On January 25 2018 the International Ornithological Congress (IOC) released the latest version of its world bird list (V8.1):

Gill, F & D Donsker (Eds). 2018. IOC World Bird List (v 8.1). doi :  10.14344/IOC.ML.8.1.

The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. Until 2017 the IOC bird list was updated fairly regularly at three-monthly intervals. From 2018 onwards it will be updated twice a year.

The details of the changes in the v8.1 release can be found by clicking on the Updates tab on the IOC website. Here is a summary of the major amendments:

New to science

Myrmoderus Antbirds  +1 species  Cordillera Azul Antbird

Splits

Goura Crowned Pigeons   +1 species

Malurus Fairywrens  +1 species

Catharus Nightingale-Thrushes  +1 species

Cinnyris Sunbirds  +1

Anthus Pipits  +2

Lumps

Caprimulgus Nightjars  -1  [Ruwenzori Nightjar]

Phyllastrephus Greenbuls  -1  [Liberian Greenbul]

Re-defintion and re-sequencing of families

The Antbirds family Thamnophilidae has been re-defined with the addition of new genera, and has been re-sequenced.

All the bird families in Part 12 of the IOC bird list v7.3 [New World Warblers to Cardinals, Grosbeaks and allies] have been re-defined and re-sequenced:

• The single species genus Coereba Bananaquit, which was formerly assigned to its own family Coerebidae, has been assigned to family Thraupidae – Tanagers and allies
• The v7.3 family Emberizidae – Buntings, New World Sparrows and allies has been split into two families: Emberizidae – Buntings and Passerellidae – New World Sparrows
• A further nine new families have been defined, raising the number of families in Part 12 of the IOC bird list from 7 to 16
• The six species that were formerly in the temporary ‘holding’ position in the v7.3 bird list Incertae Sedis 2 – Family Uncertain have been assigned to families, and a number of additional species in existing families have been transferred to other families
• Part 12 of the IOC bird list v8.1 now runs from Calcariidae – Longspurs, Snow Buntings to Thraupidae – Tanagers and allies

In the IOC bird list there are now 10699 extant species (net +5) assigned to 246 families (net +9).

All these changes will be reflected in the 2019 editions of the ATWB Companion Guides. These editions will be released towards the end of 2018, after publication of the next version (v8.2) of the IOC bird list.

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To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series, search in the Books section of your local Amazon site for ATWB. Or, click here to see all ATWB titles on Amazon US; or here to see all ATWB titles on Amazon UK.

Each Companion Guide has a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where in the world each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Region lists, with indications of restricted ranges within regions

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.