Many a beginning birder, breathless with excitement at finding yet another new species in the field or at the feeder, has turned to his brand new field guide only to find himself befuddled by the seemingly bizarre arrangement of its contents.   But over time, every birder who regularly uses a field guide learns that there is, indeed, a well thought out scheme followed by these guides.  With a little practice, he can amaze his less experienced friends with his ability to flip quickly to the page showing Yellow-bellied Sapsucker without consulting the index.

In most field guides and checklists, the birds are arranged (at least loosely) according to some accepted taxonomic order. While it may seem somewhat arbitrary to a beginner, this arrangement actually makes a lot of sense.  Within a taxonomy the sequence of bird types remains constant, whether the list is in English or Swahili and whether the field guide covers the eastern US or outer Mongolia.

There are several major bird taxonomies in use around the world.  In North American publications, the taxonomy followed is usually the one established by the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU), which covers primarily North and Central America.   Two others that are commonly used are documented in Birds of the World, a Checklist by James Clements and Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World by Charles Sibley and Burt Monroe, Jr.  While The AOU Check-list of North American Birds contains just over 2,000 species, the two world lists document almost 10,000.

So what's the big deal about taxonomy?  Back in the early 1700's there was no standard way of classifying different kinds of plants and animals.  An extreme example of the need for a universal and scientific classification scheme can be found in the quaint but somewhat shocking claim of that time that the beaver was a fish (which meant that Catholics were allowed to eat beaver meat during Lent).  Carolus von Linnaeus, a Swedish scientist who recognized the problem, spent a good part of his life devising and applying a hierarchical naming system that still serves as the framework for naming living things today.  Each species has a two-word name consisting of the genus name followed by the species name.   By convention, the genus name is always capitalized while the species name is not, and the entire name is italicized, as in Homo sapiens or Turdus migratorius (the first example is you-know-who, and the second is the answer to a birder's quiz question).

Why all this Latin?  Because it serves as the universal language of science.  Look up "wren" in a European field guide and you will find a picture of a cute little bird.  Only by comparing its scientific name (or Latin name), Troglodytes troglodytes, with those of our North American wrens will you discover that a "wren" in England is the same species as our beloved Winter Wren.  As this example shows, a single species has only one scientific name but can have many common names in many different languages.  As an aid to travelers, Peterson's Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe provides common names in six languages, and there is even a website that performs the same function (http://www.mumm.ac.be/~serge/birds/home_en.html).

Getting back to taxonomy, the species is, of course, the smallest category in the Linnaean hierarchy.  Moving up from there, we encounter genus, family, order, class, phylum, and kingdom.  Since we are bird people, we have learned that birds are in the class Aves, which includes almost 10,000 species.  Orders represent major categories of related birds, such as Waterfowl or Woodpeckers.   The largest order of birds is Perching Birds (or "Passerines") and more than half the birds on the Dutchess County checklist belong to this order.   Included in the Perching Birds order are many families, from Flycatchers to Wood-Warblers to Sparrows.  Take a look at your checklist to get an idea of the wide variety of birds that are related closely enough to belong to this one huge order.

In fact, you can learn a lot about the way birds are related to each other by studying the Dutchess County checklist (either the one-page field checklist or the Reference Guide). The sequence of species in a taxonomy is based on evolution, thus reflecting which species are most closely related to which.  The first species on the list are believed to be the "oldest," while the ones at the end of the list are believed to have been flapping around on this planet the shortest amount of time.   But here's the kicker:  Loons with their haunting, primeval calls, long believed to be the oldest of North American birds, are no longer first on the list!  The new checklist puts Waterfowl at the top of the list, followed by grouse and turkeys and then loons.  Scientists are constantly devising better ways to prove who should be on first, and the development of DNA analysis over the last decade has opened a bright new window on these endeavors.  As a result, taxonomies are in constant flux and new editions of field guides and checklists are published regularly just to accommodate the changes as they are announced.

Our own Dutchess County field checklist has been updated in accordance with the latest changes announced by the AOU (in July 2003).  A copy of the new checklist was published in the January 2004 issue of Wings Over Dutchess and is available on this website.  You can print the checklist from our Checklist page whenever you need a copy in the future.  Our Reference Guide will be updated, too, but the modifications will reflect much more new information than simply the AOU checklist changes.  When it's published, the new edition of the Reference Guide will include updated species abundance graphs and will reflect the latest information on casual and accidental species found in the county.

Amateur ornithology is a natural extension of field birding because it can enhance one's identification skills as well as one's understanding of bird behavior and ecology. When you start to recognize relationships between various birds, and when you take note of changes in the taxonomy, you are, in fact, sharpening your birding skills and preparing yourself for more fulfilling birding experiences. So the next time a snowstorm hits, curl up with the checklist and learn a little about who might show up if your favorite bird species held a family reunion.

Check back next month for Part 2: Taking Our Lumps (and Splits)