The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 25 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. IORC accepted all of these records.
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
- Limpkin, 20 May 2023, Oswego, Kendall County (2023-040; Scott Johnson, Ryan Jones).
- Limpkin (1 to 2), 30 June to 9 July 2023, Heron Pond, Johnson County (2023-026; P. Switzer).
- Limpkin, 13 July 2023, Clinton Lake, DeWitt County (2023-027; Ann Anderson).
- Limpkin, 16 July to 27 August 2023, Mermet Lake, Massac County (2023-028; Anne Parmley; Wendy Griggs).
- Limpkin, 24 July to 9 October 2023, Skokie Lagoons Forest Preserve and Chicago Botanic Gardens, Cook County (2023-031; Jenny Heckathorne; Jeff Bilsky, Matthew Cvetas, Tom Lally, Fran Morel, Amanda Tichacek, Geoffrey A. Williamson).
- Limpkin, 26 July 2023, Section 8 Woods, Pulaski County (2023-032; Timothy Rye).
- Limpkin (2), 27-29 July 2023, Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area, Cass County (2023-033; Ted Hartzler).
- Limpkin (1 to 2), 5-21 August 2023, Nygren Wetlands, Winnebago County (2023-035; Dan Williams).
- Limpkin, 13 August 2023, Lake Pana, Shelby County (2023-037; Tom Colin; Travis Mahan).
- Limpkin, 13 August 2023, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2023-038; Paige Niepoetter).
- Limpkin (1 to 2), 16 August to 21 September 2023, Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Mason County (2023-042; Matt Misewicz, Dan Williams).
- Limpkin, 27-28 August 2023, Lake Arispie, Bureau County (2023-043; Brad Grover).
- Limpkin, 28 August to 4 September 2023, along Sangamon Creek north of the town of White Heath, Piatt County (2023-044; Nathan Beccue).
- Limpkin, 28-30 August 2023, Galena River, JoDaviess County (2023-046; Tony Moline).
- Limpkin, 30 August to 18 September 2023, Horseshoe Lake, Alexander County (2023-047; Tina Pryor).
- Limpkin, 13-14 September 2023, McHenry Dam, McHenry County (2023-053; Richard Hugel, Janusz Kubik).
- Limpkin, 17 September 2023, along the Kishwaukee River, Winnebago County (2023-054; John Defenbaugh).
- Ruff, 15 August 2023, Nygren Wetlands, Winnebago County (2023-039; John Longhenry, Dan Williams).
- Ruff, 4-11 September 2023, Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge,Mason County (2023-048; Travis Mahan; Matt Misewicz).
- Long-tailed Jaeger, 30-31 August 2023, Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Mason County (2023-045; Bruce Vinkler; Julie Gidwitz, Matt Misewicz).
- White Ibis, 9-11 September 2023, Lacy Ditch, Fulton County (2023-050; Steve Zehner).
- Roseate Spoonbill, 25 July 2023, Carlyle Lake, Fayette County (2023-030; Keith A. McMullen).
- Roseate Spoonbill, 6 August to 25 September 2023, at Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, Putnam County, at Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Mason County, at Lacy Ditch, Fulton County, and at Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, Tazewell County (2023-034; Anthony Jones; Pete Fenner, Scott Harp, David B. Johnson, Dan Williams, Susan Zelek).
- Roseate Spoonbill, 9 August 2023, at Techny Basin, Cook County and Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Lake County (2023-036; Taylor Bozman, Woody Goss).
- American Redstart, 4 December 2021, Waukegan, Lake County (2021-127; Jeffery Sole, James Wheat).