Explanatory notes

The preliminary taxonomic sequence used here was initially Sibley&Monroe.
Subsequently the list followed Howard and Moore, and then the IOC World Birds Name list.

Modifications include:

• Corrections to data from Sibley&Monroe.
  • Spelling
  • Authorial attribution
  • Dates of citation.
• Taxa added since Sibley&Monroe.
• Rearrangement to reflect AOU Checklist (through 7th Ed.).

  NOTE:

  • "†" or "†" indicates an EXTINCT taxon.
  • I limit the list to birds described from specimens that were obtained as living specimens - following Burt Monroe's approach. Many recently described subfossils are not included in my list, though many are in the IOC list. Some taxa in the IOC list appear to me to be fossils, however many many avian fossil taxa are not included in the IOC list.
  • links to citational source data include:
    
    • expansion of source title abbreviations,
    • publishing history of sources.(as available)
  • I am adding hypertext-links describing the "differences" these data have with other published sources by a system of explanatory notes (a footnote-like function).
  • I also am linking the author names to files giving the full author names, and brief biographical data (as available).
  • I am LEAST confident of Reichenbach citations, which I find to be an uninterpretable morass. I will be in no way surprised if other interpretations of his works are offered, and prevail. For all citations I am interested in contending proposals and will be pleased to present the rationale for what I have.

I have no intention of including common names in the database in the forseeable future.

I expect these data will be of greatest interest to Museum managers, avian taxonomists, and academic ornithologists.

I believe that this dataset is most valuable because of the uniformity of the citational sources, and the accuracy of the citational data (esp. dates).
Linking with my files that document the differences with other sources (esp. Peters Checklist), will also be quite valuable in my opinion.

Nevertheless, errors undoubtedly exist and I would be pleased to have any and all infelicities brought to my attention.

I EAGERLY seek input regarding these data, and would like to hear what would make the data more useful.

Comments&Suggestions to Data Steward
Alan P. Peterson, M.D.
POB 1999
Walla Walla, WA 99362-0999