Birds of the World: Recommended English Names

This book provides the first standardized English-language nomenclature for all living birds of the world. While previous checklists, including those by Sibley and Monroe, Clements, and Howard and Moore, were primarily taxonomic works, Birds of the World provides English-language names based on the rules and principles developed by leading ornithologists worldwide and endorsed by members of the preeminent International Ornithological Congress.



The book's introduction includes background material on the project and discusses the authors' rationale for naming conventions. The list of over 10,000 names follows, in taxonomic order, with relevant scientific names and a brief description of the birds' breeding range.

• The first standardized English-language nomenclature for all living birds


• 10,000+ names, in taxonomic order


• Includes scientific names and descriptions of birds' breeding range


• Accompanying CD contains full text and additional information on species distribution

Frank Gill is an ornithologist with worldwide research interests and birding experience. An elected member of the International Ornithological Congress and recent past president of the American Ornithologists' Union, he is the author of the textbook Ornithology and editor of the encyclopedic series Birds of North America: Life Histories for the 21st Century. Minturn Wright is a lawyer and international birder with an interest in nomenclature.