Proceedings of the Minnesota Ornithologists’

Union Records Committee

Thomas A. Tustison, Chairman

The most recent meeting of the Min-

nesota Ornithologists’ Union Records

Committee (MOURC) was conducted at

the Trailhead Lodge at the Carpenter Nature

Center on 7 December 2014. In attendance

and voting at this meeting were MOURC

members Dedrick A. Benz (alternate), Rob-

ert M. Dunlap, Kim R. Eckert, Bruce A. Fall,

Andrew R. Forbes (alternate), Anthony X.

Hertzel, Douglas W. Kieser (alternate), Robert

P. Russell, Andrew D. Smith, and Thomas A.

Tustison (chair).

The status of all species on the 2014

Checklist were reviewed by the Committee

this past year and 16 species were acknowl-

edged as having status changes. All ten mem-

bers have discussed and voted on the status

of these species, and the following changes

were endorsed:

From Regular to Casual (one species):

White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus).

From Casual to Regular (three species):

Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)

Sabine’s Gull (Xema sabini)

Say’s Phoebe (Sayornis saya).

From Casual to Accidental (seven species):

Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor)

Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus)

Long-billed Curlew (Numenius

americanus)

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus

ridibundus)

Least Tern (Sternula antillarum)

Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus)

Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza

bilineata)

From Accidental to Casual (five species):

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)

Slaty-backed Gull (Larus schistisagus)

Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia

atricapilla)

The Committee, at its 2 December 2012

meeting, decided that certain previously “Ac-

cepted” and published records of Casual and

Accidental species should be deleted. Conse-

quently, the Committee voted to deem such

records as “Not Accepted” and to delete them

from its archive and The Loon. These deleted

Casual and Accidental records are listed in

Table 1.

At, or subsequent to, the most recent

meeting, the following records were voted on

(most electronically) and Accepted:

• King Eider (Somateria spectabilis), 1 No-

vember 2014, Good Harbor Bay, Cook Coun-

ty (record #2014-048, vote 7–0). Female/juve-

nile, photographed. Twenty-second state and

thirteenth fall record.

• Common Eider (Somateria mollissima

v-nigrum), 10 November 2014 – 19 Febru-

ary 2015, Duluth, St. Louis County (record

#2014-051, vote 7–0). Photographed. Fifth

state and first county record. Both female/

immature birds were identified and accepted

as the subspecies S. m. v-nigrum, or Pacific

Common Eider. This subspecies is a candi-

date for a future split into a separate spe-

cies. It breeds in the coastal, arctic waters

of Alaska and northeastern Siberia. The last

previous Minnesota record of Common Eider

was 5 November 1966 at Lake Reno, Pope

County (The Loon 39:26). First discovered at

Brighton Beach, one or both birds were later

seen at various Duluth locations including

Leif Erickson Park, Glensheen Historic Man-

sion, Canal Park, and the Minnesota side of

Superior Entry. The two birds separated after

15 November 2014 with only the bird with an

orangish bill tip being seen afterwards. This

remaining bird was most frequently seen as-

sociating with other ducks at Canal Park. It

was observed repeatedly at Canal Park until

18 January 2015. It was later discovered at

Barkers Island in Superior, Wisconsin on 24

4 The Loon Volume 87