List of bird species discovered since 1900

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This article describes bird species discovered since 1900. Before the 20th century, and into its early decades, the pace of discovery (and "discovery") of new species was fast; during this period, with numerous collecting expeditions into species-rich areas not previously visited by western ornithologists, up to several hundred new species per decade were being described. Many of these were of course not new to the local people, but since then, the pace has slowed, and new species are generally only being found in remote areas, or among cryptic or secretive groups of species. Nonetheless, several tens of species were described for the first time even during the 1990s. Considerable time can pass between discovery and publication, for a number of reasons.

Contents

Individual countries particularly rich in species newly described during this period are:

A number of individuals have been particularly prolific in describing new species, such as:

Species described that were not valid species

A number of species described during this period have turned out not to be valid species. There are a number of reasons for this. The following is a list of these species:

The Meise and AMNH reviews

During the 20th century, ornithologists published a number of periodic reviews of newly described species. The purpose of each of these was to collect together in a single paper, for ease of reference, all new species' descriptions published in the period of study, and to present an analysis of these, indicating which represent valid species, and which, for various reasons, do not.

The first such review was published in 1934, by the ornithologist Wilhelm Meise, covering the period 1920 to 1934. Meise presented his review to the Eighth International Ornithological Congress (IOC) in Oxford. The review listed 600 new species' names described in that period. Meise was of the opinion that between 135 and 200 represented good species. At the ninth IOC in 1938, Meise presented a second paper, listing 23 new species described in the intervening period, plus a further 36 which had been described during 1920–1934 and not covered in the earlier paper. Meise's papers were:

After the Second World War, ornithologists based at museums in the American Museum of Natural History produced further reviews; again, each of these listed newly described species and presented an analysis, indicating which were and were not good species. To date, six such papers have been compiled; they are, in chronological order:

No further detailed analyses have been published since the 1992 paper, although the British magazine Birding World has published two articles by Oscar van Rootselaar listing newly described species since 1990:

Discoveries by year

1964

1973

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1991

1995

1997

1998

1999

2000s

See Bird species new to science described in the 2000s.

2010s

See Bird species described in the 2010s.

2020s

See Bird species described in the 2020s.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernst Mayr</span> German-American evolutionary biologist (1904–2005)

Ernst Walter Mayr was a German-American evolutionary biologist. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, philosopher of biology, and historian of science. His work contributed to the conceptual revolution that led to the modern evolutionary synthesis of Mendelian genetics, systematics, and Darwinian evolution, and to the development of the biological species concept.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shearwater</span> Seabird

Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procellariidae</span> Family of seabirds which includes petrels, shearweters and prions

The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes, which also includes the albatrosses and the storm petrels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sooty shearwater</span> Species of bird

The sooty shearwater, or tītī, or muttonbird, is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand, it is also known by its Māori name tītī, and as muttonbird, like its relatives the wedge-tailed shearwater and the Australian short-tailed shearwater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yelkouan shearwater</span> Species of bird

The yelkouan shearwater, Levantine shearwater or Mediterranean shearwater is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Manx shearwater.

<i>Puffinus</i> Genus of birds

Puffinus is a genus of seabirds in the order Procellariiformes that contains about 20 small to medium-sized shearwaters. Two other shearwater genera are named: Calonectris, which comprises three or four large shearwaters, and Ardenna with another seven species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Eduard Hellmayr</span> Austrian ornithologist (1878–1944)

Carl Eduard Hellmayr was an Austrian ornithologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas shearwater</span> Species of bird

The Christmas shearwater or ʻaoʻū is a medium-sized shearwater of the tropical Central Pacific. It is a poorly known species due to its remote nesting habits, and it has not been extensively studied at sea either.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedge-tailed shearwater</span> Species of bird

The wedge-tailed shearwater is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and the short-tailed shearwater of Australia. It is found throughout the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, roughly between latitudes 35°N and 35°S. It breeds on the islands off Japan, on the Islas Revillagigedo, the Hawaiian Islands, the Seychelles, the Northern Mariana Islands, and off Eastern and Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audubon's shearwater</span> Species of bird

Audubon's shearwater is a common tropical seabird in the petrel family. Sometimes known as the dusky-backed shearwater, the specific epithet honours the French naturalist Félix Louis L'Herminier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barolo shearwater</span> Species of bird

The Barolo shearwater, also known as the North Atlantic little shearwater or Macaronesian shearwater, is a small shearwater which breeds in the Azores and Canaries of Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The English name and the specific baroli refers to Carlo Tencredi Falletti, marquis of Barolo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newell's shearwater</span> Species of bird

Newell's shearwater or Hawaiian shearwater (ʻaʻo), is a seabird in the family Procellariidae. It belongs to a confusing group of shearwaters which are difficult to identify and whose classification is controversial. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Manx shearwater and is now often placed in Townsend's shearwater. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-vented shearwater</span> Species of bird

The black-vented shearwater is a species of seabird. The bird is 30–38 cm in length with a 76–89 cm wingspan. Formerly considered a subspecies of the Manx shearwater, its actual taxonomic relationships are unresolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jocotoco antpitta</span> Species of bird

The jocotoco antpitta is an endangered antpitta, a bird from Ecuador and Peru. It was discovered in 1997, and scientifically described in 1999.

The Roviana rail is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to the Western Province.

<i>Ardenna</i> Genus of birds

Ardenna is a genus of seabirds in the family Procellariidae. These medium-sized shearwater species were formerly included in the genus Puffinus.

Nagahisa Kuroda was a Japanese ornithologist. He wrote several books on the birds of Japan and worked on Japanese encephalitis, the systematics of shearwaters, ducks and on avian anatomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamí antpitta</span> Species of bird

The Chamí antpitta is a species of bird in the family Grallariidae. It is endemic to Colombia. It is a member of the rufous antpitta species complex and was first described by Andrés M. Cuervo, Carlos Daniel Cadena, Morton L. Isler and R. Terry Chesser in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equatorial antpitta</span> Species of bird

The Equatorial antpitta is a species of bird in the family, Grallariidae. It is a member of the rufous antpitta species complex and in 2020, was found to be a species and not just a subspecies. It is found is southern Colombia, Ecuador, and northern Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sierra Nevada antpitta</span> Species of bird

The Sierra Nevada antpitta is a species of bird in the family Grallariidae. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia. It is a member of the rufous antpitta species complex and was recently elevated from subspecies to species based on differences in plumage and vocalizations and genetic evidence.

References

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