxonomy, nomenclature, and bioinformatics, including researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Ornithological Society, BirdLife International, International Ornithologists’ Union, and Avibase (Birds Canada), among others.

The new checklist recognizes 11,131 species of birds in the world, classified within 252 families. This effort was the culmination of thousands of hours of effort over four years to harmonize the global checklist of birds with the aim of providing a single list of species names that will make it easier to compile and share information on bird species to improve conservation and scientific outcomes. This massive collaborative effort resulted in a single current consensus taxonomy for the birds of the world, along with key information on taxonomy and nomenclature.

What were the goals of AviList? How will it affect scientific progress in ornithology? What problems does it solve? And what are some interesting species concepts the team had to resolve to reach this new consensus? And finally, how will AviList impact and improve birding tools and resources such as eBird and Birds of the World?

PANELISTS INCLUDE:
Members of the AviList Executive Committee will join us:
Paul Donald (BirdLife International)
Pamela Rasmussen (The Cornell Lab, Birds of the World)
Marshall Iliff (The Cornell Lab, eBird).

For more information: AviList Core Team. 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025:
https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025