Ohio Bird Records Committee Summary 2021

The Ohio Bird Records Committee (OBRC) had a productive year in 2021. Due to a complicated series of circumstances, the committee had not functioned effectively for several years. Late in 2020, OBRC founder Robert Harlan asked Jon Cefus if he was willing to take the role of secretary in an effort to try to get the committee functioning again. Jon Cefus agreed to take the role of secretary with Robert Harlan in the role of vice-secretary to help facilitate the process and provide guidance about procedures and adherence to the OBRC bylaws.

The membership of the committee in 2021 included Jon Cefus (Secretary), Robert Harlan (Vice Secretary), Jen Brumfield, Tom Kemp, Steve Landes, Ben Morrison, Steve Schafer, Ben Warner, and Brian Wulker.

The first task for the secretary and vice secretary was to determine if the current members of the committee were willing to continue their tenure. All the members agreed.

The second task was to prioritize what records should be reviewed as there was a growing number that had not been addressed. The secretary and vice secretary deemed that new state records in Ohio should be the first priority. The second priority was to review records that would have an impact on the presence of rare species in Ohio since the last publication of The Ohio Bird Records Committee Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ohio in 2008, as there is intent to publish an updated edition of that checklist in 2022.

Integral to achieving the above goals, it was determined that some emendations to the OBRC bylaws would be necessary. A proposal was put forth to emend the Bylaws of the OBRC to better reflect recent trends in observations of birds in Ohio and to help the records committee work more efficiently. In the past, the threshold for a species to be removed from the review species list was that the accepted record frequency was fewer than TWO records per year for the most recent 10-year period. A vote was taken, and the following emendation accepted by the committee establishing the criteria of an Ohio review species as:

“Review List criteria are as follows:
(a) Any species for which there is no Accepted record for the state is automatically a Review List species;
(b) Any species for which the Accepted frequency is less than ONE record per year (for the most recent ten year period) is automatically a Review List species;
(c) Any species not falling within the above two categories may be added to the Review List, after relevant discussion, if a majority of the Committee so agrees.”

The first batch of records to review was sent to the OBRC in March 2021. This batch of 20 records represented 10 new potential state records, as well as several 2nd and 3rd state records. The committee unanimously voted to accept all 10 of the new state records, bringing the official list of accepted species in Ohio to 443 and a species pair. The 10 species added to the list of OBRC accepted records in Ohio are:
Black-chinned Hummingbird, Limpkin, Slaty-backed Gull, Brown Booby, White-tailed Kite, Tropical Kingbird, Gray Kingbird, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Brewer’s Sparrow, and Hooded Oriole.

The emendation to the bylaws that set the standard for what constitutes a review species for the OBRC (see above) resulted in 22 species being removed from the review species list in 2021. The 22 species are:
Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Trumpeter Swan (a separate vote covered below), White-winged Dove, Yellow Rail, Piping Plover, Ruff*, Black-headed Gull, California Gull, Pacific Loon, Neotropic Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Glossy Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Mississippi Kite, Loggerhead Shrike*, Fish Crow, Cave Swallow*, Varied Thrush, Smith’s Longspur, Harris’s Sparrow, Kirtland’s Warbler, and Painted Bunting.

In the list above, the (*) indicates that the committee voted to place that species, which had met the threshold for removal from the review species list, back on to the list of review species in Ohio. For Ruff, the rationale was that it remains a rare bird in the American Birding Association Area in North America. Loggerhead Shrike populations continue to decline in our part of the country. Cave Swallows are generally seen over Lake Erie at long distances in the late fall/early winter, presenting challenges getting to a definitive identification.

The OBRC continued to vote on batches of review species through 2021. In the end, the committee voted on 6 batches of review species. The batches added up to reviewing 127 records. These records were gleaned from 2 sources. The first source is the OBRC portal provided by the Ohio Ornithological Society’s website. Those records were sent to the OBRC by individuals who saw a bird and sent written documentation about their sightings. If needed, supporting documentation (e.g. photos, audio recordings) was sent to bolster the report. The second source are reports generated in eBird by observers using that citizen science tool. Many eBird users take photographs or make recordings of their sightings, particularly of rare birds, which are often review species in Ohio. In order to help facilitate the work of the secretary at gleaning these review species reports, the team of eBird reviewers in Ohio are asked to find the best reports in their respective areas of review species and submit them to the secretary to be entered into batches of records to be reviewed. The trend seems to be that birders are using less paper submissions of review species to the OBRC (and presumably other state records committees), so finding ways to get reports via sources like eBird will be essential going forward.

Of the above 127 records reviewed by the OBRC in 2021, 123 were accepted by the committee votes. 3 records were not accepted. 1 record was placed into recirculation status and remains unresolved as of the generation of this report. The committee will continue discussion about this record in 2022.

In addition to casting votes on the above records, the OBRC also met the goal of taking up the question of whether to remove Trumpeter Swan (TRUS) from the list of review species in Ohio. After gathering information regarding the status of TRUS in Ohio historically, its introduction to the state in 1996, and its breeding status/presence since that year, the committee voted unanimously (9-0) to remove it from the list of review species in Ohio. The evidence is clear that TRUS has successfully established a presence in Ohio. A more detailed report discussing the full rationale was published on the OBRC Facebook page and posted on the Ohio Birds email listserv. An article is also being published in the Ohio Cardinal, the repository of Ohio’s birding records.

In regard to the coming publication of a new Ohio Bird Records Committee Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ohio, author Robert Harlan reported to the secretary on December 2, 2021 that his work gathering the most up to date data for that project was complete and he, with a great deal of assistance from his wife Sandy, had completed the bar charts for that publication. The secretary will now find someone who can take that data and the bar charts and put them into a format for publishing as a physical handbook. The goal is to have this handbook available in the spring of 2022. The Ohio Ornithological Society agreed several years ago to pay the costs of having this new annotated checklist printed.

The final business attended to in 2021 was to find replacements for the 2 committee members whose terms are ending at the end of this calendar year. Tom Kemp and Ben Warner have both contributed a great deal to the committee and brought their experience and knowledge to bear on all the committee’s endeavors. The committee hopes that they will both return to serve in future years. Thank you, Tom and Ben! Nominees were presented to replace these 2 coming vacancies. Alex Eberts and Matt Kemp were nominated by committee members and a vote was taken to accept them as the newest OBRC members. The OBRC voted unanimously to accept their nominations. Thank you to Alex and Matt for their willingness to join the OBRC!

The Ohio Bird Records Committee looks forward to continuing our work in 2022.

Jon Cefus
Secretary, OBRC