Black-throated Sparrow (formerly Acci-

dental)

Painted Bunting (formerly Accidental)

Deletions from the Casual list

King Rail (now Accidental)

Baird’s Sparrow (now Accidental)

Additions to the Accidental list

Smew (added in 1999)

Black Vulture (added in 2001)

White-tailed Kite (added in 2000)

King Rail (formerly Casual)

White-throated Swift (added in 2000)

Costa’s Hummingbird (added in 2003)

Baird’s Sparrow (formerly Casual)

Deletions from the Accidental list

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (now Ca-

sual)

Pomarine Jaeger (now Casual)

Black-headed Gull (now Casual)

Arctic Tern (now Casual)

Eurasian Collared-Dove (now Regular)

Band-tailed Pigeon (now Casual)

Black Phoebe (removed from state list)

Sage Thrasher (now Casual)

Black-throated Sparrow (now Casual)

Painted Bunting (now Casual)

Great-tailed Grackle (now Regular)

Additions to the Extirpated list

Northern Bobwhite (formerly Regular)

At the beginning of 2004, as there is

every year, there was a change in the

membership of this Committee. Currently,

the seven full-time members are Peder

Svingen (new chairperson approved by

the MOU Board, replacing retiring chair

Kim Eckert), Paul Budde, Philip Chu, An-

thony Hertzel, Jim Mattsson (replacing

Karl Bardon, whose term expired), Drew

Smith, and Tom Tustison; the three alter-

nate members are Renner Anderson, Ann

Kessen, and Steve Stucker (replacing Jim

Mattsson).

Accepted Records

The following records were voted on

August – December 2003 and were Ac-

cepted (also see Not Accepted records

2003-39, 2003-63, and 2003-81, all of

which involved qualified Accepted votes).

• Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, 19

May 1980, Wall Lake, Otter Tail County

(record #2003-38, identification Accepted

10–0 / A(o) origin Accepted 9–1).

All ten MOURC members vote on po-

tential first state records and on questions

of origin. This potentially first state re-

cord was originally voted on and Not Ac-

cepted. However, at the time there were

not separate votes on identification and

origin, as there are today, and those not

accepting the record apparently did so

because of its possible captive origin. Ad-

ditionally, at the time there was no Ac-

cidental (o) designation: i.e., a record ac-

cepted on a qualified basis because of

uncertain origin. Accordingly, to clear up

any uncertainties, new votes were taken,

and the record was Accepted with the (o)

qualifier (as are most previous records of

this species).

• Barrow’s Goldeneye, 30 January – 11

March 2003, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail Coun-

ty (record #2003-49, vote 7–0).

As a female-plumaged bird, this was

a potentially difficult ID; however, it was

seen by many observers over several

weeks.

• Barrow’s Goldeneye, 2 April 2003,

Bloomington, Hennepin County (record

#2003-75, vote 5–2).

Those not accepting the record were

concerned that the description makes no

mention of a black bar extending to the

water line behind the chest, an important

distinction between male goldeneyes.

• Barrow’s Goldeneye, 11–15 Novem-

ber 2003, near Reno, Houston County (re-

cord #2003-83, vote 7–0).

The documentation includes a careful

description of the bird’s location on the

Minnesota side of the Mississippi River;

the state line is often misunderstood and

misconstrued along this part of the river.

• Red-throated Loon (2 individuals),

22 April 2003, Little Rock Lake, Benton

County (record #2003-46, vote 7–0).

Although this species is Regular in

Minnesota on Lake Superior, there are

very few documented records elsewhere

40 The Loon Volume 76