In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, published in 1758, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus described 554 species of bird and gave each a binomial name.
The entries for each species were very brief; rather than including a description, he gave a citation to an earlier publication — often to his own Fauna suecica, which had been published in 1746.
He increased the number of birds to 554 species, collectively filling 116 pages (contrasting with a mere 17 in the 6th edition).
[11] For many North America species Linnaeus relied on Mark Catesby's The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which included 220 plates of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mammals and plants.
[14] In 2016 the list of birds of the world maintained by Frank Gill and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithologists' Union included 448 species for which Linnaeus's description in the 10th edition is cited as the authority.
[16][17] Linnaeus described the class Aves as: A beautiful and cheerful portion of created nature consisting of animals having a body covered with feathers and down; protracted and naked jaws (the beak), two wings formed for flight, and two feet.
They are aereal, vocal, swift and light, and destitute of external ears, lips, teeth, scrotum, womb, bladder, epiglottis, corpus callosum and its arch, and diaphragm.