Texas Review List

The TBRC requests details, including descriptions and photos if possible, of all records of the following species. 

Review List A -- Rarities

These species, in general, include birds that have occurred four or fewer times per year anywhere in Texas over a ten-year average. The TBRC requests documentation for review for any new or any previously unsubmitted record of the below species no matter how long ago the record occurred. The TBRC also requests details on any record of a species not yet accepted on the Texas State List (see Species not yet documented for Texas). 

NOTE: the numbers in parentheses that follow each species name indicate the number of accepted records as of March 9, 2024. An asterisk after the number - e.g. "(14*)" - indicates that there are one or more records of known/presumed returning birds which may be counted more than once in the total (if they were allocated separate TBRC record numbers). Note: for formerly non-Review species added to the Review list (e.g. Tamaulipas Crow), pre-Review data may not exist, thus only records since inclusion on the TBRC list are accumulated (marked with "#").

Swans, Geese, and Ducks

Brant (40)

Trumpeter Swan (16)

Garganey (8)

Eurasian Wigeon (67)

American Black Duck (10*)

White-cheeked Pintail (1)

King Eider (3)

Common Eider (1) 

Harlequin Duck (3)

Barrow's Goldeneye (11*)

Masked Duck (97)

Flamingos

American Flamingo (16) 

Grebes

Red-necked Grebe (35)

Pigeons and Doves

White-crowned Pigeon (4)

Ruddy Ground Dove (32)

Ruddy Quail-Dove (1)

Cuckoos, Roadrunners, and Anis

Smooth-billed Ani (1)

Dark-billed Cuckoo (1)

Mangrove Cuckoo (16) 

Swifts

Black Swift (2)

White-collared Swift (6)

Hummingbirds

Mexican Violetear (100)

Green-breasted Mango (25)

Amethyst-throated Mountain-gem (1)

Costa's Hummingbird (51)

White-eared Hummingbird (49)

Violet-crowned Hummingbird (27)

Berylline Hummingbird (5)

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Spotted Rail (3)

Paint-billed Crake (1)

Cranes

Common Crane (4*)

Thick-knees

Double-striped Thick-knee (1)

Plovers and Lapwings

Pacific Golden-Plover (1) 

Collared Plover (3*)

Jacanas

Northern Jacana (45*)

Sandpipers and Phalaropes

Eskimo Curlew (19)

Bar-tailed Godwit (2)

Black-tailed Godwit (1)

Black Turnstone (1)

Surfbird (13)

Ruff (44*)

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (3)

Curlew Sandpiper (13)

Red-necked Stint (2)

Purple Sandpiper (31)

Wandering Tattler (1)

Spotted Redshank (1)

Red Phalarope (58)

Skuas, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

South Polar Skua (2)

Long-tailed Jaeger (30)

Black-headed Gull (27*)

Black-tailed Gull (2)

Heermann's Gull (6)

Short-billed Gull (50)

Western Gull (6)

Yellow-legged Gull (2) 

Slaty-backed Gull (8)

Glaucous-winged Gull (2)

Great Black-backed Gull (64*)

Kelp Gull (6*)

Brown Noddy (28)

Black Noddy (4)

Brown/Black Noddy (1) 

Roseate Tern (2)

Arctic Tern (11)

Elegant Tern (14)

Tropicbirds

White-tailed Tropicbird (1)

Red-billed Tropicbird (16)

Loons

Yellow-billed Loon (8)

Albatrosses

Yellow-nosed Albatross (4)

Storm-Petrels

Wilson's Storm-Petrel (1)

Leach's Storm-Petrel (43)

Shearwaters and Petrels

Trindade Petrel (1)

Black-capped Petrel (3)

Stejneger's Petrel(1)

White-chinned Petrel (1)

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (2)

Sooty Shearwater (23) Sight or photo records of Sooty or Short-tailed Shearwaters are difficult to positively identify. The TBRC has voted to label all such records as Sooty Shearwater and acknowledges that Short-tailed Shearwaters are a remote possibility, based on one Gulf of Mexico record and one from the south Atlantic as of 2012.

Great Shearwater (46)

Manx Shearwater (16)

Storks

Jabiru (15)

Boobies and Gannets

Blue-footed Booby (2)

Red-footed Booby (11)

Herons

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (2)

Kites, Hawks, Eagles, and Harriers

Double-toothed Kite (1)

American Goshawk (28)

Steller's Sea-Eagle (1)

Crane Hawk (1)

Snail Kite (5)

Great Black Hawk (1)

Roadside Hawk (12)

Short-tailed Hawk (73)

Typical Owls

Snowy Owl (14)

Northern Pygmy-Owl (7)

Mottled Owl (2)

Stygian Owl (2)

Northern Saw-whet Owl (39)

Trogons

Elegant Trogon (8) 

Kingfishers

Amazon Kingfisher (3)

Woodpeckers

Red-breasted Sapsucker (3)

Ivory-billed Woodpecker (3) 

Caracaras and Falcons

Collared Forest-Falcon (1)

Bat Falcon (1)

Gyrfalcon (1)

Tityras and Becards

Masked Tityra (1)

Rose-throated Becard (87*)

Tyrant Flycatchers

Greenish Elaenia (1)

Small-billed Elaenia (1)

White-crested Elaenia (1)

Nutting's Flycatcher (1) 

Social Flycatcher (4)

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (39*)

Sulphur-bellied/Streaked Flycatcher (1) 

Piratic Flycatcher (8)

Variegated Flycatcher (1)

Piratic/Variegated Flycatcher (1) 

Thick-billed Kingbird (22)

Gray Kingbird (19)

Fork-tailed Flycatcher (58)

Tufted Flycatcher (6)

Greater Pewee (41*)

Buff-breasted Flycatcher (28)

Antshrikes and Antwrens 

Barred Antshrike (1) 

Vireos

Black-whiskered Vireo (49)

Yucatan Vireo (1)

Jays, Magpies, and Crows

Brown Jay (added to Review List July 2007) (#6)

Pinyon Jay (added to Review List March 2011) (#14) 

Clark's Nutcracker (28)

Black-billed Magpie (5)

Tamaulipas Crow (added to Review List Nov 2000) (#21) 

Chickadees and Titmice

Black-capped Chickadee (1)

Swallows

Blue-and-white Swallow (1)

Gray-breasted Martin (2)

Waxwings

Bohemian Waxwing (18)

Silky-flycatchers

Gray Silky-flycatcher (2)

Wrens

Pacific Wren (1)

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Blue Mockingbird (4)

Black Catbird (1)

Dippers

American Dipper (10)

Old World Warblers, Flycatchers, and Thrushes

Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush (2)

Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush (1)

White-throated Thrush (19)

Rufous-backed Robin (29)

Varied Thrush (58)

Aztec Thrush (7)

Old World Flycatchers

Northern Wheatear (3)

Olive Warbler

Olive Warbler (8)

Wagtails and Pipits

White Wagtail (1)

Northern Finches

Evening Grosbeak (added to Review List Sept 2008) (#58)

Pine Grosbeak (6)

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (1)

Common Redpoll (19)

White-winged Crossbill (10)

Lawrence's Goldfinch (22)

Longspurs and allies

Snow Bunting (8)

Sparrows, Blackbirds, Wood Warblers, Cardinals, and "Tanagers"

Yellow-eyed Junco (11)

Golden-crowned Sparrow (51*)

Black-vented Oriole (11*)

Streak-backed Oriole (3)

Shiny Cowbird (12)

Crescent-chested Warbler (2)

Connecticut Warbler (12)

Gray-crowned Yellowthroat (47)

Fan-tailed Warbler (1)

Rufous-capped Warbler (39*)

Golden-crowned Warbler (36*)

Slate-throated Redstart (20)

Flame-colored Tanager (17)

Crimson-collared Grosbeak (63)

Yellow Grosbeak (1)

Blue Bunting (67)

Red-legged Honeycreeper (2)

Yellow-faced Grassquit (6)

Review List B

List of recognizable subspecies which, if they were elevated to full species status, would qualify for placement under Review List A: Reports of these subspecies will always be solicited and formally reviewed. Eight such subspecies have been accepted:

Green-winged ("Eurasian") Teal (1)

Whimbrel ("Eurasian") (1)

Herring ("Vega") Gull (5)

Dusky-capped ("Lawrence's") Flycatcher (34)

Swainson's ("Russet-backed") Thrush (2)

Fox ("Slate-colored") Sparrow (6)

Dark-eyed ("White-winged") Junco (8)

Orchard ("Fuertes's") Oriole (2)

 

Presumptive List

The following is the official TBRC list of species for which written descriptions have been accepted by the TBRC but the species has not yet met the requirements for full acceptance on the Texas List (specimen, photo, video, or audio recording identifiable to species for at least one record). NOTE: any species marked "*" below has recent records in circulation that include identifying photographs, and will be elevated to Review List A when(if) those records are formally accepted.

Murre species (1)

Razorbill (1)