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Annotated checklist of the birds of Brazil by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee—second edition

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Abstract

An updated version of the checklist of birds of Brazil is presented, along with a summary of the changes approved by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee’s Taxonomy Subcommittee since the first edition, published in 2015. In total, 1971 bird species occurring in Brazil are supported by documentary evidence and are admitted to the Primary List, 4.3% more than in the previous edition. Eleven additional species are known only from undocumented records (Secondary List). For each species on the Primary List, status of occurrence in the country is provided and, in the case of polytypic species, the respective subspecies present in Brazilian territory are listed. Explanatory notes cover taxonomic changes, nomenclatural corrections, new occurrences, and other changes implemented since the last edition. Ninety species are added to the Primary List as a result of species descriptions, new occurrences, taxonomic splits, and transfers from the Secondary List due to the availability of documentation. In contrast, eight species are synonymized or assigned subspecific status and thus removed from the Primary List. In all, 293 species are endemic to Brazil, ranked third among the countries with the highest rate of bird endemism. The Brazilian avifauna currently consists of 1742 residents or breeding migrants, 126 seasonal non-breeding visitors, and 103 vagrants. The category of vagrants showed the greatest increase (56%) compared to the previous list, mainly due to new occurrences documented in recent years by citizen scientists. The list updates the diversity, systematics, taxonomy, scientific and vernacular nomenclature, and occurrence status of birds in Brazil.

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Data availability

An Excel worksheet of the checklist is publicly available in the Zenodo repository.

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Acknowledgements

We dedicate this new edition of the Annotated Checklist of the birds of Brazil to the memory of Walter Adolfo Voss (1933–2020), honorary member of the CBRO. We thank the following friends and colleagues who have pointed out inconsistencies in previous versions of the checklist: Bret M. Whitney, Guy M. Kirwan, J.V. Remsen, Jeremy Minns, Luis A. Florit, Normand David, Rafael D. Lima, Weber Girão, and, especially, for her meticulous review, Summer V. Wilson. Many other individuals generously provided unpublished information that significantly contributed to the work of the Subcommittee on Taxonomy and for the preparation of the explanatory notes (the species involved are mentioned after each name): Albano Schulz Neto (Platalea leucorodia), Andrew Whittaker (Muscisaxicola maculirostris), Antônio C. de Brum (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), Arthur Gomes (Contopus sordidulus), Brad Winn (Limnodromus griseus hendersoni), Bret M. Whitney (Cacicus koepckeae, Leiothlypis peregrina, Cypseloides niger), Carlos O. A. Gussoni (Icterus galbula), Chris Farias (M. maculirostris), Dante R. C. Buzzetti (C. koepckeae, Phyllomyias weedeni), Fernanda Hoppen (Tringa totanus), Fernando Díaz Segovia (M. maculirostris), Gabriel A. Leite (C. sordidulus, Phaethornis atrimentalis), John Thompson (I. galbula), Marcelo Holderbaum (Limosa fedoa), Márcio Repenning (Sporophila iberaensis), Michael O’Brien (L. g. hendersoni), Renata N. Biancalana (Chaetura pelagica), Ronaldo Lebowski (Mniotilta varia), and Sergio R. Porto (Calidris mauri). We also thank Thiago Vernaschi, Summer V. Wilson, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful corrections and suggestions, which significantly improved the manuscript of this new edition of the checklist. Finally, the following funding agencies supported several of us with both fellowships and research grants, which were essential to complete successfully the present work: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).

Funding

Some of the authors received support from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).

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Correspondence to José Fernando Pacheco.

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Communicated by L. Bugoni

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Pacheco, J.F., Silveira, L.F., Aleixo, A. et al. Annotated checklist of the birds of Brazil by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee—second edition. Ornithol. Res. 29, 94–105 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-021-00058-x

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