IORC Update, 10 December 2021: Records Reviewed

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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).
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