This is a compilation of the names of the authors and those honoured in the English and scientific names of the birds in the suborder Charadrii. It is a work in progress and will be added to as time goes by. If you see any mistakes or omissions, please email wader.guru@waderquest.net and let us know.
The names are in alphabetical order (search by surname) and the details shown, where applicable are;
Details of person and the taxa that he or she named (family; subfamily; genera; species; subspecies), or, had named after him or her (English; scientific) and finally today’s taxonomic status and the modern taxon referred to.
All current taxonomy is included, but as our research grows, we will be adding more invalid names to the list. Synonyms of the current accepted taxonomy and invalid names are in grey text; only valid and current scientific names are in black when given under the original authority, e.g., Cuvier (which see) was the first to assign a scientific name to Great Thick-knee as Œdicnemus recurvirostris in 1829. The species name recurvirostris is still in use and accepted in current taxonomy so is in black, but the genus is now Esacus, which was first given by Lesson, also in 1829, so is in grey here. Even if a genus name is still valid for a given species named, if it was not named by that authority, it will also be grey and initialled e.g., Audubon named Black Oystercatcher Haematopus bachmani in 1838 which appears in the list as H. bachmani, the species name was novel, but Haematopus was first used by Linnaeus in 1758 and is therefore grey. Where any part of the names agrees with the current name it will be initialled only. Honorary scientific names and Honorary English names are in black whether in current use or not.
Note: All genera, species and subspecies are given as protonyms (where known), i.e., as written by the naming authority; variations in spelling or random capitalisation instances are not necessarily typing errors.