The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluation of 23 records of occurrence of rare birds in Illinois, accepting 20 and not accepting three. 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. 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
- Brant, 8 November – 11 December 2016, Chicago, Cook County (2016-082; Steve Huggins; Matthew Cvetas, Geoffrey A. Williamson)
- Common Ground-Dove, 23 October 2016, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County (2016-079; H. David Bohlen)
- White-winged Dove, 10 November 2016, Chicago, Cook County (2016-083; Matthew Cvetas). Originally discovered by Luis Muñoz.
- Common Ringed Plover, 13-14 September 2016, Iroquois County (2016-069; Gary Soper; Nick Block, Matt Fraker, Jed Hertz, John Kendall, Jeff Timmons). First state record.
- Ruff, 2 June 2016, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County (2016-044; Colin Dobson)
- Parasitic Jaeger, 10 September 2016, on Lake Michigan off Chicago, Cook County (2016-070; Scott Judd, Geoffrey A. Williamson)
- Parasitic Jaeger, 24 September 2016, on Lake Michigan off Chicago, Cook County (2016-071; Jon Grainger, Geoffrey A. Williamson)
- Parasitic Jaeger, 24 September 2016, on Lake Michigan off Chicago, Cook County (2016-072; Jon Grainger, Geoffrey A. Williamson)
- California Gull, 19 September & 5 November 2016, Moline, Rock Island County (2016-074; Steve Freed, Jo Ann Whitmore)
- California Gull, 16 & 18 October 2016, Moline, Rock Island County (2016-078; Jim Forde, Steve Freed)
- Neotropic Cormorant, 30 April 2016, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County (2016-035; H. David Bohlen)
- Neotropic Cormorant, 9-27 September 2016, Chicago, Cook County (2016-068; Andrew Aldrich; Matthew Cvetas)
- Anhinga, 21 April 2013, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County (2013-079; Colin Dobson)
- White Ibis, 7 September 2016, Alma, Marion County (2016-067; Richard Day)
- Roseate Spoonbill, 25 August & 22 September 2016, Scott Air Force Base and a nearby location, St. Clair County (2016-064; Brian Smith; Matt Schamberger, Sydney Oliveira)
- Swallow-tailed Kite, 29-31 August 2016, Champaign, Champaign County (2016-065; T.J. Blakeman; Carl Giometti)
- Gray Kingbird, 5 November 2016, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2016-080; Dan Kassebaum)
- Cave Swallow, 19 November 2016, Waukegan, Lake County (2016-084; Carl Giometti, Steve Huggins)
- Varied Thrush, 21 October 2014, Champaign, Champaign County (2014-058; Patricia Dickerson)
- Bohemian Waxwing, 26 December 1919, Waukegan, Lake County (1919-001; S.S. Gregory, Jr.)
Records Not Accepted
- California Quail, 3 September 2016, Sullivan, Moultrie County (2016-066)
- Neotropic Cormorant, 3-5 June 2016, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County (2016-039)
- Ferruginous Hawk, 20 November 2016, Illinois Beach State Park, Lake County (2016-085)