Olllfl BIRD lift Vol. XXXIII No. 3 September 1963 Published by the IOWA ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION 50 IOWA BIRD LIFE— XXXIII, 1963 A CHECKLIST OF IOWA BIRDS, CODED WITH STATUS SYMBOLS MARTIN L. GRANT State College of Iowa CEDAR FALLS. IOWA All species of birds that have been reported from Iowa by informed and xeliable observers during the past fifty years have been included here, as well as all earlier ones for which specimens are available, plus a few others which seem unmistakable. An asterisk (*) preceding the status-code points out those 39 species for which we have not found a record of an extant preserved specimen secured in Iowa. In some state lists such species are not accepted, but we feel no harm is done by including them if their status is made clear. Undoubtedly some records of specimens have been overlooked, and we would appreciate having these called to our attention, as well as any other additions, corrections, or suggestions. Subspecies distinctions have been ignored. Most of the material has been compiled from four sources: the American Ornithologists 1 Union Check-List of North American Birds, 5th edition, 1957, the official authority for both the common and the scientific names; R. M, Anderson, 1907, The Birds of Iowa; P, A. DuMont, 1933, A Revised List of the Birds of Iowa; and the 130 issues to date of Iowa Bird Life, edited by F. J. Pierce for most of its existence. A full bibliography would include over a thousand items. The "official” common name is in a few cases supplemented by another well-known name in parentheses, including all those used by R. T. Peterson in his Field Guide to the (Eastern) Birds, 1947 edition. The scientific names are given for those specialists who might be interested in them and may easily be ignored. [These double names, i.e., binomials, consist of a genus name (first) and a species name (second), followed by the name of the spec- ialist who coined the specific name. This person's name has been put into parentheses if it has later been deemed advisable to put the species into an- other genus. For most of these men an abbreviation has been used as fol- lows: A. — Audubon, B. “Bonaparte, B & B. — Baird and Baird, Be.' — Bechstein, Bod. — Boddaert, F. — Forster, G. — Gmelin, L.“Linnaeus, Lat.^Latham, Law.— Lawrence, M.— Muller, N. — NuttalJ, P — Pontoppidan, S.— Swainson, T, — Town- send, V.— Vieillot, and W. — Wilson. These seventeen men were responsible for naming 311 of the 361 species in the list.] The 361 species are numbered consecutively on the left, which numbers may be useful in handling data concerning birds within the state. Another set of numbers is given after the names of the orders and families, which are consecutive numbers we have given to these units as listed in A. Wetmore, A Revised Classification for the Birds of the World, 1951. These latter num- bers are useful in filing systematic material on any basis up to a global one, The largest families, with the numbers of species recorded in each from the state, are: Finches 44, Warblers 40, Ducks 36, Sandpipers 28, Hawks 16, Gulls and Terns 13, Flycatchers 12, Blackbirds 12, Herons 10, Woodpeckers 10, Thrushes 10, Owls 9, Rails 7, Wrens 7, Vireos 7, Plovers 6, and Swallows 6. These 17 families include 273 species, leaving only 88 species in the remaining 41 families. There are 18 orders. Explanation of Abbreviations One-letter symbols (capital letters) have been chosen to designate abund- ance and status. Three of these are arbitrary (G,X,2j, but the other 15 are the [ CHECKLIST OF IOWA BIRDS 51 initial letters of the words they stand for, and thus should be easy to learn. Six of them (G,X,Z,D,N, and O) have not been used before in bird lists, to our knowledge, but, we think, should prove useful. Terms of abundance: A — Abundant, C — Common, U— Uncommon, R— Hare, E— Extirpated in Iowa, or even Extinct. Unfortunately, these terms are arbi- trary and relative, but, for the better known species, it doesn’t matter. In general, Rare is applied to any species with less than about (abbreviation: c. for “circa”) 40 reports. For the very rarest species, a number is given fol- lowing R, which is an estimate of the number of published records of the species in Iowa, eg., R5. Sometimes, for clarity, this number is enclosed in parentheses. The absence of a number means that there are probably more than 25 records. The larger the number, the more likely it is to be incomplete. Where there are only 1-3 records of a given species, the dates of the records are given, preceded by a colon, and followed by a comma. Thus R2: 1928,1935, means that Lewis' Woodpecker has been reported only in those two years. A "c" is put before the date if it is approximate, and a question mark is used if the date is unknown. A date in parentheses following E represents the last year of observation, A few samples might illustrate the use of these terms of abundance, pick- ing a few species from each of several families: Abundant Uncommon Blue Goose Mallard Red-tailed Hawk Ring-necked Pheasant Pectoral Sandpiper Downy Woodpecker Robin Tennessee Warbler White-throated Sparrow Common Common Loon Black Duck Gray Partridge Common Gallinule Whitc-rumped Sandpiper Pileated Woodpecker Veery Mourning Warbler Lark Sparrow Rare Green Heron Wood Duck Bobwhite Sora Least Sandpiper Red-bellied Woodpecker Swainson's Thrush Nashville Warbler Vesper Sparrow Snowy Egret Oldsquaw Goshawk Yellow Rail Stilt Sandpiper Red -shafted Flicker Townsend's Solitaire Prairie Warbler Sharp-tailed Sparrow Obviously these will vary considerably from one part of the state to another, and from one habitat to another, but the attempt, rather subjectively, has been made to strike an average. The number of species in each of the categories will also give an indica- tion of the way in which the symbols are used. In the following table are listed the numbers of Abundant, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare (i.e. p R with the number of records given), and Extirpated birds in the state: A C U R VR E Total Non-Perching Birds 18 47 45 23 49 19 192 Perching Birds 33 50 38 19 27 2 169 Totals 51 97 83 42 76 12 361 Finch Family 6 14 10 7 5 2 44 52 IOWA BIRD LIFE— XXXIII, 1963 Terms of time: P— Permanent Resident, Le., some individuals (not neces- sarily the same ones) might be found at almost any time of the year; S Sum- mer Resident presumably nesting, such species usually being found in much greater numbers during the migrations than in the summer proper; W— Winter Resident, similarly usually more common during migration; M— Migrant, usually both spring and fall; F— Fall; G— Spring (for “Green”); N— Nesting, which is implied in “S” (Summer Resident), but is sometimes specifically stated (1) when there are very few breeding records (dates may be given), (2) when the bird is seen in the summer much more often than the number of nests found would suggest, or (3) when nesting no longer occurs; D— Dis- persing, usually northward, after the nesting season, i.e., late summer and early fall; V — Visitor, i.e., likely to travel around more than a regular resi- dent, and thus usually not staying through the whole season; Z— Irregular, unpredictable, not every year, i.e., variation from one year to another, while V refers to variation within a single year; O — once occurring, in the past, formerly but probably not now. (Note: R means Rare, never Resident, Resi- dent is implied in the symbols P, S, and W, except where these are modified by V. Thus WV means Winter Visitant). Terms of geography: n and s— the north and south halves, very roughly, of the State of Iowa; e and w— the east and west halves. Note that meast the south half and the east half, i.e., % of the state, while “se” means the southeast quarter only. I — introduced from Eurasia (5 species); X — out of normal range, a straggler, accidental (for “extension of usual range). Note that the four geographical terms (n,s,e,w) and “c" (for circa, about, approx- imately) are the only ones in lower case letters. Summary of Abbreviations, in Alphabetical Order A — Abundant C — Common c— approximately D — Dispersal, after nesting E — Extirpated e — east F— Fall G — Spring, “Green'’-time I — Introduced M — Migrant N — Nesting n — north O — Once, formerly P— Permanent Resident R — Rare S — Summer Resident s — south U — Uncommon V— Visitor W — Winter Resident w — west X — extension of normal range Z — Irregular no substantiating specimen CHECKLIST OF IOWA BIRDS Order GAVIIFORMES. Loons. 12. Family Gaviidae. Loons. 12.1 Common Name 1. Loon, Common 2. Loon, Arctic (Pacific) 3. Loon, Red-throated Scientific Name Gavia immer (Brunnich) Gavia arctica (L) Gavia stellata (P.) Status UM,ONn R6XWV R8XM Order FODICIPEDIFORMES. Grebes. 13 Family Podiclpedidae. Grebes. 13.1 4. Grebe, Red-necked (Hoelboell) 5. Grebe, Horned 6. Grebe, Eared 7. Grebe, Western 8. Grebe, Pied-billed Podiceps grisegena (Bod.) Podiceps auritus (L.) Podiceps caspicus (Hablizl) Aechmophorus occidentalis (Law.) Podilymbus podiceps (L.) R( 1DZMWV UM,QN UMwRc.ON *R14XM CS CHECKLIST OF IOWA BIRDS 53 Order PELECANIFORMES. Full-webbed Swimmers, 15, Family Pelecanidae. Pelicans. 15.2 9. Pelican. White Pelecanus erythrorhynchos G. IQ. Pelican, Brown Pelecanus occidentalis L. Family Fhalacrocoracidae. Cormorants. 15.6 11, Cormorant, Double- Phalacrocorax auritus crested (Lesson) Family Anhingidae. Darters. 15,7 12, Anhinga (Water Turkey) Anhinga anhinga (L.) Family Fregatidae, Frigate-birds. 15.3 13, Frigate-bird, Magnificent Fregata magnificens Mathews *R5X Order CICONI1FORMES. Herons and allies. 16. Family Ardeidae. Herons. 16,1 14. Heron, Great Blue Ardea herodias L. CMS 15. Heron, Green Butorides virescens (L.) CS 16. Heron. Little Blue Florida caerulea (L.) RZSV.UDse 17. Egret Cattle 18. Egret, Common Bubulcus ibis L, R4: 1961-63, GX (American) Casmerodius albus (L.) UMD.RS 19. Egret, Snowy 20. Heron, Black-crowned Leucophoyx thula (Molina) RZMD Night 21, Heron, Yellow-crowned Nycticorax nycticorax (L.) US Night Nyctanassa violacea (L.) ZS 22, Bittern, Least Ixobrychus exilis (G.) CS 23. Bittern, American Botaurus lentiginosus (Rackett) CM,US Family Ciconiidae, Storks. 16.5 24. Ibis, Wood Mycteria americana L. *R1:1931,D Family Threskiornithidae . Ibises. 16.6 25. Ibis, Glossy (Eastern) Plegadis falcinellus (L.) R2:1957,?,X 26. Ibis. White-faced Plegadis chihi (V.) R8X 27. Spoonbill, Roseate Ajaia ajaja (L.) *R1:1960,D Order ANSERIFORMES. Ducks and allies, 17. Family Anatidae. Ducks, Geese, Swans. 17,2 28. Swan, Whistling Olor columbianus (Ord> UM 29 Swan, Trumpeter Olor buccinator Richardson E(c 1900), ON 30, Goose, Canada Branta canadensis (L.) AM, ON 31. Goose, White-fronted Anser albifrons (Scopoli) MUwRe 32. Goose, Snow Chen hyperborea (Pallas) AMwUe 33. Goose, Blue Chen caerulescens (L.) AMwUe 34, Tree Duck, Fulvous Dendrocygna bicolor M Limosa fedoa (L.) RZM, ON Limosa haemastica (L.) UM Philomachus pugnax (L.) R1:1940,XG Crothecia alba (Pallas) RZM Family Recurvirostridae. Avocets, Stilts. 22.5 138. Avocet. American Recurvirostra americana G. RZM, ON 139. Stilt, Black -necked Himantopus mexicanus , and scarce in Des Moines. Yellow- throats had a very good nesting season around Goldfield, (DR), and there were more than in previous years. (GB). Yellow-breasted Chats failed to return to Pleasantville, (GB); but were probable nesters in several locations in Des Moines. American Redstarts were very scarce around Des Moines, Blackbirds, Bobolinks were at Lamoni as late as 16 June, (DG); quite a few were seen in late May and early June but few in July, (DP); there were good numbers of breeding pairs but none seen after 5 July, (DR); more were seen in Polk Co. than in recent years with 25 males and a female seen on a fence in 14 July by Mrs. Peasley. One Yellow-headed Blackbird on 16 July appeared to be a straggler. (DG). Yellow-headed Blackbirds had colonized Cardinal Marsh in 1962, but due to low water they failed to nest in the area this year, and only one adult was seen. (FL). Red-winged Blackbirds were down, (PD); but successful with low cowbird parasitism. (DR). An Orchard Oriole, considered as "casual” in northwest Iowa was seen regularly near Maurice (RM), Two males, one with a female, were seen but no nest found. (FK). An active nest was found at the Des Moines Reservoir, and one at Ogden had three young. (JK). Baltimore Orioles were up all over. (PP); and numerous at Des Moines; but down, (DP). Cowbird parasitism in May and early June was the lowest seen. (DR). 76 IOWA BIRD LIFE— XXXIII, 1963 Tanagers, Finches, Sparrows. A pair of Scarlet Tanagers was netted. iMJ). A singing Summer Tanager was heard 18 June at Wyth Park, Cedar Falls, (DR); one was seen at Palisades State Park, (LS); and two pairs nested in Des Moines. One was seen feeding a second brood on 26 July. Second nest- ings are unusual. Blue Grosbeaks seem to be up, (EBt; and one was seen near Orange City, (RM). Indigo Buntings were thought to be down, ; but plentiful in Des Moines. Diekcissels were numerous, (JK); and in Polk Co. Goldfinches were up, iDK, JKi. Rufous-sided Towhees were unusually few in Des Moines. There were more Grasshopper Sparrows than usual,