







 |
|

- August 03 , 2010 : The 2009 Annual Report is now in the Reports Section. All lists have been changed to comply with the 51st supplement to the AOU Checklist (split Whip-poor-will into Eastern Whip-poor-will and Mexican Whip-poor-will; split out Pacific Wren from Winter Wren; many family/subfamily- level changes in the non-passerines; changes to the genus of a number of Wood-Warblers; new genus/sequence for McCown's Longspur and some sparrow/towhees). As a result of applying the AOU changes the State List is increased by one to 637 species in good standing (Mexican Whip-poor-will; breeds in mountains of the Trans Pecos). The documented status of Pacific Wren in Texas is being disussed by the Committee.
- March 11, 2010 : The December 2009 Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and the January 2010 Amazon Kingfisher have been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 636 species in good standing. The Review List is current, including the preceding records and the species totals as on February 7, 2010.
- March 03, 2010 : The minutes of the 2009 Annual Meeting are now in the Reports section. Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Evening Grosbeak. Photos have been added of the recent Bare-throated Tiger-Heron from Bentsen and Amazon Kingfisher from Laredo; if/when accepted by the TBRC they will be added to the State and Review Lists.
- March 01, 2010 : After more than a year without access to the ISP site, the TBRC web site is back up. The 2008 Annual Report is now in the Reports Section. With the addition of Yellow-legged Gull and White-crested Elaenia, the State List was 634 species in good standing at the time of publication. The historic and current TBRC Committee membership pages are now current, with current email addresses. Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Dark-billed Cuckoo (specimen) and Fuertes's Oriole (specimen). There is a link to Misc. Statements in the "About" page. Minutes of the 2009 Annual Meeting will be available shortly. All lists have been changed to comply with the 50th supplement to the AOU Checklist (quails before pheasants; Nelson's Sparrow; family names of the small finches; Tanagers at front of Cardinals).
- December 25 , 2009 : Access to the ISP site was unavailable from Feb 2009 until just recently, hence the frozen state of this site. The webmaster plans to catch-up on various things including the 2009 annual meeting as soon as his time allows - please be patient!
- October 13 , 2008 : Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Black Catbird (specimen).
- October 01 , 2008 : Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Gray-breasted Martin (specimens) .
- September 25 , 2008 : The minutes of the TBRC 2008 annual meeting are now in the Reports section. Evening Grosbeak has been added to the Review List and Baird's Sparrow has been removed from the Review List. Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: White-cheeked Pintail, Harlequin Duck, White-chinned Petrel, Stejneger's Petrel, Sooty Shearwater, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Snail Kite, Paint-billed Crake, Spotted Rail, Double-striped Thick-knee, Curlew Sandpiper, Heermann's Gull, Roseate Tern, Elegant Tern, Mottled Owl, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Barred Antshrike (audio only), Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Black-capped Chickadee, Connecticut Warbler, and Yellow-eyed Junco. ; NOTE: many of the preceding photos are of specimens.
- August 01 , 2008 : Lists have been amended to conform with changes to the names and sequence detailed in the AOU's 49th Supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds (Auk 125(3)). The updates comprise of four name changes (American Flamingo, Green Violetear, Clay-colored Thrush, White-throated Thrush); the translocation of Flamingoes to appear after Grebes; and an overhaul of Gulls that changes the sequence and places most of the smaller forms into resurrected genera (Chroicocephalus for masked gulls; Hydrocoloeus for Little Gull; Leucophaeus for hooded gulls).
- July 09, 2008 : the TBRC 2007 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the addition of Common Eider, Barred Antshrike and Fan-tailed Warbler, the State List was 632 species in good standing at the time of publication.
- June 25 , 2008: The March 04, 2004 Yellow-legged Gull at the old Corpus Christi Landfill has been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 634 species in good standing; photos have been added.
- June 17 , 2008: The White-crested Elaenia at South Padre Island has been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 633 species in good standing.
- February 15 , 2008: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Barrow's Goldeneye, Elegant Tern, "Vega" Herring Gull, and "White-winged" Junco - see Review List B for these latter two distinctive forms.
- February 11 , 2008: Photos have been added of the recent White-crested Elaenia at South Padre Island; if/when accepted by the TBRC it will be added to the State and Review Lists.
- January 03 , 2008: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Streak-backed Oriole and another Brown Jay (a recent photo from Chapeno) .
- January 02 , 2008: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Brown Jay American Dipper .
- December 26 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Surfbird , Black-billed Magpie, and Golden-crowned Sparrow .
- December 21 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Mangrove Cuckoo , Black-whiskered Vireo, Bohemian Waxwing, and White-winged Cossbill .
- November 28 , 2007: The Fan-tailed Warbler from Big Bend National Park has been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 632 species in good standing.
- October 03, 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Northern Pygmy-Owl . A downloadable .RTF version of the TBRC Submission Form has been added to the Forms section.
- August 24, 2007: A photo of the current Fan-tailed Warbler in Big Bend National Park has been added to the Photos section; if/when accepted by the TBRC it will be added to the State and Review Lists.
- August 19, 2007: The minutes of the TBRC 2007 annual meeting are now in the Reports section. Brown Jay has been added to the Review List. The Bylaws have been revised to allow for electronic/telephone Annual Meetings when appropriate, and to formalise the Presumptive List.
- August 15, 2007: The breeding male Common Eider from the Laguna Madre near Corpus Christi in January 2007 has been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 631 species in good standing. Lists have been amended to conform with changes to the names and sequence detailed in the AOU's 48th Supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds (Auk 124(3)). The changes comprise of a new genus for the larger Kingfishers, and the (uncertain) placement of the American Vultures at the start of the Falconiformes.
- May 24 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Thick-billed Kingbird (two birds) .
- April 25 , 2007: The Barred Antshrike from the LRGV has been formally accepted by the TBRC (diagnostic recording on file), thus bringing the State List to 630 species in good standing.
- April 11 , 2007: the TBRC 2006 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the addition of Pacific Golden-Plover and removal of Yellow-footed Gull, the State List is 629 species in good standing.
- April 01 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Short-tailed Hawk .
- March 25 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Greater Shearwater, Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown Noddy, Long-tailed Jaeger, Snowy Owl, and Elegant Trogon .
- March 22 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Red-necked Grebe.
- January 03 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Costa's Hummingbird, Greater Pewee.
- August 28, 2006: the Pacific Golden-Plover from Jackson County this Spring has been formally accepted (a photograph has been added to the Photos page), thus bringing the State List to 629 species in good standing.
- August 07 , 2006: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Curlew Sandpiper, Arctic Tern, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, and Dusky-capped Flycatcher.
- July 26 , 2006 : the minutes of the TBRC 2006 annual meeting are now in the Reports section. Red-faced Warbler is removed from the main Review List and Great White Heron is removed from List B (recognizable subspecies.)
- July 23, 2006: The common and scientific names and sequence have been changed to conform to the AOU's 47th Supplement, and photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: King Eider, Yellow-billed Loon, Greater Flamingo, Green-breasted Mango, Social Flycatcher, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, and Gray-crowned Yellowthroat.
- May 15, 2006: the TBRC has reviewed the single record of Yellow-footed Gull and decided to no longer accept it, due to the similarities of this individual to some of the Louisiana Kelp x Herring Gull hybrids. With the removal of this species, the State List is now at 628 species in good standing.
- May 05, 2006: thanks to TBRC Secretary Mark Lockwood, the online Review List includes up-to-date accepted totals for each species as of March 06, 2006.
- May 04, 2006: the TBRC 2005 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the addition of Streak-backed Oriole and elevation of Social Flycatcher, the State List is now at 629 species in good standing.
- August 15, 2005: The Streak-backed Oriole from Brazos Bend State Park has been
formally accepted, thus bringing
the State List to 629 species
in good standing.
- August 08, 2005: the minutes
of the TBRC 2005 annual meeting are now in the Reports section. Black-legged Kittiwake is re-added to the Review List
.
- April 20, 2005: The Social
Flycatcher from Bentsen WBC in January 2005 has been
formally accepted, thus moving the species from the Presumptive
List to the Main List, and bringing
the State List to 628 species
in good standing.
- February 24, 2005: the TBRC
2004 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the
addition of Cackling Goose, South Polar
Skua, Glaucous-winged Gull, and Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush,
the State List is now at 627
species in good standing.
- December 20, 2004: The South
Polar Skua from the October 1st 2004 Port Isabel pelagic
has been formally accepted, bringing the State List to 627 species in good standing. Visit
the Photo Gallery to see this record.
- October 12, 2004: The Black-headed
Nightingale-Thrush from Pharr in the Summer of 2004
as been formally accepted, bringing the State List to 626 species in good standing. Visit
the Photo Gallery to see this record.
- July 30, 2004: The Secretary of the TBRC
has prepared a Public Statement concerning
the Canada/Cackling Goose Split.
- July 29, 2004: Changes caused by the 45th
AOU Supplement (July 2004) have been implemented. As a result,
Cackling Goose has been inserted
in the State List ahead of Canada Goose, bringing the State List
to 625 species in good standing.
- July 29, 2004: the minutes
of the TBRC 2004 annual meeting are now in the Reports section.
The Review and State Lists now show Thayer's
Gull, Allen's Hummingbird,
and Yellow-green Vireo as
non-Review species, plus Herring (Vega)
Gull is added to Appendix B of the State List.
- April 13, 2004: The Secretary of the TBRC
has prepared a Public Statement concerning
Allen's Hummingbirds. The Glaucous-winged
Gull from Fort Worth in January 2004 as been formally
accepted, bringing the State List to 624
species in good standing. Visit the Photo
Gallery to see this record.
- February 03, 2004: the TOS has published
an occassional booklet: Records accepted by the Texas Bird
Records Committee (1987–2003) - visit the
Store for more details.
- January 12, 2004: the TBRC
2003 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the
addition of Gyrfalcon, the
State List is now at 623
species in good standing.
- January 11, 2004: photos of the recent Glaucous-winged Gull at Fort Worth
have been added to the Photo Gallery.
Also, the 1990 Annual Report, 1991
Annual Report and 1992 Annual Report
are added, completing all the historic Annual Reports.
- January 01, 2004: Happy New Year! The
1988 Annual Report and 1989
Annual Report are added.
- December 31, 2003: As part of an ongoing
effort to include historical data on the site, the 1987
Annual Report is added, plus a page listing all past
and current TBRC members (if you see any errors or omissions,
please contact the TBRC Secretary.)
- October 01, 2003: Photos added of the recent
Port Isabel Pelagic Yellow-nosed Albatross
(scroll to bottom of that page).
- September 04, 2003: Changes caused by the 44th
AOU Supplement (July 2003) have been implemented - see various
lists.
- August 24, 2003:the minutes
of the TBRC 2003 annual meeting are now in the Reports section,
and the Review and State Lists now show Broad-billed
Hummingbird as a non-Review species.
- May 01, 2003: Change of address for TBRC Secretary
- see Report Form. Added photo of
Tamaulipas Crow to the Photo Gallery.
- March 01, 2003: the Gyrfalcon
from 2002 as been formally accepted, bringing the State List
to 623 species in good standing. Visit the Photo
Gallery to see this record. Added a photo of the Brazoria
Trumpeter Swan to the Gallery.
- Feb 19, 2003: the TBRC
2002 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the
formal split of Tufted and
Black-crested Titmice, the
State List is now at 622
species in good standing.
- October 22, 2002: the minutes
of the TBRC 2002 annual meeting are now in the Reports section.
- July 22, 2002: the Spotted
Redshank from Fall 2000 as been formally accepted,
bringing the State List to 621
species in good standing. Visit the Photo
Gallery to see this record.
- June 17, 2002: photos of the current Yellow-faced Grassquit at Bensten
have been added to the Photo Gallery.
- March 04, 2002: the TBRC
2001 Annual Report is now in the Reports section.
- November 22, 2001: a photo of a Spotted Redshank from Fall 2000 has
been added to the Photo Gallery - a
potential State First record (the species is in the site index,
but will be added to the various formal Lists only if/when accepted
by the TBRC.)
- October 12, 2001: the minutes
of the TBRC 2001 annual meeting are now in the Reports section.
March 5, 2001: Photos of Am. Black Duck added; the Specimens Not Located List has been updated;
only one such specimen has been located in the past 3 years,
and some of the unlocated specimens are of species not yet on
the Texas State List - can you help?
- March 3, 2001: Photos added of the recent
Lubbock N. Saw-whet Owl .
- February 27, 2001: Photos added of the recent
South Padre Yellow-billed Loon (scroll
to bottom of that page).
- February 07, 2001: The Secretary of the
TBRC has prepared a Public Statement
concerning the Blue Mockingbird
- February 03, 2001: the 2000 Annual Report
is now availible online- see the Reports
Section.
- December 3, 2000: the minutes
of the TBRC 2000 annual meeting are now in the Reports section.
Photos of a recent Pine Grosbeak
have been added to the Photos Section.
- November 20, 2000: the TBRC held its annual
meeting in College Station on November 18, 2000. Full minutes
of the meeting will appear online soon, but effective immediately
Blue Mockingbird is added
to the State List, bringing it to 620
species in good standing. (click here
to see the latest stunning photos of this bird). Also, Tamaulipas Crow is added to the Review
List, and details are sought of all White-rumped Sandpiper sightings
outside the Spring period ( April - June) under the terms of
List B. There is a new TBRC Secretary, to whom all
correspondence should be directed.
- October 10, 2000: Voting Rounds 186 - 188
have been completed and tallied, and as a result Buff-breasted
Flycatcher is added to the State List, bringing it
to 619 species in good standing.
Visit this
external link to see pictures of this bird.
- June 09, 2000: Just an update to confirm
that no new species have been officially added to the State list
since last September; the Buff-breasted
Flycatcher and Blue Mockingbird
records are still in circulation.
- March 02, 2000: the 1999 Annual Report is
now availible online; - see the Reports
Section.
- February 02, 2000: photos of a recent Blue-morph Ross's Goose at L. Tawakoni
have been added to the Photo Gallery.
- January 08, 2000: photos of the recent Snow Bunting have been added to the
Photo Gallery.
- December 22, 1999: photos of Eskimo
Curlew (birds in the field and preserved specimens)
have been added to the Photo Gallery.
- November 21, 1999: the TBRC held its annual
meeting in College Station on November 20, 1999. Full
minutes of the meeting are online, but effective immediately
three species of gull have been removed from the Review List:
California Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, and Sabine's
Gull. All records prior to the date of the annual meeting
will still be circulated and voted-upon by the committee. Note:
photos of an orange-tipped Cedar Waxwing are in the Rogues' Gallery.
- September 22, 1999: Voting Rounds 184 and
185 have been completed and tallied, and as a result Black-tailed Gull and Stejneger's
Petrel are added to the State List, bringing it to
618 species in good standing.
Visit the photos section to see pictures
of the gull.
- July 26, 1999: TBRC Voting Rounds 180 -
183 have been completed and tallied, and as a result Yellow-footed Gull is added
to the State List, bringing it to 616
species in good standing. Visit the photos
section to see pictures of the gull. A photo-story of a breeding hybrid Lazuli Bunting can be
found in the Rogues Gallery in the Photos
section.
- June 04, 1999: images of the recent Blue Mockingbird and Violet-crowned
Hummingbird from Weslaco have been added to the Photo
Gallery.
- April 21, 1999: the State List and Review
List have both been updated to reflect the latest TBRC decisions.
In the Rogues' Gallery a possible hybrid coronata x auduboni
Yellow-rumped Warbler has been added.
- April 14, 1999: A striking unidentified
feeder-bird is now Mystery bird #4. In the Rogues' Gallery an
additional image for the hybrid egret and a postscript for the
goldeneye have been added. The Rogues' Gallery
has been online for six months and thus far no-one has offered
any new subjects, and it has not generated any replies to the
Webmaster; unless there is some interest expressed in this section
it will be removed.
- April 13, 1999: TBRC Voting Rounds 178 and
179 have been completed and tallied, and as a result King Eider and Piratic Flycatcher are added
to the State List, bringing it to 615
species in good standing. Visit the photos
page to see pictures of the flycatcher.
- April 6, 1999: The 1998 TBRC Annual Report
is now available online - see Reports section.
- April 4, 1999: A most interesting hybrid "egret" has been added
to the Rogues' Gallery.; also, video
stills of two Blue-morph Ross's Geese
are now in the Photos Section.
- February 10, 1999: As of this date there
have been no further completed rounds that add/remove species
to the State List. No new photos of rarities have been received
by the webmaster, not have there been any offers of pictures
for the Rogues' Gallery - thus there is no change to this web
site since December 01.
- December 01: TBRC Voting Rounds 169 and
170 have been completed and tallied, and as a result Berylline Hummingbird and Slate-throated Redstart are
added to the State List, bringing it to 613
species in good standing. Visit the photos
page for pictures of these birds.
- November 13: a new bird is added to the
Rogues' Gallery located in the Photos
section.
- October 27: A new feature - the Rogues'
Gallery - is located in the Photos section.
The Minutes from the 1998 annual meeting
held in College Station on 3rd October are now online; check
them out.
- October 25: TBRC Voting Round 172 has been
completed and tallied, and as a result Black-capped
Petrel is added to the State List, bringing it
to 611 species in good standing.
Visit the photos page for pictures of
this and a subsequent record. Also answers are now provided for
Mystery birds #1 and #3.
- October 09: The TBRC held its annual meeting
on October 03, 1998. Full details will be forthcoming, but the
major effects are as follows: 1) Tropical Kingbird
is no longer a Review Species (there having been a documented
permanent population in Brownsville for at least 10 years); 2)
Clay-Colored Robin is no longer a Review Species
(despite a drop in records in the late Eighties, this species
has been more-or-less resident in the LRGV for the last ten years);
3) Eurasian Collared-Dove is accepted onto the
State List as an Introduced species - it is not a Review species
as there are already records from 30+ counties, with breeding
recorded from 7 counties; 4) Black Swift has
been added to the Presumptive List with the acceptance of a 1985
sight record - for details of the Presumptive List see the Review Species List. 5) John Arvin resigned
from the Committee and is replaced by Petra Hockey, with Mark
Lockwood becoming Chairman - see the updated Committee
members page. This brings the State List to
610 species in good
standing.
- October 09: The Review
Species List has been updated to show the number of accepted
records (as of October 1, 1998) for each species.
- October 02: TBRC Voting Round 168 has been
completed and tallied, and as a result Arctic
Tern is added to the State List, bringing it
to 609 species in good standing.
- June 29: TBRC Voting Rounds 162,164 have
been completed and tallied, and as a result Dark-billed
Cuckoo is added to the State List, bringing it
to608 species in good standing.
NOTE: the email address of the TBRC Secretary has changed; refer
to the list of Committee members.
- June 26: TBRC Voting Round 160 has been
completed and tallied, and as a result Red-breasted
Sapsucker is added to the State List, bringing it to 607 species in good standing. Mystery
Bird #2 is removed from the Photos page (there being no evidence
that these two Steller's Eiders were collected in Texas) - and
is replaced by Mystery Bird #3.
- June 23: Photo links from the State List
have been updated, and photos of the 1994 Black-capped Petrel
added. Coming soon will be an extensive entry on Eskimo Curlew, with color photos of museum
skins plus pictures of live birds in the field from 1962.
- June 14: The 1997 TBRC Annual Report is
now available online - see Reports section. In the Photos section,
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel is added, plus recent Great Black-backed
Gull and Arctic Tern records added.
- May 31: Added/amended some links; corrected
the date of the 1994 Stygian Owl; improved the Arctic Tern photo.
- May 29: Added photos of two Little Gulls,
plus the pictures of Brown Booby, Collared Forest-Falcon, and
Northern Wheatear have been slightly improved/enlarged.
- May 28: Many new photos have been added
to the Photos page; these include the work of Peter
Mueller, Michael Gray, Tim Koebel, Kent Nelson, Chris Corben,
Alfred Viola, Ned Brinkley, Mel Cooksey, Kelly Bryan, Kevin Karlson,
Mike Krzywonski,Peter Reisz, Jim Flynn, Brad McKinney, David
Ferry, Robert De Graaf, and Raymond White:- Please
contact the webmaster if
you prefer that your work is removed - thank you.
- May 27: Added photos of Black-capped Petrel,
Northern Jacana, the Gilchrist/Bolivar Noddy, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl,
Golden-crowned Warbler, and White-collared Seedeater.
- May 21: Mystery Bird
#2 has been identified, and will be removed from the web
site in due course. Added new photo (just obtained by the Webmaster)
of a Baird's Sparrow
from Parker County last week - see the Photos page.
- May 14: Added new photos (just obtained
by the TBRC) of the first Piratic
Flycatcher for Texas - see the Photos page.


- March and April: Photographs of many rare/specialty
species were added to the Photos page; The link to VENT was corrected.
- On March 5, 1998 the Texas Photographic Records File (TPRF)
in College Station was visited, and numerous photos were borrowed
by the webmaster - you can expect to see a number of new photo
entries in the coming weeks. The emphasis will be placed upon
those rarities mostly or wholly associated with Texas, but other
pictures thought to be interesting/useful will also be added
as time and space permits. NOTICE:
every reasonable endeavor has been made to obtain specific approval
from the photographers involved; if you see a photo
of yours that you do not want displayed, email the webmaster
and it will be removed immediately, with our apologies.
- FYI as of today (March 6 1998) there are a number of photographic
records in circulation of species that would, if accepted, be
added to the State List, including:
Black-capped Petrel, Stejneger's Petrel, Arctic Tern, Berylline
Hummingbird, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Dark-billed Cuckoo, and
Slate-throated Redstart.
- There is a new page online that may provoke some debate -
Species not yet documented for Texas.
This unofficial list highlights some perhaps expected species
not on the state list.
- Management of this web site has changed hands. All kudos
for the excellent style and scope belongs to the outgoing webmaster
Carl Haynie; all responsibility for content,
errors, and omissions belongs to the incoming webmaster Martin
Reid.
- The online state list has been
corrected (Latin names of White-throated Swift and Crissal Thrasher)
and updated with Order names and Family names (the latter for
Passerines only).
- The Links section has been updated to reflect site movements
as of December 31, 1997. As of this date all links are working.
- The Review List has been corrected
to include Stygian Owl.
- The final version of the 1996 Annual
Report is online. Differences from the draft version include
the addition of two Rose-throated Becard specimen records, the
assignment of several Texas Photo Record File (TPRF) numbers,
and the correction of several dates and specimen tag numbers.
- Stygian Owl was formerly accepted
on 25 November bringing the total accepted
species in Texas to 606
in good standing.
- Minutes from the 1997 annual meeting
held in College Station on 1 November are now online. Check them
out.
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow was removed from the
state list after it was determined the specimen housed in the
Denver Museum was misidentified. This leaves the State List at
605 species
- At the annual meeting on 1 Nov 97, the committee voted to
remove Audubon's Shearwater, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, Lesser
Black-backed Gull, Glaucous Gull, and Bridled Tern from the main
TBRC Review List.
- Roseate Tern was officially added to the state list based
on a recently located museum specimen that was taken 10 April
1901 in Nueces Co. State List now 606
Species in good standing.
- A good photo (the first!) of the Berylline
Hummingbird found in the Davis Mountains in August is now
online thanks to Greg Lasley. Check it out.
- Eurasian Collared-Dove is vying for a place on our state
list. Check out some recent correspondence
on this subject.
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow appears to be headed off our
state list, as the extant specimen housed at the Denver museum
is evidently a misidentified Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (fide
Keith Arnold, Mark Lockwood).
- Photographs of a Slate-throated Redstart taken at about 7800
feet on private land in the Davis Mountains are now online. Check
them out here.
- Our Texas State List has been
updated to abide by the latest taxonomic and nomenclatural changes
outlined in the 41st supplement (July, 1997) to the American
Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds.
Texas gained two species as a result of splits: Solitary Vireo
was split into Blue-headed,
Cassin's, and Plumbeous
Vireo, all three of which are known to occur in Texas.
Thus the State List now stands at 605 species.
- A draft of our 1996 Annual Report
is now online detailing the decisions made on all records reviewed
in 1996.
- On 30 June 1997 Red-necked Stint,
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, and Flame-colored
Tanager were formally accepted and added to our state list bringing our total to 603 fully accepted species.
- With the formal acceptance of Kelp
Gull and Ruddy Quail-Dove
on 18 May 1997, our official state list stood then at 600 accepted species.
- A Stygian Owl was photographed
at Bentsen State Park on Thursday, December 26. This will represent
a first record for North America (north of Mexico).
- The minutes from the 1996 annual
meeting held October 19th in College Station are now available.
- At our 19 October annual meeting in College Station, the
committee voted to remove Pacific Loon from the state
Review List since the species has
met the standard criteria for removal (occurs five or more times
per year over a ten year average) and no value for leaving it
on the list was argued. In addition, the committee voted to add
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow to the Review List in light
of information that suggests it is, at best, accidental in the
state. Efforts are underway to secure an extant specimen identified
as Ammodramus caudacutus so that its occurrence here may
be confirmed. If it is determined it was misidentified, the species
will be removed from both the State
and Review Lists since no other evidence of its occurrence exists
for Texas.
- Corrections were made to the online
version of our State List with regard to the scientific name
change for Great Egret and the common name change of Gray-breasted
Jay to Mexican Jay.
- Your help is requested on the status of Eurasian
Collared-Dove in Texas.
- The 1993 Annual Report and a draft
of the 1995 Annual Report are now available.
These reports summarize the decisions reached by the TBRC in
those years.
- The TBRC accepted and completed review on a recently located
specimen record of a Black- capped Chickadee
taken in El Paso during the late 1800s. It is the first and only
accepted record for Texas (thus 598
species on the List).
- The latest supplement to the AOU (American Ornithologist's
Union) checklist is out. Three species have been split that affect
our Texas List. They are: Eastern Towhee,
Spotted Towhee; Saltmarsh
Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow;
and Baltimore Oriole, Bullock's Oriole.
All but the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow can be found regularly
in Texas. In addition, American Swallow-tailed Kite becomes Swallow-tailed
Kite; Common Black-headed Gull becomes Black-headed Gull; and
our two forms of Scrub Jay become Western Scrub-Jay. As a consequence
the State List is now 597
species in good standing.
- The TBRC recently accepted and completed review on the Northern Wheatear record, another first
for the state, bringing the List to 594 species.
|