IORC Update, 15 March 2025
The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) recently concluded evaluations of 29 records of the occurrence of rare birds in Illinois. IORC accepted 23 of these records and did not accept six. Two of the accepted records (Clapper Rail 2017-090, Short-tailed Shearwater 2024-068) represent first state records of the respective species. In the case of the Short-tailed Shearwater, the record also adds a new family and a new order of birds to the state list.
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
- Brant, 12 November 2024, Chicago’s Park No. 566, Cook County (2024-060; Tarik Shahzad; Woody Goss, Demond McDonald).
- Mottled Duck, 7 October to 8 December 2024, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County (2024-049; Nathan Goldberg, Dennis Oehmke). Originally found by H. David Bohlen.
- Harlequin Duck, 18 December 2024 to 28 January 2025, Fox River from Algonquin south to West Dundee, Kane and McHenry counties (2024-069; Paula Mitchell; Geoffrey A. Williamson).
- Anna’s Hummingbird, 17 October 2024 to 14 January 2025, Princeton, Bureau County (2024-051; Scott Harp; Nathan Goldberg, Steve Zehner).
- Clapper Rail, 27 September to 9 October 2017, Waukegan Beach, Lake County (2017-090; Steve Mulhall; Annette McClellan, William McClellan). First state record.
- Purple Gallinule, 4 October 2024, Forest Park, Cook County (2024-058; Valda Vitton; Nathan Goldberg).
- American Golden-Plover, 30 December 2024, northeast of Mermet Lake, Massac County (2024-073; Rhonda Rothrock, Mark Vukovich).
- Pacific Loon (2), 12 November 2024, Lake Michigan off Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Cook County (2024-061; Mike McBrien).
- Pacific Loon, 23 to 24 November 2024, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County (2024-064; H. David Bohlen; Colin Dobson, Alyssa Rod).
- Short-tailed Shearwater, 8 December 2024, Montrose Point in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Cook County (2024-068; Demond McDonald, Tarik Shahzad, Phillip Stosberg). First state record for the species, genus, family, and order.
- Wood Stork, 12 October 2024, Gulfport, Henderson County (2024-048; Brian Fox Ellis; Tom Doig).
- Wood Stork, 3 to 6 November 2024, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County (2024-056; Keith McMullen). Originally found by Mark Seiffert.
- White-faced Ibis (2), 23 October to 4 November 2024, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, St. Clair County (2024-053; David Becher; Amy Rangel, Mike Thelan, Christopher Tomera).
- Prairie Falcon, 2 November to 26 February 2025, “Magic Stump” area, southwest of Arcola, Coles County (2024-057; Tyler Funk).
- Prairie Falcon, 3 January 2025, Gorham, Jackson County (2025-001; David Goodward).
- Prairie Falcon, 18 January 2025, Venice, Madison County (2025-002; Seth Winkleman).
- Common Raven, 11 November 2024, Chicago’s Park No. 566, Cook County (2024-059; Demond McDonald; Sarah Vogel).
- Cave Swallow, 18 November 2024, North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor, Lake County (2024-062; Adam Sell).
- Cave Swallow, 22 November 2024, Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserve, Lake County (2024-066; Adam Sell; Stephen Hurst).
- Varied Thrush, 27 October 2024, Schroeder Nature Sanctuary, Heyworth, McLean County (2024-052; Paula Aschim).
- Chestnut-collared Longspur, 22 October 2024, Chicago’s Park No. 566, Cook County (2024-044; Demond McDonald; Matt Zuro).
- Great-tailed Grackle, 1 December 2024 to 26 February 2025 (2024-067; Susan Zelek). Likely the same individual that was involved in record 2024-029 and several other earlier records.
- Summer Tanager, 23 December 2024, Carbondale, Jackson County (2024-072; Jyothi Sastry).
Records Not Accepted
- Long-tailed Jaeger, 17 September 2023, Rainbow Beach, Chicago, Cook County (2023-084).
- White-faced Ibis, 18 September 2024, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County (2024-047).
- White-faced Ibis, 24 to 30 October 2024, Pyramid State Park, Perry County (2024-054).
- White-faced Ibis, 26 October to 1 November 2024, Clinton Lake, DeWitt County (2024-055).
- Cassin’s Vireo, 12 to 19 October 2024, Colored Sands Forest Preserve, Winnebago County (2024-063).
- Swainson’s Warbler, 25 May 2022, Washington County State Recreation Area, Washington County (2022-042).