IORC Update, 11 July 2020: Records Reviewed

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The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 25 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois and occurrence of regularly occurring species at unusual times. Among these, IORC accepted 19 of the records while not accepting six.

This Gyrfalcon, photographed here on 28 Jan 2020 by Tamima Itani, represents one of 19 records accepted by IORC in recent actions.

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

  • King Eider, 31 October to 2 November 2019 along the Evanston and Chicago lakefront, Cook County (2019-062; Tamima Itani; Matthew Cvetas, Dan Williams, Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • Harlequin Duck, 3 February 2020 in Moline, Rock Island County (2020-004; Steven Freed).
  • Black Rail, 2 June 2019 at Killdeer Wetlands Forest Preserve, Cook County (2019-057; Stephanie Beilke).
  • Ancient Murrelet, 9-10 November 2019 at Montrose Point, Lincoln Park, Chicago, Cook County (2019-063; Michael Carroll, Robert D. Hughes; Matthew Cvetas, Geoffrey A. Williamson).
  • California Gull, 21 September 2019 at Eldon Hazlet State Park, Clinton County (2019-054; Colin Dobson).
  • Arctic Tern, 14 September 2019 at Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2019-052; Colin Dobson).
  • Neotropic Cormorant, 19-20 October 2019 at Rainbow Beach, Chicago, Cook County (2019-058; Andrew Aldrich).
  • White-faced Ibis, 26 September to 23 October 2019 at Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, Putnam County (2019-051; Sarah Geiger; Andrew Aldrich, Keith McMullen, Dan Williams).
  • White-faced Ibis, 14 October 2019 at Lake Springfield, Sangamon County (2019-069; H. David Bohlen).
  • Swallow-tailed Kite, 24 August to 4 September near Allerton Park, Piatt County (2019-064; Leroy Harrison).
  • Mississippi Kite, 28 August 2019 at Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserve, Lake County (2019-053; Adam Sell).
  • Ferruginous Hawk, 26 November 2019 in Rochelle, Ogle County (2019-065; Andy Sigler, Craig Taylor).
  • Barn Owl, 23 December 2019 at Prairie Ridge State Natural Area, Jasper County (2019-068; Bob Shelby).
  • Gyrfalcon, 26 January to 1 February 2020 south of LaSalle Lake, LaSalle County (2020-003; Tamima Itani, Lisa Maier).
  • Philadelphia Vireo, 30 November 2019 in Evanston, Cook County (2019-067; Jeff Bilsky).
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, 13 October 2019 in Oswego, Kendall County (2019-055; Scott Johnson).
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, 25 October 2019 at Henneberry Woods Forest Preserve, Kendall County (2019-056; Ryan Jones).
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, 19 January to 2 February 2020 at Silver Springs State Park, Kendall County (2020-002; Jeffrey Nelson; Andrew Aldrich, Dan Williams).
  • Clay-colored Sparrow, 1 January 2020 in Libertyville, Lake County (2020-001; Jeff Sundberg).

Records Not Accepted

  • Ruff, 7 August 2019 at Peacock March, Will County (2019-033).
  • Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, 25 August 2019 at Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Mason County (2019-041).
  • Arctic Tern, 25 October 2019 at Lakes Charleston, Coles County (2019-060).
  • Anhinga, 1 October 2019 in West Dundee, Kane County (2019-050).
  • White-faced Ibis, 20-21 September 2019 near Island Road levee, Jackson County (2019-059).
  • Cassin’s Vireo, 16 May 2019 at Ewing Park, Bloomington, McLean County (2019-061).
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