The BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group (BTWG) aims to keep the Digital Checklist up to date based on the latest published research, and clear taxonomic notes are included in the downloadable Digital Checklist, along with the list of taxonomic changes from the previous version.

Suggestions of potential revisions for us to consider should be based on published evidence or documentation, and should consider implications across all forms within a taxon group (e.g. comparisons across all subspecies). In particular, we welcome:
– proposals to split or lump taxa that were not explicitly considered in the two volumes of the Illustrated Checklist
– new information not considered in the documentation of splits and lumps in the Illustrated Checklist, including video/audio recordings, records of presence in key areas, descriptions of key features, behaviour and ecology, or information included in newly published papers

Each proposal will be considered by the BTWG in due course. If revisions to the current treatment are adopted, there is a necessary time-lag before revised taxa are assessed against the IUCN Red List Criteria and subsequently published on the BirdLife Data Zone and IUCN Red List websites, and included in new versions of the Checklist, which are typically released at the end of each year.