AvianLexiconAtlas

The AvianLexiconAtlas is a database of descriptive categories for the officially recognized eBird/Clements English-language bird names for all species of birds. The database currently includes datasets of assigned categories for all English-language species names in the 2021-2025 eBird/Clements checklists and the 1886 AOU Checklist of North American Birds, along with a glossary & gazetteer compiled during the data collection. This project is co-led by Erin S. Morrison, PhD (Clinical Associate Professor, New York University Liberal Studies) and Allison J. Shultz, PhD (Associate Curator, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County).

The website hosts Google Sheets versions of the 1886 and 2021-2025 datasets and a Google Docs version of the glossary and gazetteer. See the AvianLexiconAtlas GitHub for downloadable csv files of the dataset and a PDF of the glossary and gazetteer.

Stay tuned for future expansions of the database!

Publication: 

Morrison, E.S., Pandolfi, G.P., Aguillon, S.M., Ali, J.R., Archard, O., Baldassarre, D.T., Baquero, I., Bennett, K.F.P., Bonney, K.M., Bryant, R., Catanach, R.M., Catanach, T.A., Chavoshan, I., Davis, S.N., Goodman, B.D., Gulson-Castillo, E.R., Hack, M., He, Y., Hudon, J., Leighton, G.M., Long, K.M., Ma, Z., McCoy, D.E., McLaughlin, J.F., Moreno, G.R., Mota, T.M., Noguchi, L., Nwigwe, U., Pegan, T., Provost, K., Rasband, S.A., Salter, J.F., Silvernail, L.C., Simard, J.A., Skeen, H.R., Soto-Patiño, J., Suh, Y.H., Wang, Q., Warshauer, M.E., Yan, S., Zalinski, B., Zhao, Z., & Shultz, A.J. (2025) AvianLexiconAtlas: A database of descriptive categories of English-language bird names around the world. PLoS One 20(5):e0325890. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325890

Questions or interested in collaborating? Contact us at avianlexiconatlas@nyu.edu.

Artwork by Jacelyn Shu. Species in logo (descriptor term in bold and assigned category in brackets): female belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) [female only physical trait], Rwenzori turaco (Gallirex johnstoni) [geographic location], male king bird-of-paradise (Cininnurus regius) [miscellaneous].