by Cristina Cinco, Records Committee Chairperson
Each year during the annual WBCP General Assembly, the Records Committee presents the current status of the Philippine listing of birds through the release of Checklist of Birds in the Philippines.
The Records Committee for the year 2025 is headed by Chairperson- Cristina R. Cinco, Vice Chairperson-Jops Josef, and Secretary – Riza Melicor. Jaan Jap Brinkman takes the lead in the preparation and consolidation of the annual Checklist of Birds in the Philippines.
The Philippines Bird Species Quick Numbers
The Philippines Birding Quick Numbers for 2025 represents the updated classification of Philippine bird species according to the definition of their stay in the country. Endemics are species found only in the Philippines. Residents are those that are present in the country and elsewhere in Asia. Migrants are visiting species during winter season.
Comparative Number of Philippine Bird Species Over the Years
The chart below shows the progression of the increasing numbers of species discovered in the country for the past 25 years – from the time Robert S. Kennedy came out with the book “A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines” in 2000 up to 2025. The WBCP first came out with the formal checklist in 2009, sourcing out data from trip reports by its members, birding expeditions done by foreigners, and other bird list references from the Philippines on the internet. In summary, 189 species have already been added since the illustrated field guide by R.S. Kennedy was published in 2000.
The Additional 10 New Migrant Species in the Philippines for 2025
In summary, the additional seven species added to the 2025 Checklist of Philippine Birds were first seen in Batanes. These were Great Crested Grebe, Red-backed Shrike, Rook, Radde’s Warbler, Blyth’s Pipit, Pallas Reed Bunting, and Chestnut-tailed Starling. The Nazca Booby was spotted in the Sulu Sea proximate to Basilan, while the Rainbow Bee-eater was an accidental migrant from Australia observed in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. Finally, the rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper made an appearance in Balanga, Bataan.
Species Name Changes for 2025
*Species name listings are based on the IOC World Bird List v15.1 by Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 15.1). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.15.1 .www.worldbirdnames.org
*Name changes in the current list of 2025 except for the new species splits of the Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike , Island Thrust and the Small Crow
The 2025 New Species Splits
The Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike from the previous years was divided into five species, with the original Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike retaining its name, still classified as “Resident” found widespread throughout the country except in Western Visayas. This species was further separated into four more splits into island endemics namely the Mindoro, Visayan, Mindanao, and Sulu Cuckooshrikes reclassified to “Endemic.”
The Island Thrush all over the country was previously grouped into one species. This year, the species has been divided into three distinct island endemics being the Luzon, Mindanao, and Mindoro Island Thrushes.
Three years ago, the Slender-billed Crow was split to the Small and the Palawan Crow, both endemic species. Presently the Small Crow, has been further split to the endemic Samar Crow (found in Samar and Mindanao) and the Sierra Madre Crow (found in Luzon.)
The Participation of WBCP in the Asian Waterbird Census for 2025
The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) is one of the highlight activities of the WBCP as part of the monitoring of global waterbird populations, indicative of the health of their wetland habitats. Counts were done during the recommended dates from December 01, 2024 to February 28, 2025.
January 4-19 , 2025 were the assigned dates, being the mid-winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, considered the peak of the migration period. The WBCP assists and coordinates with the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the AWC activities as the designated government agency to lead this survey.
The Status of Engagement of Philippine Birders on eBird in 2025
For the Record: Records Committee Articles Published on eBon
For the Record is the regular column of the Records Committee on the WBCP newsletter, eBON, coming out with updates on significant activities regarding data gathering.
Photo by Ves Yraola