Taxonomy in BirdTrack

In 2016, the British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) reviewed the taxonomic authority they use. The BOU decided to adopt the International Ornithological Congress taxonomy with effect from 1 January 2018. The main consequence of these changes is the treatment of some rarer species; for example Eastern Yellow Wagtail is elevated to species status, and the two Bean Goose subspecies are also 'split', into Tundra and Taiga Bean Goose. On the other hand, Hudsonian Whimbrel and Thayer's Gull become 'lumped' as subspecies of Whimbrel and Iceland Gull respectively.

Currently in BirdTrack, both the 'BirdTrack Legacy' and 'BOU' baselists still use the previous BOU taxonomy. We will update these baselists during the coming months to align them with the latest BOU taxonomic standard. If you are new to baselists, you can find more information on our baselist help page.