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Anthracothorax
Anthracothorax (mangos) is a genus of hummingbirds, family Trochilidae, described by F. Boie in 1831, with seven species from the Caribbean and tropical mainland Americas; molecular phylogenies nest Eulampis within it, making the genus paraphyletic.
Anthus
Anthus (pipits) is a cosmopolitan genus of ground-foraging songbirds in Motacillidae, named by Bechstein in 1805, with about 43-44 species; molecular work shows it is paraphyletic and sister to wagtails.
Anzu wyliei
Anzu wyliei, the "Chicken from Hell," is a large caenagnathid oviraptorosaur dinosaur described in 2014 from three partial skeletons in the Hell Creek Formation of North and South Dakota, about 3.5 m long and 200–300 kg.
Aphelocoma
Aphelocoma, the scrub jays (genus Aphelocoma, Cabanis 1851), New World corvid jays of seven species including the Florida, Island, California, and Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays; classic cooperative-breeding study system with Miocene-Pliocene diversification.
Apodidae
Apodidae, the swifts, a cosmopolitan family of Apodiformes birds that eat, sleep, and mate on the wing, cannot perch, glue saliva nests to vertical surfaces, and include the 169 km/h White-throated Needletail.
Apodiformes
Apodiformes, the order of swifts, treeswifts, and hummingbirds, holds about 480 species in three families; genetically nested in Caprimulgiformes, it was merged by Clements in 2016 and restored in 2024.
Aptenodytes
Aptenodytes (Great Penguins) is the basal penguin genus, sister to all others, containing the emperor penguin (A. forsteri) and king penguin (A. patagonicus), the largest and deepest-diving birds, breeding with a single egg on their feet.
Apteryx
Apteryx is the genus of flightless, nocturnal birds known as kiwi, endemic to New Zealand and the only living genus of the family Apterygidae, with five recognized species.
Apus
Apus is a genus of about 20 species of typical swifts (Apodidae) of Africa, Europe, and Asia, established by Scopoli in 1777; its best-known member, the Common Swift Apus apus, can fly for around 10 months without landing.
Aquila
Aquila (Brisson, 1760) is the genus of true booted eagles in Accipitridae, type species the Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos; ITIS lists 11 species including imperial, steppe, and Bonelli's eagles.
Aquila clanga
Aquila clanga (Clanga clanga), the Greater Spotted Eagle, a Vulnerable migratory Eurasian eagle 62-74 cm long with 3,900-10,000 mature individuals, threatened by habitat loss and hybridization with the Lesser Spotted Eagle.
Aquila heliaca
Aquila heliaca, the Eastern Imperial Eagle, is a large Vulnerable Accipitridae eagle breeding from East-central Europe to Lake Baikal, wintering in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, threatened by habitat loss and electrocution.
Aramidae
Aramidae is a monotypic bird family in Gruiformes containing only the Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), an apple-snail-eating wetland bird from Florida to South America, sister to cranes within core Gruiformes.
Aramus
Aramus is a monotypic genus of gruiform wading birds (family Aramidae, Vieillot 1816) containing only the limpkin, Aramus guarauna (Linnaeus 1766), an apple-snail-eating wetland bird of the Americas, IUCN Least Concern.
Aratinga
Aratinga is a genus of Neotropical parakeets (conures) established by Spix in 1824, formerly holding 20-21 species until DNA studies showed it polyphyletic; it was split into Aratinga, Eupsittula, Psittacara, and Thectocercus, with Nandayus merged in.
Araucana
Araucana, Chilean chicken breed, rumpless and ear-tufted, lays blue eggs via oocyan/EAV-HP SLCO1B3; APA-recognized 1976, distinct from Ameraucana and Easter Egger, critically rare in the US.
Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx, the Urvogel or "ancient wing", is a feathered dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Germany, discovered in 1861 and often called the first bird.
Archilochus
Archilochus (Reichenbach, 1854) is a genus of two North American migratory hummingbirds, the ruby-throated (A. colubris) and black-chinned (A. alexandri) hummingbirds, known for Gulf-crossing migration and hovering flight physiology.
Arctic tern
Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), a small Arctic-breeding seabird making the longest animal migration, about 70,900–96,000 km yearly between Arctic colonies and the Antarctic pack ice; Least Concern globally but declining in the UK.
Ardea (animal)
Ardea is the genus of great herons (family Ardeidae, order Pelecaniformes) holding the grey heron, great blue heron, great egret, and goliath heron; its boundaries shifted as egrets were moved in.
Ardenna
Ardenna is a genus of seven large shearwater seabirds (Procellariidae), split from Puffinus on genetic data; includes Sooty, Wedge-tailed, and Buller's Shearwaters; authority Reichenbach 1853.
Ardeola
Ardeola (pond herons) is a genus of small herons in Ardeidae, erected by Boie in 1822, with six Old World species including the Squacco, Indian, Chinese, Javan, Malagasy, and Rufous-bellied herons.
Arenaria (animal)
Arenaria Brisson, 1760, the turnstone genus of shorebirds (Scolopacidae), contains two species: the cosmopolitan Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) and the Alaskan-endemic Black Turnstone (A. melanocephala), named for flipping stones while foraging.
Argentavis
Argentavis, or Argentavis magnificens, the giant teratorn, an extinct Miocene bird of Argentina described in 1980; heaviest known flying bird at about 70 kg with a 6–7 m wingspan, an obligate thermal and slope soarer, exceeded in wingspan only by Pelagornis sandersi.
Asian koel
Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus, 噪鹃), a cuckoo of China, South Asia, and Southeast Asia; a non-evicting generalist brood parasite of crows and mynas with no egg mimicry and loud 'ku-oo' calls.
Asil chicken
Asil (Aseel) chicken: ancient Indian subcontinent gamefowl breed, Arabic for 'pure', fought with taped natural spurs for 2,000+ years; ancestor of the Cornish and modern broilers; Critical conservation status.
Asio flammeus
Asio flammeus, the short-eared owl (hibou des marais), is a medium-sized, largely diurnal owl of open grasslands and marshes on every continent except Australia and Antarctica, hunting voles in low moth-like flight; globally Least Concern but Threatened in Canada since 2021.
Asio otus
Asio otus, the long-eared owl, is a Holarctic Strigidae owl with upright ear tufts, 220–435 g, eating nocturnal small mammals; IUCN Least Concern, CITES Appendix II, six subspecies.
Asthenes
Asthenes (canasteros and thistletails) is a genus of Furnariidae ovenbirds established by Reichenbach in 1853, with about 27–30 mostly montane Andean South American species; Schizoeaca and Oreophylax are merged into it, and four species were split into Pseudasthenes in 2010.
Astur (bird)
Astur (Lacépède, 1799), northern goshawks and allies, a revived genus of Accipitridae hawks holding nine species such as Astur gentilis and A. atricapillus, split from Accipiter after phylogenetic evidence of its non-monophyly.