IORC

IORC Update, 5 June 2022: Records Reviewed

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 35 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. IORC accepted 30 of these records and did not accept another five.

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

  • Mottled Duck, 14-27 June 2021, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County (2021-057; Colin Dobson, Nathan Goldberg, Frank R. Holmes, Benjamin Murphy, Steve Zehner).
  • King Eider, 23 December 2021, Heidecke Lake, Grundy County (2021-103; Matt Misewicz).
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 29 December 2021, Antioch, Lake County (2021-100; Adam W. Sell).
  • Ruff, 1-9 August 2019, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County and Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Mason County (2019-084; Chad Cremer; Tyler Funk).
  • Little Gull, 6-7 November 2019, Lake Decatur, Macon County (2019-080; Travis Mahan).
  • Pacific Loon, 14-15 December 2019, Lyerla Lake, Union County (2019-081; Christopher Gilbert, Keith McMullen).
  • Anhinga, 20 August to 6 September 2019, Grand Tower, Jackson County (2019-078; Henry Detwiler; Don Mullison).
  • Barn Owl, 22 April 2019, Montrose Point in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Cook County (2019-079; Andrew S. Aldrich).
  • Barn Owl (1-2), 3 October to 16 December 2021, Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, Putnam County (2021-092; Neil Zborowski).
  • Barn Owl (3), 5-21 October 2021, Saybrook Habitat Area, Anchor Township, McLean County (2021-114; Benjamin Murphy).
  • Barn Owl, 8 January 2022, Thatcher Woods Forest Preserve, Cook County (2022-005; Jeff Hardt).
  • Gyrfalcon, 13-14 November 2020, north of Charleston, Coles County (2020-149; Tyler Funk; Benjamin Murphy).
  • Prairie Falcon, 1 November 2019 to 1 March 2020, northern Coles County (2019-083; Howard Blum, Nathan Goldberg).
  • Prairie Falcon, 2 November 2021 to 2 March 2022, southeast of Arcola in Coles and Douglas counties (2021-091; Amy Lynch; Candida Abrahamson, Tyler Funk, Vicky Sroczynski).
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, 31 December 2021 to 9 January 2022, Garden of the Gods Recreation Area, Shawnee National Forest, Saline County (2021-102; Stephanie Beilke; Bob Shelby, Craig Taylor).
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, 6 January to 12 March 2022, Moraine Hills State Park, McHenry County (2022-003; Chuck Fields; Vince Moxon, Dan Williams, Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 30-31 December 2021, Northwestern University, Evanston, Cook County (2021-104; Woody Goss; Jake Cvetas, Matthew Cvetas, Sean Kennedy).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 5-7 January 2022, Wheaton, DuPage County (2022-001; Vince Moxon).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 6 January 2022, Brownstown, Fayette County (2022-002; Tammie Rogers).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 1 February 2022, Rockford, Winnebago County (2022-008; Dan Williams).
  • White-winged Crossbill (1-3), 26 November to 9 December 2020, Lake Bloomington, McLean County (2020-152; Michael McKinley; Benjamin Murphy).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 20 December 2020 to 26 February 2021, north of Peoria, Woodford County (2020-151; Pete Fenner; Steve Zehner).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 17 January to 8 February 2021, Tolono, Champaign County (2021-110; Aerin Tedesco).
  • White-winged Crossbill (up to 35), 31 January to 20 March 2022, Lyons Woods Forest Preserve, Lake County (2022-009; Annette McClellan; Tom Lally).
  • White-winged Crossbill (up to 16), 1-13 February 2022, Afton Forest Preserve, DeKalb County (2022-010; Karen Lund; Tom Lally).
  • White-winged Crossbill (up to 17), 13 February to 9 April 2022, Shamrock Hills Park, Crystal Lake, McHenry County (2022-011; Dan Williams).
  • White-winged Crossbill (up to 35), 13 February to 5 March 2022, Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Cook County (2022-012; Matt Clarke; Dan Williams).
  • Great-tailed Grackle, 17 January to 20 April 2022, Monee, Will County (2022-004; Henry Meade, Dan Williams, Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Palm Warbler (Yellow), 7 May 2022, Gremel Nature Sanctuary, Lee County (2020-133; Georgi Baird).

Breeding Records Accepted

  • nesting record of Merlin, 13 May to 2 July 2020, Galesburg, Know County (2020-150; D. James Mountjoy).

Records Not Accepted

  • Black Rail, 30 June 2021, near Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve, DuPage County (2021-046).
  • Anhinga, 8 May 2021, McDowell Grove Forest Preserve, DuPage County (2021-096).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 10 December 2020, Afton Forest Preserve, DeKalb County (2020-125).
  • Hoary Redpoll (1-2), 12-14 February 2022, Lake Barrington, Lake County (2022-013).
  • Dark-eyed Junco (Pink-sided), 9 November 2021, Champaign, Champaign County (2021-070).

Changes to the IORC Review List

Much of the work of the Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) consists in the evaluation of evidence for the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. For this purpose, IORC maintains a “Review List” that consists of all bird forms for which IORC will review all records (possibly excepting records from specified areas for some forms). The Review List includes all species of Casual and Accidental status (less than eight records in the last 10 years), first state records, first state nesting records for a species, and other forms that IORC decides warrant close evaluation. Each year, IORC considers adjustments to the Review List as the status of species changes in the state.

At its 19 March 2022 meeting, IORC made a number of changes to the Review List, all of which involved removing species from the list (due to an increase in the number of records of those species) or excepting records of some species from specific areas. These recent adjustments to the Review List are listed below. The full list is found on the IORC web page.

  • Little Gull — removed from the Review List
  • Anhinga — records from southern Illinois no longer require documentation
  • Black Vulture — removed entirely from the Review List (previously, records from southern Illinois did not require documentation but records from central and northern Illinois did)
  • Swallow-tailed Kite — removed from the Review List
  • Barn Owl — removed entirely from the Review List (previously, records away from known locations for the species required documentation)
  • Townsend’s Solitaire — removed from the Review List
  • Hoary Redpoll — removed from the Review List
  • White-winged Crossbill — removed from the Review List
  • Western Tanager — removed from the Review List
  • Painted Bunting — records from the East St. Louis (St. Clair County) area no longer require documentation

Most of the species above still occur only in relatively small numbers, and consequently, observers of these species should include details about their sightings when contributing them to the observational record, for example via eBird or when submitting to seasonal report editors for the reports published in the IOS journal Meadowlark. However, formal review by IORC is no longer necessary. IORC generally will still review records of species recently removed from the Review List when documentation of sightings of those species is submitted directly to IORC.

IORC Membership for 2022

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) welcomes Kyle Wiktor to the committee as its newest member. Kyle began a three-year term from 2022-2024 upon his election at the 19 March 2022 meeting of IORC.

Please join IORC in thanking Matt Fraker for his six years of service on the committee from 2016-2021. Matt has done excellent work in evaluating records submitted to IORC and in contributing to other work of the committee. Members are eligible to serve two consecutive three-year terms, but then are required to step off the committee.

IORC consists of six members, each serving staggered three-year terms, and a secretary, elected annually. The voting membership of the committee consists of these seven individuals. For calendar year 2022, the IORC membership is as follows.

  • Geoffrey A. Williamson (Secretary)
  • Davida Kalina
  • Walter Marcisz
  • Adam Sell
  • Paul Sweet (Vice-Secretary)
  • Terry Walsh
  • Kyle Wiktor

IORC Update, 30 January 2022: Records Reviewed

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 58 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. IORC accepted 47 of these records and did not accept another 11.

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.

Illinois’s second Mexican Violetear was present for several days in Mundelein, Lake County. Photo by Junko Yokota.

Records Accepted

  • Eurasian Wigeon, 18 November 2021, Newton Lake, Jasper County (2021-059; C. Leroy Harrison, Bob Shelby).
  • Mexican Violetear, 20-24 August 2021, Mundelein, Lake County (2021-051; Jason Cristino; David B. Johnson, Ryan Jones, Karen Lund, Annette McClellan, William McClellan, Greg Neise, Dan Williams, Geoffrey A. Williamson, Junko Yokota).
  • Limpkin, 10-14 July 2021, Chain-o-Lakes State Park, Lake County (2021-047; Al Nichols; Oliver Burrus, Craig Taylor).
  • Limpkin, 16-28 August 2021, Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, Putnam County (2021-050; Scott Harp; Craig Taylor).
  • Ruff, 19 May 1984, Mississippi River levees, Monroe County (1984-025; Bill Rowe).
  • Purple Sandpiper, 12-13 November 2021, Waukegan, Lake County (2021-061; Henry Meade).
  • Parasitic Jaeger, 18 September 2021, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2021-076; Colin Dobson, Steve Zehner).
  • Long-tailed Jaeger, 11 September 2021, Eldon Hazlet State Park, Clinton County (2021-072; Travis Mahan).
  • Little Gull, 25-31 October 2020, Lake Shelbyville, Shelby County (2020-127; Travis Mahan).
  • Little Gull, 26 October 2020, Heidecke Lake, Grundy County (2020-128; Matt Misewicz).
  • Little Gull, 27-28 October 2020, Saganashkee Slough, Cook County (2020-129; Ben Sanders; Nathan Goldberg).
  • Little Gull, 20 March 2021, Lake Township, Clinton County (2021-045; Dan Kassebaum).
  • Little Gull, 9 September 2021, Rend Lake, Jefferson County (2021-071; Aaron Gyllenhaal).
  • Royal Tern, 18 July 2021, Waukegan, Lake County (2021-077; Annette McClellan, William McClellan).
  • Royal Tern, 11-13 August 2021, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2021-048; C. Leroy Harrison).
  • Pacific Loon (2), 31 October to 1 November 2020, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2020-119; Dan Kassebaum; Trevor Slovick).
  • Pacific Loon, 1-19 November 2020, Downs Township, McLean County (2020-130; Shanin Abreu, Matthew Winks; Joan Campbell, Jake Cvetas, Matthew Cvetas, Colin Dobson, Bonnie Graham, Niklas Klauss, Jayne Leone, Michael McKinley, Matt Misewicz, Pirmin Nietlisbach, Vicky Sroczynski, Andrea Tolzmann, Peter Tolzmann, Simon Tolzmann, Mary Zehner, Steve Zehner).
  • Wood Stork, 19 July to 11 August 2021, Mermet Lake, Massac County (2021-090; Andrew S. Aldrich, Jack Bechtel, Ryan Jones).
  • Brown Pelican, 23 May 2020, Harrisburg Lake, Saline County (2020-132; David Horning).
  • White Ibis (2), 5 & 26 September 2021, Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area, Mason County (2021-080; Colin Dobson).
  • White Ibis, 15 October 2021, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, St. Clair County (2021-081; John C. Sullivan).
  • White-faced Ibis, 28-29 August 2021, Whalon Lake Forest Preserve, Will County (2021-082; Kirk LaGory; Jayne Leone, Michael McNamee, Jeff A. Smith).
  • White-faced Ibis, 1-3 October 2021, Sawmill Lake, Putnam County (2021-054; Steve Huggins; Dan Williams).
  • Roseate Spoonbill, 31 July 2021, Golconda, Pope County (2021-049; Craig Taylor).
  • Roseate Spoonbill, 20 August to 4 September 2021, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Williamson County (2021-053; Craig Taylor).
  • Black Vulture, 16 May 2020, Sedge Meadow Forest Preserve, Lake County (2020-120; Richard Biss).
  • Black Vulture, 3 October 2020, Irving, Montgomery County (2020-123; Jarod Hitchings).
  • Black Vulture, 29 June 2021, Skokie, Cook County (2021-069; John Bates).
  • Black Vulture, 13-14 November 2021, Lincoln Park, Chicago, Cook County (2021-055; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • White-tailed Kite, 21 June 2021, near Lock & Dam #27, Madison County (2021-044; Frank Holmes, Dan Kassebaum, Craig Taylor).
  • Swallow-tailed Kite, 15 August 2021, east of Plainville, Adams County (2021-078; Jason Mullins).
  • Ferruginous Hawk, 17 November 2021, Illinois Beach State Park, Lake County (2021-058; Vic Berardi).
  • Barn Owl, 23 August to 1 September 2021, Burnham Park, Chicago, Cook County (2021-052; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Northern Flicker (Red-shafted), 12 May 2021, Chicago, Cook County (2021-073; Pamela Karlson).
  • Prairie Falcon, 27 October to 1 November 2021, west of Chenoa, Livingston County and McLean County (2021-064; Taylor Root; Alyssa Rod).
  • Bewick’s Wren (2), 7-13 July 2021, southern Schuyler County (2021-068; Brandon Stehl; Jill Anderson, Jake Cvetas, Matthew Cvetas, Pete Fenner, Ted Hartzler, Steve Zehner).
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, 31 October 2021, Oswego, Kendall County (2021-079; Scott Johnson).
  • Evening Grosbeak, 9 November 2021, Stickney Run Conservation Area, McHenry County (2021-065; Lisa Maier).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 9 December 2020, Burnham Park, Chicago, Cook County (2020-124; Ryan Fuller).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 31 October 2021, Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserve, Lake County (2021-083; Krzysztof Kurylowicz, Henry Meade).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 6 & 17 December 2021, Carol Stream, DuPage County (2021-088; Craig Reges).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 7 December 2021, Waukegan, Lake County (2021-089; Lock Kilpatrick).
  • Lark Bunting, 6 October 2020, Rainbow Beach, Chicago, Cook County (2020-126; Michael McNamee).
  • Swainson’s Warbler, 13 May 2021, Pomona, Jackson County (2021-0066; Rhonda Rothrock).
  • Painted Bunting, 18-28 June 2020, East St. Louis, St. Clair County (2020-131; Tommy Goodwin; Ryan Jones, Jude Vickery).
  • Painted Bunting (3), 29 May to 30 July 2021, East St. Louis, St. Clair County (2021-074; Randy Schiller; Mike Avara, Travis DeNeal, Colin Dobson, Jan Hansen, Ted Hartzler, Ian Souza-Cole, Mike Thelan).
  • Painted Bunting, 30 November to 2 December 2021, Alden Township, McHenry County (2021-062; Randall Schietzelt).

Records Not Accepted

  • Parasitic Jaeger, 22 September 2021, Gillson Park, Wilmette, Cook County (2021-075).
  • Anhinga, 26 June 2021, near the confluence of the Big Muddy River and Mississippi River, Jackson County (2021-067).
  • Glossy Ibis, 19-25 October 2021, Lake Arispie, Bureau County (2021-056).
  • Black Vulture, 16 May 2020, Bowen Park, Waukegan, Lake County (2020-121).
  • Black Vulture, 26 September 2020, Heron County Park, Vermilion County (2020-122).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 6 January 2021, Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area, Grundy County (2021-026).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 3 December 2021, Crystal Lake, Lake County (2021-085).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 4 December 2021, Boone Creek Conservation Area, McHenry County (2021-086).
  • White-winged Crossbill (7 or 8), 4 December 2021, Waukegan, Lake County (2021-087).
  • Kirtland’s Warbler, 15 May 2021, Busey Woods, Urbana, Champaign County (2021-025).
  • Western Tanager, 8 May 2021, LaBagh Woods Forest Preserve, Cook County (2021-035).

IORC Update, 10 December 2021: Records Reviewed

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 23 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. IORC accepted 18 of these records and did not accept another five.

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.

This Bullock’s Oriole, photographed 25 April 2021 in Morgan County, provided the fifth record for Illinois. Photo by Dan Williams.

Records Accepted

  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (2), 10 April 2021, Grand Tower, Jackson County (2021-016; Craig Taylor).
  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, 4 Jun 2021, Fairfield, Wayne County (2021-042; Bob Shelby).
  • Broad-billed Hummingbird, 3-14 May 2021, LaBagh Woods Forest Preserve, Cook County (2021-024; Geoffrey A. Williamson, Tony Yee, Steve Zehner).
  • Ruff, 26-30 April 2021, Oswego, Kendall County (2021-033; Woody Goss, Jon Grainger, Steve Huggins, Ryan Jones, Davida Kalina, Jason Newton, Linda Padera, Craig Taylor, Jude Vickery).
  • Ruff, 27-30 April 2021, Salt Creek Marsh Forest Preserve, DuPage County (2021-021; Tony Comerci).
  • Little Gull, 31 March to 1 April 2021, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County (2021-029; Jim Mordacq, Dennis Oehmke).
  • Little Gull, 4 April 2021, Spring Lake unit of Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge, Carroll County (2021-030; Eric Secker).
  • Anhinga, 30 April 2021, Mokena, Will County (2021-022; Eric Secker).
  • Swainson’s Hawk, 21 April 2021, Sycamore, DeKalb County (2021-018; Ken Reinert).
  • Prairie Falcon, 11 January 2021, western Douglas County (2021-028; Steven Lima).
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, 14 May 2021, Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary, Lee County (2021-036; Brendon Lake; Craig Taylor, Eric Walters).
  • Evening Grosbeak (23), 14 April to 4 May 2021, Simpson, Johnson County (2021-017; Craig Taylor).
  • Evening Grosbeak, 8-9 May 2021, Normal, McLean County (2021-039; Tim Lindenbaum; Angelo Capparella).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 7 March 2021, Plano, Kendall County (2021-027; Ryan Jones; Scott Johnson, Charles Shields).
  • Bullock’s Oriole, 24-25 April 2021, east of Murrayville, Morgan County (2021-019; Criag Taylor, Dan Williams).
  • Great-tailed Grackle, 18-23 April 2021, Hodgkins, Cook County (2021-032; Pat Andersen, Steve Huggins, Ted Wolff).
  • Western Tanager, 28 April 2021, Homer Lake State Conservation Area, Champaign County (2021-034; Aerin Tedesco).
  • Painted Bunting, 24 May 2021, Winnemac Park in Chicago, Cook County (2021-037; Terry Walsh).

Records Not Accepted

  • Graylag Goose, 6 April 2021, Princeville, Peoria County (2021-015).
  • Wilson’s Plover, 9 April 2021, northwest of Gorham, Jackson County (2021-031).
  • Swallow-tailed Kite, 27 May 2021, Monticello, Piatt County (2021-038).
  • Gyrfalcon, 6 February 2021, Hudson, McLean County (2021-002).
  • European Goldfinch, 7 June 2021, Waukegan, Lake County (2021-043).

IORC Update, 9 July 2021: Records Reviewed

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 25 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. IORC accepted all 25 of these records.

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

  • Brant, 2-26 January 2021, Winthrop Harbor and Waukegan in Lake County, Montrose Point in Chicago’s Lincoln Park in Cook County (2021-001; Robert D. Hughes, Tamima Itani, Vlad Nevirkovets, Terry Walsh, Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • White-winged Dove, 22 May 2020, Mendota, LaSalle County (2020-109; Diana Rod).
  • Rufous Hummingbird, 1-10 December 2020, Lisle, DuPage County (2020-108; Tamima Itani, Vernon Kleen).
  • Magnificent Frigatebird, 4 November 2020, southeast of Grafton, Jersey County (2020-104; Bobby Wilcox).
  • Anhinga, 4-17 April 2021, Oakwood Bottoms, Jackson County (2021-013; Craig Taylor).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 23-25 July 2020, Lock & Dam 13, Whiteside County (2020-030; Ethan Brown).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 10-15 March 2021, Horseshoe Lake State Park, Madison County (2021-008; Frank Holmes).
  • Swallow-tailed Kite, 19 June 2020, Waukegan, Lake County (2020-107; Dawn Klamut).
  • Barn Owl, 25 August 2016, Pawnee, Sangamon County (2016-107; Alex Patia).
  • Barn Owl (one to 2), 5-31 March 2017, Pawnee, Sangamon County (2017-086; Colin Dobson).
  • Gyrfalcon, 13 January to 4 February 2021, Waukegan, Lake County (2021-007; Josh Engel, Diane Hansen, Tamima Itani, Paul Sweet).
  • Prairie Falcon, 29 October 2020 to 13 February 2021, northern Coles County (2020-116; Colin Dobson, Tyler Funk, Amy Lynch, Trevor Slovick, Aerin Tedesco, Ted Wolff).
  • Mountain Bluebird, 28-31 December 2020, north of DeWitt, DeWitt County (2020-105; Colin Dobson).
  • Evening Grosbeak, 28 October 2020, Normal, McLean County (2020-114; Benjamin Murphy).
  • Evening Grosbeak (6), 6 February 2021, Cave in Rock, Hardin County (2021-004; Craig Taylor).
  • Evening Grosbeak (4), 6 February 2021, Golconda, Pope County (2021-005; Craig Taylor).
  • Evening Grosbeak (4), 21 February 2021, Chambersburg, Pike County (2021-006; Craig Taylor).
  • White-winged Crossbill (2 to 8), 17 November to 22 December 2020, Rockford, Winnebago County (2020-102; John Longhenry).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 29 November 2020, Afton Forest Preserve, DeKalb County (2020-115; John Heneghan).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 17-23 January 2021, Pana, Christian County (2021-009; Tom Colin).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 30 January to 9 February 2021, Galesburg, Knox County (2021-012; Jim Mountjoy).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 8 April 2021, Mesa Lake, Wabash County (2021-011; Bob Shelby).
  • Swainson’s Warbler, 9 May 2020, Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Union County (2020-113; Christopher Gilbert).
  • Common Yellowthroat, 26 December 2020, Skokie Lagoons Forest Preserve, Cook County (2020-103; Jeff Bilsky).
  • Common Yellowthroat, 30 December 2020, Mermet Lake Conservation Area, Massac County (2020-106; Vicki Lang).

IORC Update, 29 May 2021: Changes to Review List

At its annual meeting in February 2021, IORC made the following changes to the Review List.

  • Remove White-winged Dove from the Review List.
  • Remove Neotropic Cormorant from the Review List.

Both of these species now occur regularly in Illinois, and IORC no longer requests documentation of sightings. Because separation of Neotropic Cormorant from Double-crested Cormorant can be difficult, depending on observation conditions, observers are encouraged to take detailed field notes and to include those in submissions to seasonal report editors or in eBird checklist entries.

White-winged Dove, 22 May 2020, Mendota, LaSalle County. IORC record 2020-109. Photo by Diana Rod.
Neotropic Cormorant, 23 June 2020, Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve, DuPage County. IORC record 2020-022. Photo by Bonnie Graham.

IORC Update, 29 May 2021: Records Reviewed

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 26 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. Among these, IORC accepted 22 of the records while not accepting four.

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

  • Common Ground-Dove, 23 November 2020, south of Martinsville, Clark County (2020-085; Steven Lima).
  • Snowy Plover, 4-7 May 2020, east of Woodson, Morgan County (2020-086; Colin Dobson).
  • Snowy Plover, 31 May 2020, Chestnut, Logan County (2020-087; Colin Dobson).
  • Purple Sandpiper (1 to 2), 6-19 December 2020, Waukegan, Lake County (2020-093; Dan Williams).
  • Parasitic Jaeger, 17 September 2020, Chicago’s Burnham Park, Cook County (2020-048; Jacob Drucker).
  • Parasitic Jaeger, 18-26 September 2020, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2020-089; Colin Dobson).
  • Long-tailed Jaeger, 24-25 October 2020, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2020-100; Nathan Goldberg; C. Leroy Harrison, Ted Wolff).
  • Little Gull, 16-29 June 2019, Illinois River floodplain, Woodford County (2019-022; ).
  • California Gull, 19 July 2020 to 10 February 2021, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County (2020-027; Colin Dobson).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 12 April 2020, Big Lake, Brown County (2020-088; Colin Dobson).
  • White-faced Ibis, 7-18 October 2020, Bailey Wetland, Richland County and Wayne County (2020-099; C. Leroy Harrison).
  • Black Vulture (4), 15 December 2020, east of Sam Parr State Park, Jasper County (2020-095; Bob Shelby).
  • Ash-throated Flycatcher, 30 October 2020, East Fork Lake, Richland County (2020-064; C. Leroy Harrison; Gary Bowman, Nathan Goldberg, Bob Shelby).
  • Great Kiskadee, 29 November to 13 December 2020, near the Widewaters area of the Des Plaines River, Will County (2020-091; John C. Weisgerber; Gioseppe Cesolini, John Heneghan, Tamima Itani, Geoffrey A. Williamson). First state record.
  • Hoary Redpoll, 18 November 2020, Kennekuk Cove County Park, Vermilion County (2020-090; Colin Dobson).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 8 December 2020, Chicago’s Jackson Park, Cook County (2020-094; Randy Shonkwiler).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 23 November 2020, Rockford, Winnebago County (2020-092; Dan Williams).
  • White-winged Crossbill (1 to 10), 10-26 December 2020, Hampton, Rock Island County (2020-098; Steve Freed; Dan Williams).
  • Kentucky Warbler, 13 December 2020, Waukegan, Lake County (2020-101; Peter Weber).
  • Western Tanager, 8-9 May 2019, Buffalo Park Forest Preserve, Kane County (2019-077; Eric Secker).
  • Western Tanager, 9 May 2019, Chicago’s Grant Park, Cook County (2019-076; Ann Haverstock).
  • Western Tanager, 12-17 December 2020, Channahon, Will County and 19-20 December 2020, Minooka, Grundy County (2020-097; Dan Williams, Geoffrey A. Williamson).

Records Not Accepted

  • Barrow’s Goldeneye, 28 November 2020, Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, Putnam County (2020-096).
  • Glossy Ibis, 22-30 September 2020, Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area, Grundy County (2020-059).
  • Palm Warbler (Yellow), 9 November 2020, Hickory Creek Preserve, Will County (2020-071).

IORC Update, 14 March 2021: Records Reviewed

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 62 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. Among these, IORC accepted 53 of the records, including two breeding records, while not accepting nine.

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.

Breeding Records Accepted

  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, (breeding record), 10-21 September 2020, Fults, Monroe County (2020-053; Carl DauBach, Pen DauBach).
  • Merlin (breeding record), 21 May to 14 July 2020, Rockford, Winnebago County (2020-026; Daniel T. Williams; John C. Longhenry).

Records Accepted

  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, 6 July 2020, Wood Dale, DuPage County (2020-035; Tony Comerci).
  • Garganey, 24 April 2014, Carlyle Lake, Fayette County (2014-059; Dan M. Kassebaum).
  • Eurasian Wigeon, 21 November to 1 December 2020, Des Plaines Conservation Area, Will County (2020-077; Annette McClellan, Daniel T. Williams).
  • White-winged Dove, 4 May 2019, Marengo, McHenry County (2019-072; Stephen Mitten).
  • Purple Gallinule, 4 May 2019, Mermet Lake, Massac County (2019-071; Frank Bennett).
  • Purple Gallinule, 23 September 2020, Montrose Point, Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Cook County (2020-054; Robert D. Hughes; Matthew M. Cvetas).
  • Black Rail, 18 September 2020, northwest Alexander County (2020-050; Craig A. Taylor).
  • Purple Sandpiper, 22 November 2020, North Point Marina, Winthrop Harbor, Lake County (2020-078; Jeff Bilsky).
  • Parasitic Jaeger, 7 September 2020, Lake Michigan east from Chicago, Cook County (2020-056; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Parasitic Jaeger, 25 October 2020, Lake Michigan east from Chicago, Cook County (2020-068; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Long-tailed Jaeger, 25 October 2020, Lake Michigan east from Chicago, Cook County (2020-069; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Little Gull (2), 7 September 2020, Lake Michigan east from Chicago, Cook County (2020-057; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Little Gull, 12 September 2020, LaSalle Lake, LaSalle County (2020-046; Steven J. Huggins).
  • Little Gull, 11 October 2020, Moline, Rock Island County (2020-063; Steven M. Freed).
  • Sooty Tern, 10 June 2020, Seneca Township, near Marengo, McHenry County (2020-040; Amy Keller; Sara Denham, Beth Gunderson, Rebecca Murphy, Brad Semel).
  • Pacific Loon, 12 November 2020, Oakhurst Forest Preserve, Aurora, Kane County (2020-075; Brendon Lake).
  • Pacific Loon, 16-17 November 2020, Heidecke Lake, Grundy County (2020-076; Matt Misewicz).
  • Magnificent Frigatebird, 31 August 2020, Quincy, Adams County (2020-042; Cory Gregory).
  • Magnificent Frigatebird, 24 October 2020, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2020-061; C. Leroy Harrison, Robert E. Shelby).
  • Anhinga, 6 August to 26 September 2020, Grand Tower, Jackson County (2020-036; Katy Banning).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 5 May 2019, Clinton Lake, DeWitt County (2019-074; Matthew E. Fraker).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 27 May to 1 June 2019, Almond Marsh Forest Preserve, Lake County (2019-075; Adam W. Sell).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 10 April 2020, Heron County Park, Vermilion County (2020-038; Ryan Askren).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 26 April to 14 May 2020, Almond Marsh Forest Preserve, Lake County (2019-081; Adam W. Sell).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 28 July to 20 September 2020, Rainbow Beach, Chicago, Cook County (2020-028; Isoo O’Brien).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 28 September 2020, Nygren Wetlands, Winnebago County (2020-058; Daniel T. Williams).
  • White Ibis (2), 5 August 2020, east central Wayne County (2020-031; Craig A. Taylor).
  • White Ibis, 31 August 2020, Quincy, Adams County (2020-039; Craig A. Taylor).
  • Roseate Spoonbill, 28-29 August 2020, Hardin County (2020-041; Craig A. Taylor).
  • Black Vulture, 16 May 2020, Zion, Lake County (2020-065; Linda Zoetmulder).
  • Swallow-tailed Kite, 25 July 2020, Rend Lake, Franklin County (2020-029; Ryan Healey).
  • Swallow-tailed Kite, 4-8 August 2020, Charleston, Coles County (2020-033; David Logue).
  • Ash-throated Flycatcher, 26 August 2020, North Pond, Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Cook County (2020-055; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Say’s Phoebe, 16 September 2020, Montrose Point, Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Cook County (2020-045; Mark R. Vanderpoel).
  • Fish Crow, 24 June 2020, Aurora, Kane County (2020-021; Theresa LeCompte).
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, 2 February 2020, southwest Jo Daviess County (2020-032; Scott A. Cohrs).
  • Evening Grosbeak (2), 29 October to 2 November 2020, Severson Dells Nature Center, Winnebago County (2020-066; Daniel T. Williams).
  • Evening Grosbeak (8), 31 October 2020, Greenwood Cemetery, Rockford, Winnebago County (2020-067; Daniel T. Williams).
  • Evening Grosbeak, 11 November 2020, North Pond, Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Cook County (2020-074; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Evening Grosbeak, 19-21 November 2020, Big Rock, Kane County (2020-073; John A. Heneghan).
  • Evening Grosbeak, 23 November 2020, Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserve, Lake County (2020-080; Tamima Itani).
  • Hoary Redpoll, 23 November 2020, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Cook County (2020-079; Tamima Itani). (Reports of Hoary Redpoll came from this location during 22 November 2020 to 6 January 2021.)
  • White-winged Crossbill, 21 November 2020, Evanston, Cook County (2020-083; Tamima Itani).
  • White-winged Crossbill, 28 November 2020, Montrose Point, Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Cook County (2020-084; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Cassin’s Sparrow, 13 November 2020, Montrose Point, Chicago’s Lincoln Park (2020-070; Robert D. Hughes; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow, 18 November to 13 December 2020, Rockford, Winnebago County (2020-072; Barbara C. Williams, Daniel T. Williams).
  • Great-tailed Grackle, 15 November 2020, Sagawau Environmental Learning Center, Cook County (2020-082; Negin Almassi).
  • Swainson’s Warbler, 5 May 2019, Sexton Creek, Alexander County (2019-073; Ida Domazlicky).
  • MacGillivray’s Warbler, 7 May 2011, Lost Mound National Wildlife Refuge, Carroll County (2011-042; Jeff Baughman).
  • Kirtland’s Warbler, 18 May 2020, Geneva, Kane County (2020-034; Scott A. Cohrs).
  • Black-headed Grosbeak, 16-24 October 2020, Woodstock, McHenry County (2020-060; Jean Graf-Teterycz; Matthew M. Cvetas, Daniel T. Williams).

Records Not Accepted

  • Parasitic Jaeger, 18 September 2020, Illinois Beach State Park, Lake County (2020-051).
  • Parasitic Jaeger, 24 October 2020, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2020-062).
  • Little Gull, 9 September 2020, La Grange, Cook County (2020-049).
  • Little Gull, 13 September 2020, Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, Putnum County (2020-052).
  • Neotropic Cormorant (3), 16 August 2020, Savoy, Champaign County (2020-044).
  • Tricolored Heron, 22 August 2020, East Peoria, Tazewell County (2020-043).
  • Western Wood-Pewee, 14 September 2020, Mattis Park, Champaign, Champaign County (2020-047).
  • Cassin’s Vireo, 15 May 2020, Dam No. 4 Woods Forest Preserve, Cook County (2020-037).
  • Painted Bunting, 1 July 2020, Makanda, Jackson County (2020-023).

IORC Update, 14 November 2020: Records Reviewed

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 17 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. Among these, IORC accepted 16 of the records while not accepting 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

  • White-winged Dove, 14 May 2018 in Shiloh, St. Clair County (2018-074; Karen Louis).
  • White-winged Dove, 15 June 2018 in Oswego, Kendall County (2018-076; Scott Johnson).
  • White-winged Dove (1 to 2), 4 May to 27 July 2020 (with two present during 9-14 May 2020) in Stonington, Christian County (2020-011; Tom Colin, Trevor Slovick, Ted Wolff).
  • Ivory Gull, 3 January 2018 at Lake County Fairgrounds, Lake County (2018-073: Amar Ayyash).
  • Little Gull, 1-2 September 2013 at Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Mason County (2013-084; Eric W. Walters).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 20 June to 3 July 2020 at Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve, DuPage County (2020-022; Bonnie Graham).
  • Brown Pelican, 3 October to 8 December 2018 at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Williamson County (2018-071; Chelsea DeVivo, Nathan Goldberg, Kimberly Rohling).
  • Black Vulture (2), 14 July 2020 at Kickapoo State Park, Vermilion County (2020-025; Zachary Sutton).
  • Barn Owl, 27 September 2017 in Chicago, Cook County (2017-084; L. Challoner).
  • Prairie Falcon, 3 January 2018 in Ridgway Township, Gallatin County (2018-072; Ron Bradley).
  • Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed), 22 May 2020 at Mississippi Palisades State Park, Carroll County (2020-024; Ethan Brown). The Committee’s decision was that this record pertains to Junco hyemalis caniceps.
  • Great-tailed Grackle, 20 August 2013 in Meredosia, Morgan County (2013-085; Shawn Billerman).
  • Palm Warbler (Yellow), 8 November 2016 at McCormick Place, Chicago, Cook County (2016-098; Mary Hennen, David E. Willard).
  • Western Tanager, 14-28 April 2013 in Warsaw, Hancock County (2013-083; James D. Paar).
  • Western Tanager, 21 May 2017 in Serena, LaSalle County (2017-085; Joseph Young).
  • Painted Bunting, 15-16 May 2018 in Mendota, LaSalle County (2018-075; Gene Rod).

Records Not Accepted

  • Black-headed Grosbeak, 3 October 2019 at West Ridge Nature Preserve, Chicago, Cook County (2019-070).
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