Thirty-eighth Annual Report of the Vermont Bird Records Committee
The Vermont Bird Records Committee (hereafter VBRC or the Committee) held its annual meeting on 10 November 2018 at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies in Norwich, Vermont. The 38th annual report of the VBRC covers the evaluation of 50 records involving 28 species and 3 subspecies or ‘identifiable subspecific forms’. Forty-three records were accepted (86%) with the majority decided unanimously.
There were no first state records for any species during this period. Notable state reports included the second record for Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) , the fourth state record for Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus), and third through eighth records for Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator), and other species. There were no rare nesting reports submitted. A detailed list of reports is included.
The Vermont Bird Checklist remains at 387 species, representing 22 orders and now 63 families. The names of the birds and their taxonomic arrangement follow the American Ornithological Society Checklist of North American Birds Seventh Edition (1998) and 60th supplement (June 2019). The checklist includes one extinct species (Passenger Pigeon [Ectopistes migratorius] ), two extirpated (Loggerhead Shrike [Lanius ludovicianus] and Henslow’s Sparrow [Ammodramus henslowii]), six hypothetical occurrences, and nine introduced species. With the addition of Hooded Warbler as breeding in 2017, there have now been 203 species found breeding in the state. The checklist can be viewed and downloaded at http://vtecostudies.org/wildlife/wildlife-watching/vbrc/bird-checklists/. Species taxonomy and nomenclature follow the 7th edition of the AOS Checklist of North American Birds and supplements (see http://www.americanornithology.org/content/checklist-north-and-middle-american-birds). Nomenclature for subspecies or ‘identifiable subspecific forms’ follows taxonomy of The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World (Version 2019), available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/.
