Great Basin Birds 4(1) 2001, pp. xx–xx
© 2001 by the Great Basin Bird Observatory

A Comprehensive Revision of the Nevada
Bird Records Committee Review List

CHRIS ELPHICK

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
75 North Eagleville Road U-43, University of Connecticut
Storrs CT 06269

Herein is provided the first major revision of the Nevada Bird Records Committee (NBRC) Review List (Table 1). The NRBC was formed in 1994 to provide a mechanism for better documenting the occurrence of bird species in Nevada. Birders who observe rare species are requested to send descriptions, field sketches, photographs, tape recordings, and any other pertinent information to the committee secretary for review. The review list includes all of the species reported in Nevada (see Alcorn 1988, Titus 1996) for which documentation is requested by the committee. Documentation also is requested for any species that is not known to have occurred previously in the state.

When the committee was formed, an initial list of review species was compiled and made available to anyone who requested it from the secretary. The goals of this revision are as follow: (1) to improve the consistency with which species are included or excluded from the list, (2) to regionalize the list, and (3) to increase the availability of the list and encourage birders to submit documentation of their sightings.

Ensuring that standard criteria are used for deciding which species are included on the list is difficult because the birds of Nevada are poorly known and there generally is little documentation of unusual species. Hence, one cannot easily use some simple criterion, such as the frequency or number of occurrences, and inclusion remains somewhat subjective. The inclusion of a species on the current review list was based on its status as given in Titus (1996). After consultation with several birders from Nevada and California (Pete Bradley, Graham Chisholm, Marian Cressman, Jim Eidel, Ted Floyd, Mark Ports, Mike San Miguel, and Carolyn Titus), the list was modified and expanded to include species of uncertain status (e.g., as a result of a species split), species for which status has apparently changed over time (e.g., former breeders now thought to be extirpated), and species for which additional distribution information would add greatly to our knowledge of the state’s avifauna (e.g., certain rare but regular breeders).

Nevada is a large state with extremely diverse habitats. We have followed the precedent (Titus 1996) of subdividing the state into three regions in order to provide a better understanding of species occurrence and distribution throughout the state. The three regions are (1) Northwest: Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Humboldt, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Storey, and Washoe Counties; (2) Northeast: Elko, Eureka, Lander, and White Pine Counties; and (3) South: Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, and Nye Counties. These designations differ slightly from those defined by Titus (1996), who included the northernmost parts of Nye county in the Northeast region. Many species are exceedingly rare in some parts of the state, but regular or even common elsewhere. A Common Tern in the northwest, for example, is relatively commonplace, while the same species has yet to be reported from the northeast. Equally, a Verdin in Winnemucca would be a significant record, even though the species breeds commonly in the Mojave Desert to the south. When reports of a species are only warranted from certain regions, this fact is noted in the list (see Table 1). For example, reports of Red-necked Grebe are requested from the Northeast and South regions only. In contrast, Yellow-billed Loons from anywhere in the state should be reported. In a few cases, primarily involving extremely localized breeders, documentation is requested from anywhere in the state except for the small area where the species occurs frequently (e.g., Trumpeter Swan, Whip-poor-will).

By publishing this revised review list, it is hoped that awareness of the NBRC will increase and that birders will be encouraged to submit their records. Reports of some of the more “common” rarities are extremely valuable and allow us to ascertain whether these species really warrant inclusion on the review list, thus providing a better understanding of the status of these species in the state. In general, this revision adopts a conservative approach, retaining several species that are seen quite frequently until enough records have accumulated for accurately describing occurrence patterns. As knowledge of the state’s birds improves, the NRBC will revise the review list periodically. Indeed, it is hoped that a major review of the state bird list will be conducted in the near future, thereby clarifying the status of some of these species further. Comments on the current review list should be sent to the NBRC secretary, (80 South Gibson Road, Apt 1314, Henderson, NV 89012). The NBRC secretary is also the person to whom all documentation of rare or unusual birds in Nevada should be submitted.

In addition to the species on the review list, documentation of breeding records is requested for any species that has not been confirmed as a breeding bird during the Nevada Breeding Bird Atlas project (see the article that begins on p. x for a list of species that were not confirmed as breeders). The committee also would be interested in receiving information on unusual subspecies found in the state, and it encourages birders to identify rare birds to the subspecies level whenever possible. Currently, the committee does not have a direct policy of reviewing rare subspecies of those species that are otherwise common in the state (e.g., Fox Sparrow). However, we anticipate that this policy may change as more subspecies data are received, and we hope to develop a list of subspecies for review.

Table 1. The Nevada Bird Records Committee Review List. Sightings of all species on this list require documentation, except where exemptions are noted. Species that are not on this list and that do not appear in Titus (1996) also require documentation. Documentation should be sent to the Nevada Bird Records Committee (NBRC) secretary, (80 South Gibson Road, Apt 1314, Henderson, NV 89012) for evaluation and permanent archiving. Areas of exemption: NE, Northeast; NW, Northwest; S, Southwest (see text for definitions of these areas).

1. Red-throated Loon
2. Yellow-billed Loon
3. Red-necked Grebe (NW exempt)
4. Least Storm-Petrel
5. Blue-footed Booby
6. Brown Booby
7. Brown Pelican
8. Neotropic Cormorant
9. Magnificent Frigatebird
10. Little Blue Heron
11. Tricolored Heron
12. Reddish Egret
13. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
14. Roseate Spoonbill
15. Wood Stork
16. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
17. Fulvous Whistling-Duck
18. Ross’s Goose (NW and S exempt)
19. Brant
20. Trumpeter Swan (Ruby Valley in NE exempt)
21. Eurasian Wigeon
22. American Black Duck
23. Harlequin Duck
24. Black Scoter
25. White-tailed Kite
26. Mississippi Kite
27. Common Black-Hawk
28. Harris’s Hawk
29. Broad-winged Hawk (Goshute Mountains in NE exempt)
30. Zone-tailed Hawk
31. Gyrfalcon
32. Himalayan Snowcock (Ruby Mountains in NE exempt)
33. Gray Partridge (NW and NE exempt)
34. Ruffed Grouse (NE exempt)
35. Sharp-tailed Grouse (NE exempt)
36. Gambel’s Quail (S exempt)
37. Yellow Rail
38. Clapper Rail
39. Purple Gallinule
40. American Golden-Plover
41. Pacific Golden-Plover
42. Mountain Plover
43. Spotted Redshank
44. Wandering Tattler
45. Upland Sandpiper
46. Whimbrel (NW and S exempt)
47. Hudsonian Godwit
48. Ruddy Turnstone
49. Black Turnstone
50. Red Knot (NW and S exempt)
51. Sanderling (NW and S exempt)
52. Semipalmated Sandpiper (NW and S exempt)
53. Red-necked Stint
54. Pectoral Sandpiper (NW and S exempt)
55. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
56. Curlew Sandpiper
57. Stilt Sandpiper (S exempt)
58. Buff-breasted Sandpiper
59. Ruff
60. Short-billed Dowitcher (NW and S exempt)
61. Red Phalarope
62. Pomarine Jaeger
63. Parasitic Jaeger
64. Long-tailed Jaeger
65. Laughing Gull
66. Heerman’s Gull
67. Mew Gull
68. Thayer’s Gull (NW exempt)
69. Yellow-footed Gull
70. Western Gull
71. Glaucous-winged Gull (NW and S exempt)
72. Glaucous Gull
73. Sabine’s Gull (NW and S exempt)
74. Black-legged Kittiwake
75. Red-legged Kittiwake
76. Common Tern (NW and S exempt)
77. Arctic Tern
78. Least Tern
79. Black Skimmer
80. Ancient Murrelet
81. White-winged Dove (S exempt)
82. Inca Dove (S exempt)
83. Common Ground-Dove
84. Ruddy Ground-Dove
85. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (S exempt)
86. Greater Roadrunner (S exempt)
87. Groove-billed Ani
88. Snowy Owl
89. Northern Pygmy-Owl (NW and S exempt)
90. Elf Owl
91. Spotted Owl
92. Great Gray Owl
93. Lesser Nighthawk (S exempt)
94. Chuck-will’s-widow
95. Whip-poor-will (Sheep Range in S exempt)
96. Black Swift
97. Broad-billed Hummingbird
98. Magnificent Hummingbird
99. Costa’s Hummingbird (S exempt)
100. Anna’s Hummingbird (NW and S exempt)
101. Allen’s Hummingbird
102. Red-headed Woodpecker
103. Acorn Woodpecker
104. Gila Woodpecker
105. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
106. Ladder-backed Woodpecker (S exempt)
107. Nuttall’s Woodpecker
108. Downy Woodpecker (NW and NE exempt)
109. White-headed Woodpecker (NW exempt)
110. Three-toed Woodpecker (NE exempt)
111. Black-backed Woodpecker (NW exempt)
112. Gilded Flicker (S exempt)
113. Pileated Woodpecker
114. Greater Pewee
115. Eastern Wood-Pewee
116. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
117. Least Flycatcher
118. Pacific-slope Flycatcher
119. Cordilleran Flycatcher (NE exempt)
120. Eastern Phoebe
121. Vermilion Flycatcher (S exempt)
122. Dusky-capped Flycatcher
123. Brown-crested Flycatcher (S exempt)
124. Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
125. Tropical Kingbird
126. Cassin’s Kingbird (S exempt)
127. Thick-billed Kingbird
128. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
129. White-eyed Vireo
130. Bell’s Vireo (S exempt)
131. Gray Vireo (S exempt)
132. Yellow-throated Vireo
133. Cassin’s Vireo (NW exempt)
134. Blue-headed Vireo
135. Hutton’s Vireo
136. Philadelphia Vireo
137. Red-eyed Vireo
138. Yellow-green Vireo
139. Gray Jay
140. Blue Jay
141. Purple Martin
142. Black-capped Chickadee (NE exempt)
143. Verdin (S exempt)
144. Cactus Wren (S exempt)
145. American Dipper (NW and NE exempt)
146. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher (S exempt)
147. Veery
148. Gray-cheeked Thrush
149. Wood Thrush
150. Gray Catbird (S exempt)
151. Brown Thrasher
152. Bendire’s Thrasher (S exempt)
153. Curve-billed Thrasher
154. Crissal Thrasher (S exempt)
155. Le Conte’s Thrasher (S exempt)
156. Yellow Wagtail
157. Olive-backed Pipit
158. Sprague’s Pipit
159. Phainopepla (S exempt)
160. Blue-winged Warbler
161. Golden-winged Warbler
162. Tennessee Warbler
163. Lucy’s Warbler (S exempt)
164. Northern Parula
165. Chestnut-sided Warbler
166. Magnolia Warbler
167. Cape May Warbler
168. Black-throated Blue Warbler
169. Black-throated Green Warbler
170. Blackburnian Warbler
171. Yellow-throated Warbler
172. Grace’s Warbler (S exempt)
173. Pine Warbler
174. Prairie Warbler
175. Palm Warbler
176. Bay-breasted Warbler
177. Blackpoll Warbler
178. Cerulean Warbler
179. Black-and-white Warbler (S exempt)
180. American Redstart (S exempt)
181. Prothonotary Warbler
182. Worm-eating Warbler
183. Ovenbird (S exempt)
184. Northern Waterthrush (S exempt)
185. Louisiana Waterthrush
186. Kentucky Warbler
187. Connecticut Warbler
188. Mourning Warbler
189. Hooded Warbler
190. Canada Warbler
191. Red-faced Warbler
192. Painted Redstart
193. Hepatic Tanager (S exempt)
194. Summer Tanager (S exempt)
195. Scarlet Tanager
196. Abert’s Towhee (S exempt)
197. Cassin’s Sparrow
198. Rufous-crowned Sparrow (S exempt)
199. Clay-colored Sparrow
200. Field Sparrow
201. Grasshopper Sparrow
202. Le Conte’s Sparrow
203. Swamp Sparrow
204. Golden-crowned Sparrow (NW and S exempt)
205. McCown’s Longspur
206. Lapland Longspur (NW and S exempt)
207. Smith’s Longspur
208. Chestnut-collared Longspur
209. Snow Bunting
210. Northern Cardinal
211. Pyrrhuloxia
212. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (S exempt)
213. Blue Grosbeak (NW and S exempt)
214. Indigo Bunting (NW and S exempt)
215. Painted Bunting
216. Dickcissel
217. Tricolored Blackbird (NW exempt)
218. Rusty Blackbird
219. Common Grackle
220. Bronzed Cowbird
221. Orchard Oriole
222. Hooded Oriole (S exempt)
223. Streak-backed Oriole
224. Baltimore Oriole
225. Scott’s Oriole (NE and S exempt)
226. Brambling
227. Pine Grosbeak (NW exempt)
228. Purple Finch
229. White-winged Crossbill
230. Common Redpoll
231. Hoary Redpoll
232. Lawrence’s Goldfinch

LITERATURE CITED

Alcorn, J.R. 1988. The Birds of Nevada. Fairview West (Fallon).

Titus, C.K. 1996. Field List of the Birds of Nevada. Red Rock Audubon Society (Las Vegas).