IORC Update, 5 June 2022: Records Reviewed

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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).
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