[1] It was found in the Qiaotou Member of the Huajiying Formation of Hebei Province, China, and is therefore of uncertain age.

The Qiaotou Member may correlate with the more well-known Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation, and so probably is dated to the Aptian, around 122 million years ago.

[2] The type species Shenqiornis mengi was in 2010 named and described by Wang Xuri, Jingmai O'Connor, Zhao Bo, Luis María Chiappe, Gao Chunling and Cheng Xiaodong.

The generic name combines a reference to Shenzhou 7 with a Greek ornis, "bird".

The specific name honours Meng Qingjin, the former director of the Dalian Natural History Museum.