Arizona Bird Committee

Documenting Arizona's Birds

ABC Updates

ABC Business news - January 2023

Members nominated three people to be voted on to add two new members to replace Troy Corman and Keith Kamper. The two new members voted on to the Committee are Tommy DeBardeleben and David Stejskal.

Caleb volunteered to take on the position of Chair (to request submission of reports to the AZ Bird committee) that was previously held by Chris.

Added to State Checklist

As part of the annual meeting the Arizona Review list is evaluated.
Review List Discussion

Short-billed (Mew) Gull:  Remove
Bobolink:  Keep
 Rusty Blackbird: Remove
 Black-throated Green Warbler: Remove
 Purple Finch: Revise on review list; keep eastern subspecies
ABC Business news - January 2022

Added to State Checklist

As part of the annual meeting the Arizona Review list is evaluated. The following 4 species were removed from the ABC Review List:

Felipe P. Guerrero and Ryan O'Donnell were elected to the committee replacing Scott Olmstead and Gary Rosenberg

ABC Business news - January 2021

Added to State Checklist

Bringing the state list 566

As part of the annual meeting the Arizona Review list is evaluated. The following 4 species were removed from the ABC Review List:

Felipe P. Guerrero and Ryan O'Donnell were elected to the committee replacing Scott Olmstead and Gary Rosenberg

 

ABC Business news - January 2020

Added to State Checklist

Bringing the state list 565

As part of the annual meeting the Arizona Review list is evaluated. The following 5 species were removed from the ABC Review List:

Troy Corman and Keith Kamper were elected to the committee replacing Andrew Core and Magill Weber

ABC Business news - January 2019

Chris Benesh and David Vander Pluym were elected to the committee replacing Eric Hough and Kurt Radamaker

ABC Business news - July  2018

A meeting was held at the home of Janet Witzeman in Phoenix from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Present were Andrew Core, Laurens Halsey (outgoing), Lauren Harter (incoming), Eric Hough, Kurt Radamaker, Gary Rosenberg, David Vander Pluym (outgoing), and Magill Weber. Missing were Sean Fitzgerald (incoming) and Scott Olmstead.

Added to State Checklist

 In the ABC Report to Western Birds 2010-2014 6 species were added the state list.

As part of the annual meeting the Arizona Review list is evaluated. The following 6 species were removed from the ABC Review List:

The following species met the “30+ records” criteria, but were voted to be retained on the List for now: Black Scoter, Am. Golden Plover, Red-eyed Vireo, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, Blackpoll Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Purple Finch. 

It was decided to create a position of Chair of the Committee who would take care of duties such as scheduling and running the annual meeting and communicating with people who submit records. Lauren volunteered to take on this position.

It was agreed that the Bylaws need to be revised and a Mission Statement be written.

ABC Business news - September - 2017

Pine Flycatcher was added to the state list

ABC Business news - January 2016

Andrew Core and Magill Weber were elected to the committee replacing Dave Stejskal and Lauren Harter

ABC Business news - January 2015

No new species were added from 2014

As part of the annual meeting the Arizona Review list is evaluated. The following 7 species were removed from the ABC Review List:

Eric Hough and Kurt Radamaker were elected to the committee replacing members Paul Lehman and Andrew Core

The NAB regional editors still request that “Sketch” details be submitted for sightings of these species - but they will no longer be reviewed by the ABC.

Other topics that were covered included the entering of ABC accepted records into eBird, the conversion of all ABC data into pdf form for archival purposes, and the need to solicit outside opinions regarding the identification of the Tucson “wintering” Short-tailed Hawk that returned multiple years, but was in a very odd plumage for Short-tailed Hawk.

ABC Business news - January 2014

Ivory Gull and Common Redpoll added to State List

As part of the annual meeting the Arizona Review list is evaluated. The following 3 species were removed from the ABC Review List:


Laurens Halsey and David Vander Pluym were elected to the committee replacing members Narca Moore-Craig and Kurt Radamaker

ABC Business news - December 2012

No meeting took place for 2012. Committee member elections were held via email.
Lauren Harter and Dave Stejskal were elected to the committee replacing members Gary Rosenberg and Molly Pollock

ABC Meeting news - December 2011

At the 28 December 2011 annual meeting the Peach-faced Lovebird, or as it is officially named in Clements Birds of the World the Rosy-faced Lovebird, was officially accepted to the Arizona State List, bringing the official Arizona Checklist to 551 species. Read the Arizona Birds Online Journal article here.


Rosy-faced Lovebird photo by Pierre Deviche

As part of the annual meeting the Arizona Review list is evaluated. The following 5 species were removed from the ABC Review List:

Chris Benesh and John Yerger were elected to the committee replacing members Pierre Deviche and Michael C. Moore.

Updates to Arizona State List - Oct 2011

Three species were added to the official state list: Baikal Teal (Anas formosa), Little Gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus), and Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis). This brings the Arizona State List to 550 species.

Pending Committee Review: Rosy-faced Lovebird 

Updates to Arizona State List - Sep 2010

Eleven species were added to the official state list: these were Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala), Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus), Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus), Tufted Flycatcher (Mitrephanes phoeocercus), Couch's Kingbird (Tyrannus couchii), Gray-collared Becard (Pachyramphus major), Brown-chested Martin (Progne tapera), Sinaloa Wren (Thryothorus sinaloa), Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis), Brown-backed Solitaire (Myadestes occidentalis), and White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera).

Pending Committee Review: Baikal Teal, Little Gull, Sedge Wren, and Rosy-faced Lovebird

Changes to ABC Review List - Dec 2009

The Arizona Bird Committee met on 12 December 2009 and approved the following changes to the Sketch Details and Review Lists for Arizona:

Note: In general, Review Species are those species with fewer than 40 records for the state. Species with more than 40 records may be removed from the Review List if they have averaged more than about 3 records per year in the last 5 years.

The following species were changed from Review to Sketch Details Species:

Added to the list as a Review Species:

Sinaloa Wren

(Pending final approval by the committee: Gray-collared Becard, Brown-backed Solitaire, White-winged Crossbill)


Changes to ABC Review List - Aug 2008

The Arizona Bird Committee met on 16 August 2008 and approved the following changes to the Sketch Details and Review Lists for Arizona:

Note 1: In the previous list, several species were qualified by date, sex or location. The committee removed all such qualifications. Either the species is on the list or it is not. No species were removed entirely from the lists.

Note 2: In general, Review Species are those species with fewer than 40 records for the state. Species with more than 40 records may be removed from the Review List if they have averaged more than about 3 records per year in the last 5 years.

Greater Scaup - Sketch Details everywhere in the state (formerly only away from Colorado River Valley).

Buff-collared Nightjar - Added to Review List (omitted in error from previous list)

Berylline Hummingbird - Changed from Review to Sketch Details since it has become more regular in the state recently.

Rose-thorated Becard - Added to Review List due to recent decrease in sightings

"Eastern" Winter Wren - (Troglodytes troglodytes hiemalis complex) - added to the Review List as a subspecies since there is evidence that this is a separate species and is a likely future split. There is at least one possible photograph of this form from the state. "Pacific" Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes pacificus complex), the regular form in Arizona, remains on the Sketch Details list.

Gray Catbird - Sketch Details throughout the state. (formerly Review only away from White Mountains).

Black-throated Blue Warbler - Sketch Details Species (formerly Review for females only).

Kentucky Warbler - Reveiw Species (formerly for spring records only). Records have declined in recent years.

Bobolink - added to Review List as records have declined.

"Red" Fox Sparrow - added to review list. To avoid confusion, all Fox Sparrows except for the expected Slate-colored form are now on the Review List.

McCown's Longspur - Sketch Detail species. (formerly Review away from SE Arizona)

Changes to ABC Bylaws - Dec 2007
A vote in December of 2007 established the American Birding Association Checklist Committee Guidelines for established exotics, as the standard for accepting exotics onto the Arizona State List.