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Bird Species with the most subspecies

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Subspecies – which self-respecting birder doesn’t secretly dislike them? And yet, some bird species seem determined to accumulate as many of them as possible. The table below shows the worst offenders.

RankEnglish nameScientific nameSubspecies

1	Horned Lark	Eremophila alpestris	42
2	Bananaquit	Coereba flaveola	41
3	Crested Lark	Galerida cristata	35
4	Eurasian Jay	Garrulus glandarius	34
4	Mangrove Warbler	Setophaga petechia	34
6	Common Pheasant	Phasianus colchicus	30
7	Puff-throated Babbler	Pellorneum ruficeps	28
7	Eurasian Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes	28
7	Rufous-collared Sparrow	Zonotrichia capensis	28
10	Common Chlorospingus	Chlorospingus flavopectus	26
11	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major	24
11	Song Sparrow	Melospiza melodia	24
13	Rock Ptarmigan	Lagopus muta	23
13	Strong-billed Woodcreeper	Xiphocolaptes promeropirhynchus	23
13	Black-naped Monarch	Hypothymis azurea	23
16	Variable Goshawk	Tachyspiza hiogaster	22
16	Pacific Kingfisher	Todiramphus sacer	22
16	Rufous-browed Peppershrike	Cyclarhis gujanensis	22
16	Desert Lark	Ammomanes deserti	22
16	Red-winged Blackbird	Agelaius phoeniceus	22

Of course, each of these species would claim to have a perfectly good excuse. Most point to their enormous geographical range, their occurrence on numerous isolated islands, or the existence of many isolated mountain populations. Convenient excuses, but not necessarily convincing ones.

Note: List based on the current AviList taxonomy.

Photo: Horned Lark, Ruoergai, China. Please do not ask for the subspecies.

Written by Kai Pflug

Kai has lived in Shanghai for 22 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well. He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.

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