The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 25 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois and occurrence of regularly occurring species at unusual times. Among these, IORC accepted 16 of the records while not accepting nine. 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
- Barnacle Goose, 27 November to 16 December 2012, various locations in Kane, Kendall, and Will counties (2012-057; Andrew Aldrich)
- White-winged Dove, 10 November 2018, Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserve, Lake County (2018-053; Steve Huggins; Tom Lally, Adam Sell)
- Parasitic Jaeger, 2 September 2018, Waukegan, Lake County (2018-046; Randy Schietzelt)
- Slaty-backed Gull, 16 February 2019, Chicago, Cook County (2019-001; Walter Marcisz; Jayne Leone, Michael McNamee)
- Neotropic Cormorant, 16-17 September 2018, Rainbow Park and Beach, Chicago, Cook County (2018-047; Jake Cvetas, Matthew Cvetas)
- Swallow-tailed Kite, 27 July 2017, Simpson, Pope County (2017-030; Catherine Hammersley)
- Barn Owl, 23 November 2018, Burnham Park, Chicago, Cook County (2018-055; Andrew Aldrich; Jake Cvetas, Matthew Cvetas)
- Snowy Owl, 5-25 July 2018, O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, Cook County (2018-051; David B. Johnson, Greg Martinelli, Sharon Scully)
- Prairie Falcon, 21 Octoer 2018 to 11 March 2019, southeast of Arcola, Coles County (2018-059; Tyler Funk)
- Vermilian Flycatcher, 29 September 2018, near Sangchris Lake, Christian County (2018-049; Brady Colin)
- White-eyed Vireo, 29 December 2018, Sun River Terrace, Kankakee County (2018-057; Bronson Ratcliff)
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 15 March 2019, Mermet Lake, Massac County (2019-003; Allen Gathman)
- Townsend’s Solitaire, 10 November 2018, Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Cook County (2018-052; Andrew Aldrich)
- Varied Thrush, 18-19 November 2018, Big Rock, Kane County (2018-054; John Heneghan)
- Nashville Warbler, 29 December 2018, Zander Woods Forest Preserve, Cook County (2018-058; James Phillips)
- Black-throated Gray Warbler, 30 December 2018, Jake Wolf Memorial Fish Hatchery, Mason County (2018-056; Vicky Sroczynski)
Records Not Accepted
- Barnacle Goose, 19 January 2011, Troy, Madison County (2011-039)
- Barnacle Goose (3), 5 October 2015, north of Aledo, Mercer County (2015-038)
- Barnacle Goose, 25 February 2018, Forsyth, Macon County (2018-011)
- Pacific Loon, 2 November 2018, Peoria Lake, Tazewell County (2018-060)
- Anhinga, 15 April 2017, Ft. Massac State Park, Massac County (2017-066)
- White-faced Ibis, 21-22 October 2017, Hegewisch Marsh, Chicago, Cook County (2017-051)
- Cassin’s Vireo, 31 August to 1 September 2000, Springfield, Sangamon County (2000-083)
- Townsend’s Solitaire, 23 May 2018, Somme Wood Forest Preserve, Cook County (2018-019)
- Black-headed Grosbeak, 9 October 2017, north of Springfield, Sangamon County (2017-079)