The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 15 records of occurrence of rare birds in Illinois, accepting 11 and not accepting four. For each record, we indicate below the species or form, with number of individuals in parentheses if greater than one, followed by date or date range, location, and county. At the end, the record number is indicated in parentheses, followed by, for accepted records, names of the documenters. 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, 22 July 2017, Army Depot Road, Carroll County (2017-028; Dan Williams)
- Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, 7 August 2017, Zuma Creek flats, Rock Island County (2017-033; Steve Freed)
- White-winged Dove, 17 May 2016, Chicago, Cook County (2016-100; David Mroczkowski)
- White-winged Dove, 9 July to 26 August 2017, Kaneville, Kane County (2017-026; Marion Miller, Vince Moxon, Dan Williams)
- Ruff, 20-21 August 2017, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County (2017-035; Matthew Cvetas, Bob Fisher)
- Little Gull, 20-21 April 2016, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County (2016-101; H. David Bohlen)
- Wood Stork, 6-20 July 2017, Rend Lake, Jefferson County (2017-024; C. Leroy Harrison, Dan Kassebaum, Dan Williams)
- Wood Stork, 5 August 2017, Sexton Creek wetlands, Alexander County (2017-032; Allen Gathman)
- Neotropic Cormorant, 28 March 2017, Pontiac, Livingston County (2017-009; Demetri Lafkas)
- Neotropic Cormorant; 4 August 2017, Lake Shelbyville, Moultrie County (2017-031; Ron Bradley)
- White Ibis, 9-20 July 2017, Grand Tower Township, Jackson County (2017-025; Whitney Gregge, Dan Kassebaum)
Records Not Accepted
- Black Rail, 10 May 2010, Worship Trail, Cook County (2010-031)
- Royal Tern, 8 May 2017, Channahon Township, Will County (2017-027)
- Great Blue Heron (white form), 12 July 2017, Savoy, Champaign County (2017-029)
- Say’s Phoebe, 7 August 2017, Cape Bend wetlands, Alexander County (2017-034)