May 2023

The record of Crested Caracara from Fulton County in February 2023 (2023-004), recently accepted, is the first accepted record of this species for Illinois. This is the 455th species on the official Illinois State List of Birds.

Crested Caracara, 10 Feb 2023 in Fulton County. Photo by Leroy Harrison

This individual was initially found by Kevin Blodgett on 4 Feb 2023 at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge and was observed again by him and Randy Smith on the 6th. It was last seen in the area on 10 Feb 2023. IORC is aware of anecdotal reports that possibly indicate the bird’s presence near this area in early January 2023, but not verifiable details were received by IORC.

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 10 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. IORC accepted nine of these records and did not accept one.

The records involved are summarized below. For each record, we indicate the species or form, with number of individuals in parentheses if greater than one, followed by date or date range, location, and county. The record number is indicated in parentheses, followed by, for accepted records, names of the documenters. If multiple documenters are listed, those understood by IORC to have been the original finders of the bird(s) are listed first and separated from the others by a semicolon. IORC thanks all the documenters, for accepted and unaccepted records alike, for their submissions. All documentation is maintained in the IORC archives so that there is a permanent record of all these observations. Documentation, regardless of the Committee’s decision, is a valuable part of the record of bird life in Illinois.

Records Accepted

• Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, 12-17 December 2022, Bloomington, McLean County (2022-089; Ryan Johnson; Wes Kolb, Charlotte Pavelka).
• Eurasian Wigeon, 11-17 November 2022, Mirador subdivision ponds, Kane County (2022-075; Kevin Hatcher, Vince Moxon; Scott Cohrs, Graham Deese, Haley Gottardo, Greg Jerzyk, Mike Losacco, Eric Secker, Katharine Spencer, Michael Warner).
• Mountain Plover, 24 and 28 April 2010, east of Arcola, Douglas County (2010-033; Greg Lambeth).
• Ross’s Gull, 11-15 March 2023, Lake Michigan lakefront in southeast Chicago, Cook County (2023-005; Robert D. Hughes, Henry Meade, Geoffrey A. Williamson). Found by Dan Lory.
• Crested Caracara, 4-10 February 2023, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge and areas west of there, Fulton County (2023-004; Kevin Douglas Blodgett; Pete Fenner, C. Leroy Harrison, Frank Holmes, David B. Johnson, Scott Latimer, John Longhenry, Fran Morel, Jeff Skrentny, Randy Smith, Craig Taylor). First state record.
• Say’s Phoebe, 11-19 March 2023, Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve, Kane County (2023-006; Walt Lutz; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
• Bohemian Waxwing, 7-8 January 2023, Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park, Stephenson County (2023-002; Ryan Jones, Dan Williams). Found by Andy Sigler.
• Evening Grosbeak, 6-19 January 2023, Rockford, Winnebago County (2023-001; Dan Williams).
• Great-tailed Grackle, 15 January to 8 April 2023 (and possibly later), Monee, Will County and Richton Park, Cook County (2023-004; Lydia Pultorak; Diane Hicks).

Records Not Accepted

• Bewick’s Wren, 4 June 2022, Hennepin Canal lock 21, Bureau County (2022-079).