Proceedings of the Minnesota Ornithological

Records Committee

Kim R. Eckert

There was a meeting of the Commit-

tee on 6 December 1992, and the

primary item on the agenda was the official

Checklist of Minnesota Birds, which is up-

dated every five years. This list is sched-

uled for publication this year and will be

distributed with the Summer 1993 issue of

The Loon. (This list is normally included

with the Spring issue, but the American Or-

nithologists' Union met in February to con-

sider several changes in nomenclature and

sequence, and it was decided to delay our

Checklist until these changes could be in-

cluded.)

The status of several species was

changed from the 1988 Checklist:

• Gyrfalcon and Western Sandpiper, both

formerly Regular, are now considered Ca-

sual.

• Red-throated Loon, Ross' Goose, Ruff,

Carolina Wren, Worm-eating Warbler and

House Finch, all formerly Casual, are now

considered Regular.

• Snowy Plover, Pomarine Jaeger and

Bewick's Wren, all formerly Casual, are

now considered Accidental.

• Clark's Grebe, Eurasian Wigeon, Long-

billed Curlew, Lesser Black-backed Gull,

Least Tern, Western Wood-Pewee, Rock

Wren and Sage Thrasher, all formerly con-

sidered Accidental, are now considered Ca-

sual.

• Trumpeter Swan, formerly on the Ex-

tirpated list, is now considered Accidental

on the basis of the January 1991 record

from Wabasha Co. (The Loon 63:147-150.)

(Note, however, that all other Trumpeter

Swans seen in recent years in Minnesota

are still considered individuals from recently

introduced populations; since these popula-

tions are not yet established in the wild,

such individuals are not yet "countable".)

There were also votes on three records

at the meeting:

• The frigatebird record from September

Spring 1993

1988 in Clearwater Co. (see below) was dis-

cussed, and by a 9-1 vote it was decided to

consider this individual a Magnificent

Frigatebird, rather than frigatebird, sp.

(When considering records of this type, all

ten members vote.)

• A photo record of a Western Tanager

on 30 May 1992 in Minneapolis, Hennepin

Co. was found Acceptable (vote 7-0).

• The Bam Owls nesting during 1991 in

Vermillion Twp., Dakota Co. were found

Acceptable (vote 7-0).

The following records were voted on July

-December 1992 and found Acceptable:

• Clark's Grebe, 3 May 1992, South

Heron Lake, Jackson Co. (vote 7-0; The

Loon 64:174).

• Clark's Grebe, 25-29 June 1992, Dia-

mond Lake, Kandiyohi Co. (vote 7-0; The

Loon 64:163).

•Worm-eating Warbler, 12 May 1992,

Warner Nature Center, Washington Co. (vote

7-0; The Loon 64: 166).

• Black-necked Stilt, 4 June 1992,

Bloomington, Hennepin Co. (vote 7-0; The

Loon 64:166-167).

• Lewis' Woodpecker, 10 May 1992, near

Grand Marais, Cook Co. (vote 7-0; The

Loon 64:160-161).

• Black-headed Grosbeak, 16 April 1992,

Bemidji, Beltrami Co. (vote 5-2; The Loon

64:231-232).

• White-eyed Vireo, 10-23 May 1992,

near Reno, Houston Co. (vote 7-0; The

Loon 65 :48-49).

• frigatebird, sp. (later accepted as Mag-

nificent Frigatebird; see above), 22 Septem-

ber 1988, Lake Itasca, Clearwater Co. (vote

10-0). (All ten members vote on potential

first state records; this record had previously

been voted on and found Unacceptable -

see The Loon 62:13).

• Laughing Gull, 28-30 June 1992,

Ruthton, Pipestone Co. (vote 7-0; The Loon

64: 178-179).

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