The world's first unified global bird species list was published on 12 June 2025 to standardize bird taxonomy and support global research and conservation. It was named AviList.

AviList will split Hudsonian Whimbrel (Numenius hudsonicus) to become a species in its own right, rather than a subspecies of Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) © Look.animalia/Shutterstock

The new checklist, which includes 11,131 bird species, 19,879 subspecies, 2,376 genera, 252 families and 46 orders, is part of the AviList.

The team, which includes representatives from BirdLife International, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Ornithological Society, International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) and Avibase, a global partnership of non-governmental organizations working to conserve birds and their habitats, has been working on this for four years.

The new list is updated annually by the International Ornithological Union (IOC) and the Clements lists.

While Whimbrel will now be recognised as Eurasian Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) on AviList’s unified global checklist of bird species © P_vaida_Shutterstock

Adopting a list to classify birds globally will benefit bird conservation and avoid the confusion and problems caused by different lists.

Commenting on the new list, Dr Stuart Butchart, BirdLife’s Chief Scientist, said it would help ornithologists, policymakers and conservationists gain a common understanding of bird distribution, ecology and conservation priorities.

Launched by AviList as a major milestone in the bird world, the new list has been published free of charge at https://www.avilist.org/ and is now available for download in full online.