Global birding in a nutshell (or is it in an eggshell?) - Bird Families of the World! (1 Viewer)

[Oz Horine]

Love to share with you the idea of a short global checklist: Bird Families of the World!
You can't see all if 10700+ species, so, a doable project is: get at least one species of each bird family.
Following current Clements taxonomy (v2019), 248 existing bird families on the list. Looking forward to update the site with 2021 taxonomy.
Thanks for visiting!
Oz

 

[Lerxst]

Thanks for sharing this here, Oz. Your website has some fantastic images and is really well organized.

 

[Oz Horine]

Thanks for sharing this here, Oz. Your website has some fantastic images and is really well organized.

Thanks Lerxst! you are welcome to join wf248 Club

 

[dandsblair]

Really nice site, it looks like plenty of work was involved.
I suspect I will never get all 248 families as we are unlikely to return to PNG and a few other places where we missed birds/families.

 

[Oz Horine]

Really nice site, it looks like plenty of work was involved.
I suspect I will never get all 248 families as we are unlikely to return to PNG and a few other places where we missed birds/families.

Thanks David! how many families are you missing? New taxonomy versions can always ruin your plans... on 2017 I thought I had cleanup the Caribbean families, but Clements 2018 added 2 new families in Cuban Warblers and Puerto Rican Tanager, so still need to go there...

 

[dandsblair]

Thanks David! how many families are you missing? New taxonomy versions can always ruin your plans... on 2017 I thought I had cleanup the Caribbean families, but Clements 2018 added 2 new families in Cuban Warblers and Puerto Rican Tanager, so still need to go there...

If I don't count heard I think about 10 left but I should really go though "All the Birds of the World" against my life list to be sure as I've tended to use that as my check against the list as it has Clements, IoC, Howard and Moore and Birdlife names and families in one large volume.

 

[Mysticete]

Last I counted I think I am at 55% of families, although I use a slightly broader list than most, splitting up Furnariidae and Tyrannidae into multiple families and recognizing Elanidae. My overall goal is to see all the bird families of the world, so I have some work to do.

 

[kb57]

I'm at a modest 48% going on IOC taxonomy, with 122 / 252 (IOC 11.1). I totally understand the 'collecting families' thing, if you are not in a position through age or income (or both in my case) to go for 8000+ species, collecting families means maximising the diversity of birds you've seen, and the places you visit to see them.

 

[JC110123]

The website is brilliant Oz, really nicely designed and an interesting approach to achieving a unique list!

 

[Oz Horine]

Last I counted I think I am at 55% of families, although I use a slightly broader list than most, splitting up Furnariidae and Tyrannidae into multiple families and recognizing Elanidae. My overall goal is to see all the bird families of the world, so I have some work to do.

Last I counted I think I am at 55% of families, although I use a slightly broader list than most, splitting up Furnariidae and Tyrannidae into multiple families and recognizing Elanidae. My overall goal is to see all the bird families of the world, so I have some work to do.

Thanks Mysticete! I'm sticking to Clements taxonomy, and there are some new families on latest version (v2019) which should be updated soon. (no Elanidae so far ). You are welcome to follow your list on Bird Families of the World Club

 

[Oz Horine]

I'm at a modest 48% going on IOC taxonomy, with 122 / 252 (IOC 11.1). I totally understand the 'collecting families' thing, if you are not in a position through age or income (or both in my case) to go for 8000+ species, collecting families means maximising the diversity of birds you've seen, and the places you visit to see them.

Thanks kb57! I excluded from the count the Mohoidae (Hawaiian Honeyeaters or Oos) since unfortunately all species extinct. On Clements the target is a bit easier (248 without Oos). You are welcome to follow your list on Bird Families of the World Club.

 

[Oz Horine]

The website is brilliant Oz, really nicely designed and an interesting approach to achieving a unique list!

Thanks JC110123!

 

[kb57]

Thanks kb57! I excluded from the count the Mohoidae (Hawaiian Honeyeaters or Oos) since unfortunately all species extinct. On Clements the target is a bit easier (248 without Oos). You are welcome to follow your list on Bird Families of the World Club.

Ah, I should've looked more carefully at Scythebill! Thanks for the link, I'll have to add my families list.

 

[Mysticete]

Thanks Mysticete! I'm sticking to Clements taxonomy, and there are some new families on latest version (v2019) which should be updated soon. (no Elanidae so far ). You are welcome to follow your list on Bird Families of the World Club

I take a proactive approach, but I also have a background in this type of research. Better to be liberal on families so you can try to see as much possible, than get home from a trip and realize you missed a key group because you didn't know you should look for it.

 

[Lerxst]

Thanks Lerxst! you are welcome to join wf248 Club

I already did! I'm Michael H. I've been trying to get your site some attention via Instagram too, although I am new there.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Nice site, Oz.

I do keep track of families seen. I'm at 209. But I haven't been to NZ, PNG, or Madagascar yet.

 

[Mysticete]

Papua New Guinea has to be by far the single most expensive location you need to visit to knock off all bird families. Going to be awhile before I can even entertain going someplace like that...

 

[lgonz1008]

Although nowhere as expensive as Papua New Guinea, Madagascar or New Zealand, as far as New World endemic families are concerned, I'd say Cuba is the biggest pain in all of the US birder's list since the rights to enter the country change every so often and be sure to add a $500-$1000 passport VISA if you were originally born on the island and want to visit again (which is my case).

After checking my Scythebill records (based on eBird/Clements), I've only seen 80 out of 248 families, so I'm about 32% mostly due to limited birding in North America (US, Panama, and Cuba having at least one new family for me).


On a side note, has anyone seen which is the best represented family in their list? My top 3 families by numbers were:

1. Tyrant Flycatchers (49/424 species)
2. New World Warblers (37/110)
3. True Tanagers and Allies (30/378) = Ducks and Waterfowl (30/174)

Really surprised that neither Sandpipers or Gulls were that high considering how readily available these families are in the US. But on the other hand, that weekend in Panama really padded spots 1 and 3 for me.

 

[Oz Horine]

Nice site, Oz.

I do keep track of families seen. I'm at 209. But I haven't been to NZ, PNG, or Madagascar yet.

Thanks Jeff. Yes, remote islands are the trickiest one... Would you like to add your list to Bird Families of the World Club?

 

[Oz Horine]

Although nowhere as expensive as Papua New Guinea, Madagascar or New Zealand, as far as New World endemic families are concerned, I'd say Cuba is the biggest pain in all of the US birder's list since the rights to enter the country change every so often and be sure to add a $500-$1000 passport VISA if you were originally born on the island and want to visit again (which is my case).

After checking my Scythebill records (based on eBird/Clements), I've only seen 80 out of 248 families, so I'm about 32% mostly due to limited birding in North America (US, Panama, and Cuba having at least one new family for me).


On a side note, has anyone seen which is the best represented family in their list? My top 3 families by numbers were:

1. Tyrant Flycatchers (49/424 species)
2. New World Warblers (37/110)
3. True Tanagers and Allies (30/378) = Ducks and Waterfowl (30/174)

Really surprised that neither Sandpipers or Gulls were that high considering how readily available these families are in the US. But on the other hand, that weekend in Panama really padded spots 1 and 3 for me.

Although nowhere as expensive as Papua New Guinea, Madagascar or New Zealand, as far as New World endemic families are concerned, I'd say Cuba is the biggest pain in all of the US birder's list since the rights to enter the country change every so often and be sure to add a $500-$1000 passport VISA if you were originally born on the island and want to visit again (which is my case).

After checking my Scythebill records (based on eBird/Clements), I've only seen 80 out of 248 families, so I'm about 32% mostly due to limited birding in North America (US, Panama, and Cuba having at least one new family for me).


On a side note, has anyone seen which is the best represented family in their list? My top 3 families by numbers were:

1. Tyrant Flycatchers (49/424 species)
2. New World Warblers (37/110)
3. True Tanagers and Allies (30/378) = Ducks and Waterfowl (30/174)

Really surprised that neither Sandpipers or Gulls were that high considering how readily available these families are in the US. But on the other hand, that weekend in Panama really padded spots 1 and 3 for me.

Thanks lgonz1008! For species count, my top 3 are:

Tyrant Flycatchers​

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites​

Tanagers and Allies​