The Illinois
Ornithological Society

About IORC

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC), founded in 1985, evaluates the evidence for records of birds that are rare or unusual in Illinois. As a standing committee of the Illinois Ornithological Society, IORC strives to improve the quality of submitted ornithological field data in Illinois both through example and dissemination of pertinent information and techniques.

The current makeup of IORC:

• •Doug Stotz (secretary)
• •Dan Kassebaum
• •Mike Ward
• •Travis Mahan
• •Paul Sweet
• •Geoff Williamson
• •Robert Hughes

The committee is responsible for publishing and maintaining the official checklist of Illinois birds. It also publishes in the journal, the Meadowlark, reports on rare birds, indicating whether the sighting has been accepted. The committee houses all bird records and evaluations of evidence thereof (including the evidence itself) at the Department of Natural Resources archives at:

• Avian Ecology Program
• 600 North Grand Avenue West, Suite 4
• Springfield, Illinois 62702

Students and professional ornithologists are welcome to inquire or review any bird records housed there.

Observers are encouraged to submit documentation of rare and unusual birds to IORC. The committee maintains a review list of birds that require documentation in the state. To receive more information about IORC or a copy of the bylaws, contact IORC Secretary Doug Stotz at:

• Douglas Stotz, Conservation Ecologist/Ornithologist
• Environmental and Conservation Programs
• Field Museum of Natural History
• 1400 South Lake Shore Drive
• Chicago, IL 60605
• Phone: (312) 665-7438

or by e-mail: Doug Stotz.

The documentation form can be printed out from this PDF*, or by sending a request via e-mail to Mary Hennen. If you have trouble opening the PDF documentation form from the above link, right-click directly on the link and choose Save Target As from the menu that appears. Save the file to your desktop and double-click it. Adobe Reader will launch and the documentation form will open up in it.

*Requires Adobe Reader. If you don't have Adobe Reader on your computer, click the graphic below and follow the instructions to download it. Adobe Reader is safe and completely free.

Review List

IORC accepts for review bird records which, in general, do not occur annually in Illinois, or which are extremely rare in all but a few counties in the state. The committee also is interested in reviewing other records of significance including first state nesting records, unusual dates or locations of occurrence, etc.; these are listed in the supplemental review list. The review list is based on the current checklist of Illinois state birds and additional rare species accepted since publication. Any species not included on the Illinois IORC checklist should be documented. The committee welcomes evidence* in the form of a written documentation, sketch, photograph, video or specimen for any of the following species:

*All review list evidence and documentation forms should be sent directly to the IORC Secretary:

• Douglas Stotz, Conservation Ecologist/Ornithologist
• Environmental and Conservation Programs
• Field Museum of Natural History
• 1400 South Lake Shore Drive
• Chicago, IL 60605

Documentation can also be sent via e-mail: Doug Stotz. To make documentation by e-mail easier, the documentation questions can be copied from the Rare Bird Documentation Questions page and pasted into the body of the e-mail message. An HTML version of the documentation form is also available. Contact the IOS Webmaster for the URL.

Seasonal Report Information