Birds have long held a unique dual role as a model group for scientists and as the focus of birders' passionate quests. Despite centuries of observation, each year brings the discovery and description of several entirely new avian species and hundreds of other taxonomic "splits" or "lumps" based on DNA data. In this arena of continual and increasing taxonomic change, The Clements Checklist presents the most up-to-date and most widely endorsed compendium of the more than 9800 species of birds recognized by the scientific and birding communities.This completely revised sixth edition is current as of 2005 and incorporates hundreds of updates since the last edition. In taxonomic sequence, it provides the scientific and English name of each species and a description of the worldwide range of each species and subspecies.For the first time, the English names follow the recently published list of English names as recommended by the International Ornithological Congress and its teams of regional experts.