March 25, 2025 - The TBRC has officially added Yellow-headed Caracara to the state list. The acceptance of this species brings the state list to 672.
January 10, 2025 - The 2024 Annual Report can now be found in the TBRC Reports section.
October 7, 2024 - The minutes from the 2024 Annual Meeting are now available from the Annual Meetings page.
July 18, 2024 - Due to changes with the AOS 65th supplement, the split of Cory's Shearwater has resulted in the addition of Scopoli's Shearwater to the state list, bringing it to 671.
July 10, 2024 - The TBRC has officially added Southern Lapwing to the state list. The acceptance of this species brings the state list to 670.
June 3, 2024 - The TBRC has officially added Tufted Duck, Yellow-footed Gull and Gray-collared Becard to the state list. The acceptance of these species brings the state list to 669.
January 21, 2024 - The 2023 Annual Report can now be found in the TBRC Reports section.
December 31, 2023 -The TBRC has officially added Pacific Wren and Crescent-chested Warbler to the state list. The acceptance of these species brings the state list to 666.
September 27, 2023 - The minutes from the 2023 Annual Meeting are now available from the Annual Meetings page.
July 7, 2023: The TBRC has officially added Smooth-billed Ani to the state list. Due to changes with the AOS 64th supplement, Pacific-slope Flycatcher (removed from list) and Cordilleran Flycatcher (removed from list) have been lumped back into Western Flycatcher (added to list). With the ani addition and the net loss of one species with the Western Flycatcher lumping, the state list remains a 664 species.
January 9, 2023: The 2022 Annual Report can now be found in the TBRC Reports section.
January 2, 2023 -The TBRC has officially added Wedge-tailed Shearwater to the state list, bringing it to 664 species.
September 22, 2022 - The minutes from the 2022 Annual Meeting are now available from the Annual Meetings page. At this meeting, the TBRC removed Limpkin from its Review List.
August 25, 2022 -The TBRC has officially added Small-billed Elaenia and Trindade Petrel to the state list. The acceptance of these species brings the state list to 663.
August 21, 2022 - Due to changes with the AOS 63rd supplement, the state list grows to 661 via the addition of Chihuahuan Meadowlark as a full species (split from Eastern Meadowlark).
May 1, 2022: The TBRC has officially added Bat Falcon to the state list. The acceptance of this species brings the state list to 660 in good standing.
April 2, 2022: The TBRC has officially added Red-vented Bulbul and Scaly-breasted Munia to the state list. The acceptance of these species brings the state list to 659 in good standing.
January 14, 2022: The 2021 Annual Report can now be found in the TBRC Reports section.
December 9, 2021: The TBRC has officially added Steller's Sea-Eagle and Limpkin to the state list. The acceptance of these species brings the State List to 657 in good standing.
September 19, 2021: The minutes from the 2021 Annual Meeting are now available from the Annual Meetings page.
June 25, 2021: All lists have been changed to comply with the 62nd supplement to the AOS checklist. A name (common and scientific) change to Mew Gull, now Short-billed Gull (Larus brachyrhynchus), due to a split and a major reshuffling of the families under Passerines (Passeriformes) are the most noticeable differences.
January 9, 2021: The 2020 Annual Report can now be found in the TBRC Reports section.
December 6, 2020: The TBRC has officially added Blue-and-white Swallow to the state list. With this addition, the state list now stands at 655 species in good standing.
June 30, 2020: All lists have been changed to comply with the 61st supplement to the AOS checklist. The most notable change is the split of Mexican Duck from Mallard, so Mexican Duck is a new (full) species for the state list, bringing it to 654 species. The other changes involved scientific name changes and re-ordering of a few genus and families.
June 29, 2020: The TBRC has officially added White Wagtail to the state list. With this addition, the state list now stands at 653 species in good standing.
January 14, 2020: A new page has been added off the Home page that discusses our Criteria for Determining Establishment of Exotics.
January 1, 2020: Both the 2018 and 2019 Annual Reports can now be found in the TBRC Reports section.
September 11, 2019: The TBRC has officially added Yellow Grosbeak and Black Turnstone to the state list. With these 2 additions, the state list now stands at 652 species in good standing. The 2019 Annual Meeting was held on August 31st, 2019 and the minutes from that meeting are now up under the Annual Meeting section.
July 5, 2019: All lists have been changed to comply with the 60th supplement to the AOS checklist. No new species added nor species removed, just another round of minor name (common and scientific) and re-ordering of a few groups of birds.
May 11, 2019: The TBRC has officially added Black Swift to the state list. A lone bird was photographed over El Paso, El Paso County on 26 May 2018 that is the first photo-documented record for Texas. This joins an accepted sight record also from El Paso from 1985 to bring the state list to 650 species in good standing.
August 26, 2018 : The 2018 Annual Meeting was held on August 18th, 2018 and the minutes from that meeting are now up under the Annual Meeting section. The item of most interest to readers is likely the removal of Black-legged Kittiwake from the Review List given the species rather regular pattern of annual occurrence over the last several years.
July 1, 2018 : Some updates from the past couple of weeks. All lists have been changed to comply with the 59th supplement to the AOS Checklist. No new species were added or removed from the state list as part of the supplement. There were some minor shuffling of a couple of groups of birds, some genus changes, some scientific name changes and one common name change - White-collared Seedeater is now known as Morelet's Seedeater. In addition, the TBRC has officially added White-crowned Pigeon and Great Black Hawk to the state list. A White-crowned Pigeon was found injured near the Galveston Ferry (Galveston County) on 7 Oct 2017 while the Great Black Hawk was a surprising bird on South Padre Island (Cameron County) on 24 Apr 2018. The acceptance of these 2 species brings the State List to 649 in good standing.
October 7, 2017 : The 2016 Annual Report is now in the TBRC Reports section.
August 3, 2017 : All lists have been changed to comply with the 58th supplement to the AOS Checklist. From a Texas viewpoint, Thayer's Gull has been lumped as a subspecies of Iceland Gull, reducing the state list by one to 647 species in good standing. There were 2 common name changes - Magnificent Hummingbird changed to Rivoli's Hummingbird and Le Conte's Sparrow changed to LeConte's Sparrow (space removed). In addition, there were other scientific name changes, sequence changes and a reshuffling of a few families towards the end of the taxonomy. This is all reflected in the State List page. In addition, the minutes from the 2017 Annual Meeting are now up in the Annual Meetings section. As part of that meeting, the TBRC removed both Brown Booby and Iceland Gull from the review list.
May 19, 2017 : The TBRC has officially added Amethyst-throated Hummingbird to the state list. A hatch-year male was seen and videotaped at the Jeff Davis County site that hosts Cornell's West Texas Hummingbird Cam from 14 - 15 October 2016. The acceptance of this species brings the State List to 648 species in good standing.
April 4, 2017 : The TBRC has officially added Variegated Flycatcher to the state list. A rather cooperative individual was well-studied and seen by hundreds of birders at the South Padre Island Birding And Nature Center (Cameron County) from 28 September to 2 October 2016. The acceptance of this species brings the State List to 647 species in good standing.
March 4, 2017 : The TBRC has officially added 2 new species to the state list. The state's first White-tailed Tropicbird was successfully rehabilitated after being found on the beach on Padre Island National Seashore (Kleberg County) on 3 July 2010 after Hurricane Alex. The other new species for the state was Pacific-slope Flycatcher which was a long-staying bird at Sabal Palm Sanctuary (Cameron County) from 6 November 2015 to 7 April 2016. A statement has been added to the website concerning the acceptance of this species based on audio recordings. The acceptance of these two species brings the State List to 646 species in good standing.
August 11, 2016 : The minutes from the 2016 Annual Meeting are now up in the Annual Meetings section. As part of that meeting, the TBRC rejected the Striped Sparrow that was seen in the 2015 winter season. A statement about that record and the decision has been added under the List of Statements section.
July 7, 2016 : All lists have been changed to comply with the 57th supplement to the AOU Checklist. From a Texas viewpoint, there were 2 common name changes - Green Violetear became Mexican Violetear and Western Scrub-Jay became Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay. In addition, there were other scientific name changes, sequence changes and a large reshuffling of several non-passerine Orders. This is all reflected in the State List page.
July 4, 2016 : The 2015 Annual Report is now in the TBRC Reports section.
July 1, 2016 : Based on photos taken offshore from Calhoun County in July 2015, Wilson's Storm-Petrel has been formally accepted by the TBRC bringing the State List to 644 species in good standing.
March 3, 2016 : The November 2014 Common Crane from Goose Lake, Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, Bailey Co., has been formally accepted by the TBRC bringing the State List to 643 species in good standing. A statement on the acceptance of this species has also been included.
September 15, 2015 : The November 2014 Red-legged Honeycreeper from Hidalgo Co., has been formally accepted by the TBRC bringing the State List to 642 species in good standing. A statement on the acceptance on this species has also been included in the "List of Statements."
September 9, 2015: The minutes of the Annual Meetings from both 2014 and 2015 are now up in the Annual Meetings section.
July 3, 2015: All lists have been changed to comply with the 56th supplement to the AOU Checklist. From a Texas viewpoint, the only changes are to scientific names and sequences - all reflected in the State List page. The 2013 and 2014 Annual Reports are now in the TBRC Reports section.
May 20, 2015 : The August 2014 Bar-tailed Godwit from Nueces County, and the November 2014 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch from Dallam County, have been formally accepted by the TBRC bringing the State List to 641 species in good standing.
October 04, 2014 : All lists have been changed to comply with the 55th supplement to the AOU Checklist. From a Texas viewpoint, the only changes are to scientific names.
December 04, 2013 : A statement from the TBRC concerning the 2012 Tropical Mockingbird is added to the List of Miscelleneous Statements.The minutes of the 2013 Annual Meeting are now in the Meetings section. A new status, "RI" (Reintroduction in progress - not established) has been included on the Official State List and applied to Greater Prairie Chicken and Aplomado Falcon.
September 16, 2013 : All lists have been changed to comply with the 54th supplement to the AOU Checklist; from a Texas viewpoint the only changes are to scientific names and sequences, plus Sage Sparrow becomes Sagebrush Sparrow - all reflected in the State List and Review List pages.
July 15, 2013 : The March 2013 Razorbill submission has been accepted onto the Presumptive List at the bottom of the state list (the description was accepted but there is not supporting physical documentation). A new TBRC Facebook Page has been created by the TBRC Secretary: Texas Bird Records Committee.
June 19, 2013 : The June 2012 Black-tailed Godwit from Brazoria has been formally accepted by the TBRC, bringing the State List to 639 species in good standing.
June 11, 2013 : The 2012 Annual Report is now in the Reports Section. A new table has been added that lists additions to and deletions from the State List (based on the Annual Reports) for each year since 1987 - see the Lists Page.
December 09, 2012 : The 2011 Annual Report is now in the Reports Section.
November 12, 2012 : The minutes of the 2012 Annual Meeting are now in the Meetings section. Changes consequent to this Meeting have been made to the Review and State Lists (Little Gull no longer a Review species; Russet-backed Swainson's Thrush and Slate-colored Fox Sparrow are added to Appendix B), the Byelaws, and the current/past TBRC membership pages. The TBRC also formally recognizes the Texas Bird Images Project (TBI) as a new web portal within the TOS/TBRC internet presence - please click on the link to find out more. Links to the TBI site are also provided in the "Photos" and "Index" web pages.
August 14, 2012 : All lists have been changed to comply with the 53rd supplement to the AOU Checklist; from a Texas viewpoint the only changes are to scientific names and sequences - all reflected in the State List page.
June 11, 2012 :The January 2012 Nutting's Flycatcher from BBNP has been formally accepted by the TBRC, bringing the State List to 638 species in good standing.
June 07, 2012 : Photos have been added of the current Black-tailed Godwit from Brazoria NWR; if/when accepted by the TBRC it will be added to the State and Review Lists.
May 29, 2012 : The May 2011 Double-toothed Kite from High Island has been formally accepted by the TBRC (photos added),thus bringing the State List to 637 species in good standing. The Review List is current, including the preceding record and updated species totals as of January 26, 2012.
March 29, 2012 : Photos have been added of this winter's Nutting's Flycatcher from Big Bend National Park; if/when accepted by the TBRC it will be added to the State and Review Lists. Photos of the March 2012 Surbird have been added.
March 15, 2012 : Photos of the 2011 Red-necked Stint have been added.
July 26, 2011 : All changes have been made to comply with the 52nd supplement to the AOU Checklist; from a Texas viewpoint the only changes are to scientific names and sequences - all reflected in the State List page.
March 13, 2011 : The minutes of the 2011 Annual Meeting are now in the Meetings section. Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Common Eider (remains), Red-necked Stint, and Pinyon Jay. As of today physical evidence of every TBRC Review species is presented on this site (also for most former Review species removed in the past 20 years).
March 08, 2011 : The 2010 Annual Report is now in the Reports Section. At the recent TBRC Annual Meeting Pinyon Jay was added to the Review List, and a new Secretary was appointed: Eric Carpenter. Minutes of the meeting will soon appear here.
January 03, 2011 : The Review List has been updated with the latest totals for each review species.
October 22, 2010 : The TBRC recently reviewed the only record of Wilson's Storm-Petrel based on a much stronger understanding of Storm-Petrel ID and their occurrence patterns in the Gulf of Mexico than was available almost forty years ago. The review resulted in the record being recirculated by the committee and the outcome of that re-circulation is that record is now not accepted and thus the species is removed from the State List, bringing the State List to 636 species in good standing.
September 12, 2010 : The minutes of the 2010 Annual Meeting are now in the Meetings section, and the Bylaws, Review List and State List (Dusky-capped Flycatcher taken off the Review List) pages have been updated to reflect changes made therein. NOTE: The TBRC does not have any definitive evidence that Pacific Wren has been documented in Texas; birders are encouraged to provide/seek such evidence, especially sound recordings.
August 03, 2010 : The 2009 Annual Report is now in the Reports Section. All lists have been changed to comply with the 51st supplement to the AOU Checklist (split Whip-poor-will into Eastern Whip-poor-will and Mexican Whip-poor-will; split out Pacific Wren from Winter Wren; many family/subfamily- level changes in the non-passerines; changes to the genus of a number of Wood-Warblers; new genus/sequence for McCown's Longspur and some sparrow/towhees). As a result of applying the AOU changes the State List is increased by one to 637 species in good standing (Mexican Whip-poor-will; breeds in mountains of the Trans Pecos). The documented status of Pacific Wren in Texas is being disussed by the Committee.
March 11, 2010 : The December 2009 Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and the January 2010 Amazon Kingfisher have been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 636 species in good standing. The Review List is current, including the preceding records and the species totals as on February 7, 2010.
March 03, 2010 : The minutes of the 2009 Annual Meeting are now in the Meetings section. Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Evening Grosbeak. Photos have been added of the recent Bare-throated Tiger-Heron from Bentsen and Amazon Kingfisher from Laredo; if/when accepted by the TBRC they will be added to the State and Review Lists.
March 01, 2010 : After more than a year without access to the ISP site, the TBRC web site is back up. The 2008 Annual Report is now in the Reports Section. With the addition of Yellow-legged Gull and White-crested Elaenia, the State List was 634 species in good standing at the time of publication. The historic and current TBRC Committee membership pages are now current, with current email addresses. Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Dark-billed Cuckoo (specimen) and Fuertes's Oriole (specimen). There is a link to Misc. Statements in the "About" page. Minutes of the 2009 Annual Meeting will be available shortly. All lists have been changed to comply with the 50th supplement to the AOU Checklist (quails before pheasants; Nelson's Sparrow; family names of the small finches; Tanagers at front of Cardinals).
December 25 , 2009 : Access to the ISP site was unavailable from Feb 2009 until just recently, hence the frozen state of this site. The webmaster plans to catch-up on various things including the 2009 annual meeting as soon as his time allows - please be patient!
October 13 , 2008 : Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Black Catbird (specimen).
October 01 , 2008 : Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Gray-breasted Martin (specimens) .
September 25 , 2008 : The minutes of the TBRC 2008 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section. Evening Grosbeak has been added to the Review List and Baird's Sparrow has been removed from the Review List. Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: White-cheeked Pintail, Harlequin Duck, White-chinned Petrel, Stejneger's Petrel, Sooty Shearwater, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Snail Kite, Paint-billed Crake, Spotted Rail, Double-striped Thick-knee, Curlew Sandpiper, Heermann's Gull, Roseate Tern, Elegant Tern, Mottled Owl, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Barred Antshrike (audio only), Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Black-capped Chickadee, Connecticut Warbler, and Yellow-eyed Junco. ; NOTE: many of the preceding photos are of specimens.
August 01 , 2008 : Lists have been amended to conform with changes to the names and sequence detailed in the AOU's 49th Supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds (Auk 125(3)). The updates comprise of four name changes (American Flamingo, Green Violetear, Clay-colored Thrush, White-throated Thrush); the translocation of Flamingoes to appear after Grebes; and an overhaul of Gulls that changes the sequence and places most of the smaller forms into resurrected genera (Chroicocephalus for masked gulls; Hydrocoloeus for Little Gull; Leucophaeus for hooded gulls).
July 09, 2008 : the TBRC 2007 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the addition of Common Eider, Barred Antshrike and Fan-tailed Warbler, the State List was 632 species in good standing at the time of publication.
June 25 , 2008: The March 04, 2004 Yellow-legged Gull at the old Corpus Christi Landfill has been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 634 species in good standing; photos have been added.
June 17 , 2008: The White-crested Elaenia at South Padre Island has been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 633 species in good standing.
February 15 , 2008: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Barrow's Goldeneye, Elegant Tern, "Vega" Herring Gull, and "White-winged" Junco - see Review List B for these latter two distinctive forms.
February 11 , 2008: Photos have been added of the recent White-crested Elaenia at South Padre Island; if/when accepted by the TBRC it will be added to the State and Review Lists.
January 03 , 2008: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Streak-backed Oriole and another Brown Jay(a recent photo from Chapeno) .
January 02 , 2008: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Brown Jay and American Dipper .
December 26 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Surfbird , Black-billed Magpie, and Golden-crowned Sparrow .
December 21 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Mangrove Cuckoo , Black-whiskered Vireo, Bohemian Waxwing, and White-winged Crossbill .
November 28 , 2007: The Fan-tailed Warbler from Big Bend National Park has been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 632 species in good standing.
October 03, 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Northern Pygmy-Owl . A downloadable .RTF version of the TBRC Submission Form has been added to the Forms section.
August 24, 2007: A photo of the current Fan-tailed Warbler in Big Bend National Park has been added to the Photos section; if/when accepted by the TBRC it will be added to the State and Review Lists.
August 19, 2007: The minutes of the TBRC 2007 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section. Brown Jay has been added to the Review List. The Bylaws have been revised to allow for electronic/telephone Annual Meetings when appropriate, and to formalize the Presumptive List located at the bottom of the Texas State List.
August 15, 2007: The breeding male Common Eider from the Laguna Madre near Corpus Christi in January 2007 has been formally accepted by the TBRC, thus bringing the State List to 631 species in good standing. Lists have been amended to conform with changes to the names and sequence detailed in the AOU's 48th Supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds (Auk 124(3)). The changes comprise of a new genus for the larger Kingfishers, and the (uncertain) placement of the American Vultures at the start of the Falconiformes.
May 24 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Thick-billed Kingbird (two birds) .
April 25 , 2007: The Barred Antshrike from the LRGV has been formally accepted by the TBRC (diagnostic recording on file), thus bringing the State List to 630 species in good standing.
April 11 , 2007: the TBRC 2006 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the addition of Pacific Golden-Plover and removal of Yellow-footed Gull, the State List is 629 species in good standing.
April 01 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Short-tailed Hawk.
March 25 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Greater Shearwater, Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown Noddy, Long-tailed Jaeger, Snowy Owl, and Elegant Trogon.
March 22 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Red-necked Grebe.
January 03 , 2007: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Costa's Hummingbird, Greater Pewee.
August 28, 2006: the Pacific Golden-Plover from Jackson County this Spring has been formally accepted (a photograph has been added to the Photos page), thus bringing the State List to 629 species in good standing.
August 07 , 2006: Photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: Curlew Sandpiper, Arctic Tern, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, and Dusky-capped Flycatcher.
July 26 , 2006 : the minutes of the TBRC 2006 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section. Red-faced Warbler is removed from the main Review List and Great White Heron is removed from List B (recognizable subspecies.)
July 23, 2006: The common and scientific names and sequence have been changed to conform to the AOU's 47th Supplement, and photos have been added of the following Texas Review species: King Eider, Yellow-billed Loon, Greater Flamingo, Green-breasted Mango, Social Flycatcher, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, and Gray-crowned Yellowthroat.
May 15, 2006: the TBRC has reviewed the single record of Yellow-footed Gull and decided to no longer accept it, due to the similarities of this individual to some of the Louisiana Kelp x Herring Gull hybrids. With the removal of this species, the State List is now at 628 species in good standing.
May 05, 2006: thanks to TBRC Secretary Mark Lockwood, the online Review List includes up-to-date accepted totals for each species as of March 06, 2006.
May 04, 2006: the TBRC 2005 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the addition of Streak-backed Oriole and elevation of Social Flycatcher, the State List is now at 629 species in good standing.
August 15, 2005: The Streak-backed Oriole from Brazos Bend State Park has been formally accepted, thus bringing the State List to 629 species in good standing.
August 08, 2005: the minutes of the TBRC 2005 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section. Black-legged Kittiwake is re-added to the Review List .
April 20, 2005: The Social Flycatcher from Bentsen WBC in January 2005 has been formally accepted, thus moving the species from the Presumptive List to the Main List, and bringing the State List to 628 species in good standing.
February 24, 2005: the TBRC 2004 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the addition of Cackling Goose, South Polar Skua, Glaucous-winged Gull, and Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, the State List is now at 627 species in good standing.
December 20, 2004: The South Polar Skua from the October 1st 2004 Port Isabel pelagic has been formally accepted, bringing the State List to 627 species in good standing. Visit the Photo Gallery to see this record.
October 12, 2004: The Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush from Pharr in the Summer of 2004 as been formally accepted, bringing the State List to 626 species in good standing. Visit the Photo Gallery to see this record.
July 30, 2004: The Secretary of the TBRC has prepared a Public Statement concerning the Canada/Cackling Goose Split.
July 29, 2004: Changes caused by the 45th AOU Supplement (July 2004) have been implemented. As a result, Cackling Goose has been inserted in the State List ahead of Canada Goose, bringing the State List to 625 species in good standing.
July 29, 2004: the minutes of the TBRC 2004 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section. The Review and State Lists now show Thayer's Gull, Allen's Hummingbird, and Yellow-green Vireo as non-Review species, plus Herring (Vega) Gull is added to Appendix B of the State List.
April 13, 2004: The Secretary of the TBRC has prepared a Public Statement concerning Allen's Hummingbirds. The Glaucous-winged Gull from Fort Worth in January 2004 as been formally accepted, bringing the State List to 624 species in good standing. Visit the Photo Gallery to see this record.
February 03, 2004: the TOS has published an occasional booklet: Records accepted by the Texas Bird Records Committee (1987–2003) - visit the Store for more details.
January 12, 2004: the TBRC 2003 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the addition of Gyrfalcon, the State List is now at 623 species in good standing.
January 11, 2004: photos of the recent Glaucous-winged Gull at Fort Worth have been added to the Photo Gallery. Also, the 1990 Annual Report, 1991 Annual Report and 1992 Annual Report are added, completing all the historic Annual Reports.
January 01, 2004: Happy New Year! The 1988 Annual Report and 1989 Annual Report are added.
December 31, 2003: As part of an ongoing effort to include historical data on the site, the 1987 Annual Report is added, plus a page listing all past and current TBRC members (if you see any errors or omissions, please contact the TBRC Secretary.)
October 01, 2003: Photos added of the recent Port Isabel Pelagic Yellow-nosed Albatross on the Photos page.
September 04, 2003: Changes caused by the 44th AOU Supplement (July 2003) have been implemented - see various lists.
August 24, 2003: the minutes of the TBRC 2003 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section, and the Review and State Lists now show Broad-billed Hummingbird as a non-Review species.
May 01, 2003: Change of address for TBRC Secretary - see Report Form. Added photo of Tamaulipas Crow to the Photo Gallery.
March 01, 2003: the Gyrfalcon from 2002 as been formally accepted, bringing the State List to 623 species in good standing. Visit the Photo Gallery to see this record. Added a photo of the Brazoria Trumpeter Swan to the Gallery.
Feb 19, 2003: the TBRC 2002 Annual Report is now in the Reports section. With the formal split of Tufted and Black-crested Titmice, the State List is now at 622 species in good standing.
October 22, 2002: the minutes of the TBRC 2002 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section.
July 22, 2002: the Spotted Redshank from Fall 2000 as been formally accepted, bringing the State List to 621 species in good standing. Visit the Photo Gallery to see this record.
June 17, 2002: photos of the current Yellow-faced Grassquit at Bensten have been added to the Photo Gallery.
March 04, 2002: the TBRC 2001 Annual Report is now in the Reports section.
November 22, 2001: a photo of a Spotted Redshank from Fall 2000 has been added to the Photo Gallery - a potential State First record (the species is in the site index, but will be added to the various formal Lists only if/when accepted by the TBRC.)
October 12, 2001: the minutes of the TBRC 2001 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section.
March 5, 2001: Photos of Am. Black Duck added; the Specimens Not Located List has been updated; only one such specimen has been located in the past 3 years, and some of the unlocated specimens are of species not yet on the Texas State List - can you help?
March 3, 2001: Photos added of the recent Lubbock N. Saw-whet Owl on the Photos page.
February 27, 2001: Photos added of the recent South Padre Yellow-billed Loon on the Photos page.
February 07, 2001: The Secretary of the TBRC has prepared a Public Statement concerning the Blue Mockingbird
February 03, 2001: the 2000 Annual Report is now available online- see the Reports Section.
December 3, 2000: the minutes of the TBRC 2000 annual meeting are now in the Meetings section. Photos of a recent Pine Grosbeak have been added to the Photos Section.
November 20, 2000: the TBRC held its annual meeting in College Station on November 18, 2000. Full minutes of the meeting will appear online soon, but effective immediately Blue Mockingbird is added to the State List, bringing it to 620 species in good standing. Also, Tamaulipas Crow is added to the Review List, and details are sought of all White-rumped Sandpiper sightings outside the Spring period ( April - June) under the terms of List B. There is a new TBRC Secretary, to whom all correspondence should be directed.
October 10, 2000: Voting Rounds 186 - 188 have been completed and tallied, and as a result Buff-breasted Flycatcher is added to the State List, bringing it to 619 species in good standing. Visit this external link to see pictures of this bird.
June 09, 2000: Just an update to confirm that no new species have been officially added to the State list since last September; the Buff-breasted Flycatcher and Blue Mockingbird records are still in circulation.
March 02, 2000: the 1999 Annual Report is now available online; - see the Reports Section.
February 02, 2000: photos of a recent Blue-morph Ross's Goose at L. Tawakoni have been added to the Photo Gallery.
January 08, 2000: photos of the recent Snow Bunting have been added to the Photo Gallery.
December 22, 1999: photos of Eskimo Curlew (birds in the field and preserved specimens) have been added to the Photo Gallery.
November 21, 1999: the TBRC held its annual meeting in College Station on November 20, 1999. Full minutes of the meeting are online, but effective immediately three species of gull have been removed from the Review List: California Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, and Sabine's Gull. All records prior to the date of the annual meeting will still be circulated and voted-upon by the committee. Note: photos of an orange-tipped Cedar Waxwing are in the Rogues' Gallery.
September 22, 1999: Voting Rounds 184 and 185 have been completed and tallied, and as a result Black-tailed Gull andStejneger's Petrel are added to the State List, bringing it to 618 species in good standing. Visit the photos section to see pictures of the gull.
July 26, 1999: TBRC Voting Rounds 180 - 183 have been completed and tallied, and as a result Yellow-footed Gull is added to the State List, bringing it to 616 species in good standing. Visit the photos section to see pictures of the gull. A photo-story of a breeding hybrid Lazuli Bunting can be found in the Rogues Gallery in the Photos section.
June 04, 1999: images of the recent Blue Mockingbird and Violet-crowned Hummingbird from Weslaco have been added to the Photo Gallery.
April 21, 1999: the State List and Review List have both been updated to reflect the latest TBRC decisions.
April 14, 1999: A striking unidentified feeder-bird is now Mystery bird #4. In the Rogues' Gallery an additional image for the hybrid egret and a postscript for the goldeneye have been added. The Rogues' Gallery has been online for six months and thus far no-one has offered any new subjects, and it has not generated any replies to the Webmaster; unless there is some interest expressed in this section it will be removed.
April 13, 1999: TBRC Voting Rounds 178 and 179 have been completed and tallied, and as a result King Eider and Piratic Flycatcher are added to the State List, bringing it to 615 species in good standing. Visit the photos page to see pictures of the flycatcher.
April 6, 1999: The 1998 TBRC Annual Report is now available online - see Reports section.
April 4, 1999: A most interesting hybrid "egret" has been added to the Rogues' Gallery.; also, video stills of two Blue-morph Ross's Geese are now in the Photos Section.
February 10, 1999: As of this date there have been no further completed rounds that add/remove species to the State List. No new photos of rarities have been received by the webmaster, not have there been any offers of pictures for the Rogues' Gallery - thus there is no change to this web site since December 01.
December 01: TBRC Voting Rounds 169 and 170 have been completed and tallied, and as a result Berylline Hummingbird and Slate-throated Redstart are added to the State List, bringing it to 613 species in good standing. Visit the photos page for pictures of these birds.
November 13: a new bird is added to the Rogues' Gallery located in the Photos section.
October 27: A new feature - the Rogues' Gallery - is located in the Photos section. The Minutes from the 1998 annual meeting held in College Station on 3rd October are now online; check them out.
October 25: TBRC Voting Round 172 has been completed and tallied, and as a result Black-capped Petrel is added to the State List, bringing it to 611 species in good standing. Visit the photos page for pictures of this and a subsequent record. Also answers are now provided for Mystery birds #1 and #3.
October 09: The TBRC held its annual meeting on October 03, 1998. Full details will be forthcoming, but the major effects are as follows: 1) Tropical Kingbird is no longer a Review Species (there having been a documented permanent population in Brownsville for at least 10 years); 2) Clay-Colored Robin is no longer a Review Species (despite a drop in records in the late Eighties, this species has been more-or-less resident in the LRGV for the last ten years); 3) Eurasian Collared-Dove is accepted onto the State List as an Introduced species - it is not a Review species as there are already records from 30+ counties, with breeding recorded from 7 counties; 4) Black Swift has been added to the Presumptive List with the acceptance of a 1985 sight record - for details of the Presumptive List see the Review Species List. 5) John Arvin resigned from the Committee and is replaced by Petra Hockey, with Mark Lockwood becoming Chairman - see the updated Committee members page. This brings the State List to 610 species in good standing.
October 09: The Review Species List has been updated to show the number of accepted records (as of October 1, 1998) for each species.
October 02: TBRC Voting Round 168 has been completed and tallied, and as a result Arctic Tern is added to the State List, bringing it to 609 species in good standing.
June 29: TBRC Voting Rounds 162,164 have been completed and tallied, and as a result Dark-billed Cuckoo is added to the State List, bringing it to 608 species in good standing. NOTE: the email address of the TBRC Secretary has changed; refer to the list of Committee members.
June 26: TBRC Voting Round 160 has been completed and tallied, and as a result Red-breasted Sapsucker is added to the State List, bringing it to 607 species in good standing. Mystery Bird #2 is removed from the Photos page (there being no evidence that these two Steller's Eiders were collected in Texas).
June 23: Photo links from the State List have been updated, and photos of the 1994 Black-capped Petrel added. Coming soon will be an extensive entry on Eskimo Curlew, with color photos of museum skins plus pictures of live birds in the field from 1962.
June 14: The 1997 TBRC Annual Report is now available online - see Reports section. In the Photos section, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel is added, plus recent Great Black-backed Gull and Arctic Tern records added.
May 31: Added/amended some links; corrected the date of the 1994 Stygian Owl; improved the Arctic Tern photo.
May 29: Added photos of two Little Gulls, plus the pictures of Brown Booby, Collared Forest-Falcon, and Northern Wheatear have been slightly improved/enlarged.
May 28: Many new photos have been added to the Photos page; these include the work of Peter Mueller, Michael Gray, Tim Koebel, Kent Nelson, Chris Corben, Alfred Viola, Ned Brinkley, Mel Cooksey, Kelly Bryan, Kevin Karlson, Mike Krzywonski,Peter Reisz, Jim Flynn, Brad McKinney, David Ferry, Robert De Graaf, and Raymond White:- Please contact the webmaster if you prefer that your work is removed - thank you.
May 27: Added photos of Black-capped Petrel, Northern Jacana, the Gilchrist/Bolivar Noddy, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Golden-crowned Warbler, and White-collared Seedeater.
May 21: Mystery Bird #2 has been identified, and will be removed from the web site in due course. Added new photo (just obtained by the Webmaster) of a Baird's Sparrow from Parker County last week - see the Photos page.
May 14: Added new photos (just obtained by the TBRC) of the first Piratic Flycatcher for Texas - see the Photos page.
Old News
March and April: Photographs of many rare/specialty species were added to the Photos page; The link to VENT was corrected.
On March 5, 1998 the Texas Photographic Records File (TPRF) in College Station was visited, and numerous photos were borrowed by the webmaster - you can expect to see a number of new photo entries in the coming weeks. The emphasis will be placed upon those rarities mostly or wholly associated with Texas, but other pictures thought to be interesting/useful will also be added as time and space permits. NOTICE: every reasonable endeavor has been made to obtain specific approval from the photographers involved; if you see a photo of yours that you do not want displayed, email the webmaster and it will be removed immediately, with our apologies.
FYI as of today (March 6 1998) there are a number of photographic records in circulation of species that would, if accepted, be added to the State List, including:
Black-capped Petrel, Stejneger's Petrel, Arctic Tern, Berylline Hummingbird, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Dark-billed Cuckoo, and Slate-throated Redstart.
There is a new page online that may provoke some debate - Species not yet documented for Texas. This unofficial list highlights some perhaps expected species not on the state list.
Management of this web site has changed hands. All kudos for the excellent style and scope belongs to the outgoing webmaster Carl Haynie; all responsibility for content, errors, and omissions belongs to the incoming webmaster Martin Reid.
The online state list has been corrected (Latin names of White-throated Swift and Crissal Thrasher) and updated with Order names and Family names (the latter for Passerines only).
The Links section has been updated to reflect site movements as of December 31, 1997. As of this date all links are working.
The Review List has been corrected to include Stygian Owl.
The final version of the 1996 Annual Report is online. Differences from the draft version include the addition of two Rose-throated Becard specimen records, the assignment of several Texas Photo Record File (TPRF) numbers, and the correction of several dates and specimen tag numbers.
Stygian Owl was formerly accepted on 25 November bringing the total accepted species in Texas to 606 in good standing.
Minutes from the 1997 annual meeting held in College Station on 1 November are now online. Check them out.
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow was removed from the state list after it was determined the specimen housed in the Denver Museum was misidentified. This leaves the State List at 605 species
At the annual meeting on 1 Nov 97, the committee voted to remove Audubon's Shearwater, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Glaucous Gull, and Bridled Tern from the main TBRC Review List.
Roseate Tern was officially added to the state list based on a recently located museum specimen that was taken 10 April 1901 in Nueces Co. State List now 606 Species in good standing.
A good photo (the first!) of the Berylline Hummingbird found in the Davis Mountains in August is now online on the Photos page thanks to Greg Lasley. Check it out.
Eurasian Collared-Dove is vying for a place on our state list.
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow appears to be headed off our state list, as the extant specimen housed at the Denver museum is evidently a misidentified Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (fide Keith Arnold, Mark Lockwood).
Photographs of a Slate-throated Redstart taken at about 7800 feet on private land in the Davis Mountains are now online in the photo section.
Our Texas State List has been updated to abide by the latest taxonomic and nomenclatural changes outlined in the 41st supplement (July, 1997) to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. Texas gained two species as a result of splits: Solitary Vireo was split into Blue-headed, Cassin's, and Plumbeous Vireo, all three of which are known to occur in Texas. Thus the State List now stands at 605 species.
A draft of our 1996 Annual Report is now online detailing the decisions made on all records reviewed in 1996.
On 30 June 1997 Red-necked Stint, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, and Flame-colored Tanager were formally accepted and added to our state list bringing our total to 603 fully accepted species.
With the formal acceptance of Kelp Gull and Ruddy Quail-Dove on 18 May 1997, our official state list stood then at 600 accepted species.
A Stygian Owl was photographed at Bentsen State Park on Thursday, December 26. This will represent a first record for North America (north of Mexico).
The minutes from the 1996 annual meeting held October 19th in College Station are now available.
At our 19 October annual meeting in College Station, the committee voted to remove Pacific Loon from the state Review List since the species has met the standard criteria for removal (occurs five or more times per year over a ten year average) and no value for leaving it on the list was argued. In addition, the committee voted to add Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow to the Review List in light of information that suggests it is, at best, accidental in the state. Efforts are underway to secure an extant specimen identified as Ammodramus caudacutus so that its occurrence here may be confirmed. If it is determined it was misidentified, the species will be removed from both the State and Review Lists since no other evidence of its occurrence exists for Texas.
Corrections were made to the online version of our State List with regard to the scientific name change for Great Egret and the common name change of Gray-breasted Jay to Mexican Jay.
Your help is requested on the status of Eurasian Collared-Dove in Texas.
The 1993 Annual Report and a draft of the 1995 Annual Report are now available. These reports summarize the decisions reached by the TBRC in those years.
The TBRC accepted and completed review on a recently located specimen record of a Black-capped Chickadee taken in El Paso during the late 1800s. It is the first and only accepted record for Texas (thus 598 species on the List).
The latest supplement to the AOU (American Ornithologist's Union) checklist is out. Three species have been split that affect our Texas List. They are: Eastern Towhee, Spotted Towhee; Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow; and Baltimore Oriole, Bullock's Oriole. All but the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow can be found regularly in Texas. In addition, American Swallow-tailed Kite becomes Swallow-tailed Kite; Common Black-headed Gull becomes Black-headed Gull; and our two forms of Scrub Jay become Western Scrub-Jay. As a consequence the State List is now 597 species in good standing.
The TBRC recently accepted and completed review on the Northern Wheatear record, another first for the state, bringing the List to 594 species.