Columbus Audubon (Columbus, Ohio)

Here we present the combined ABA Area life-list of the current active members of the Columbus Avid Birders group. Because there are occasional changes to the roster from year to year, this list will also change. So, in order to qualify the list, here are the contributors to this version: Greg & Melanie Balson, Elaine Barnum, Marje Baughman, Byron & Joan Bossenbroek, Gina Buckey, Bob Conlon, Curt Dusthimer, Joe Faulkner, Gretchen Fluke, Paul Gardner, Jeff Grabmeier, Joe Hammond, Andrea Haslage, Becky Hatfield, Bill Heck, Janet Holzworth, Dave Horn, Keith Johnson, Steve Landes, Doreene Linzell, Paul McSweeny, Joe Meara, Greg Miller, Len & Nancy Powlick, Steve Richards, Bob Royse, Dan Sanders, Troy Shively, Brad Sparks, Bill Whan, Connie Wolcott.

The 43rd Supplement to the AOU Check-list of North American Birds (2002) bumped the ABA area species total from 921 to 923. Wilson's snipe was split from common snipe and black-crested titmouse was split from tufted titmouse and the group has seen all four of these species. Our life-list goal, obviously, is to see as many of these as possible, but we're basically shooting for 800. Also, for those keeping track of the ABA Birding Codes, many of them have changed with the new checklist.

With the recent splits the collective list grew by two: Common Snipe at Attu Island, AK in May 1998 (Dan Sanders, Greg Miller) and Black-crested Titmouse in Texas (m. obs.).

A few recent trips and some field-note checking yielded nine birds for the collective list: Yellow-nosed Albatross off Hattaras, NC on 5 February 2000 (Greg Miller), Fea's/Zino's Petrel off Hattaras, NC on 24 August 2002 (Paul Gardner), Pink-footed Goose in PA in April 1997 (Miller), Garganey at Brigantine NWR, NJ in June 1997 (Miller), Bristle-thighed Curlew near Nome, AK in June 2002 (Doreene Linzell, Gretchen Fluke), Nutting's Flycatcher at Patagonia Lake, AZ on 16 February 1998 (Miller), Fork-tailed Flycatcher at Plum Island, MA on 22 August 1998 (Miller), Brown-chested Martin at Cape May, NJ in November 1997, and Slate-throated Redstart at Madera Canyon, AZ on 17 July 2002 (Miller, Dan Sanders). We also have one in escrow, a Baillon's Crake seen on Attu Island, AK on 21 September 2000 by Greg Miller.

We made up a little ground today with the following additions: Aztec Thrush from Arizona in 1986 (Gretchen Fluke et al.), Crimson-collared Grosbeak from South Texas in 1987 (Gina Buckey), and Variegated Flycatcher from Ontario in 1993 (Buckey).

Just as splits and lumps can add to or subtract from a lifelist, so can additions and deletions to the Avids roster. To that effect, we took a 15 species hit due to recent roster changes. Subtracted from the list were Fea's/Zino's Petrel, Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel, Garganey, Collared Forest-Falcon, Collared Plover, Eurasian Dotterel, Tufted Flycatcher, Masked Tityra, Brown Shrike, Aztec Thrush, Gray Silky-flycatcher, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Black-vented Oriole, Variegated Flycatcher, and White-collared Swift. Making up one of these losses were Bill Whan, Dan Sanders, Paul Gardner, Becky Hatfield, Bill Heck, and Greg Miller who ticked a Eurasian Kestrel in Massachusetts on 5/3/02. For the record, the Avids' Green-breasted Mango is now the Concord, NC bird from November 2000 (m obs).

With the addition of Kelp Gull to the ABA Checklist, our list grew to 784. Many of the Avids have seen this species.

Dan Sanders, Don Burton, Curt Dusthimer, and I added Gunnison Sage-Grouse from our trip to Colorado.

A huge 14 bird jump occurred thanks to the contributions of Peter Gottschling and Lynne Aldrich. All of that living in Texas really paid off. These additions were: Fea's/Zino's Petrel off North Carolina in 1999, Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel off Santa Barbara, CA on 9/6/97, Garganey from Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, TX, Collared Forest-Falcon from Bentson, Collared Plover from a fish hatchery in Uvalde, TX, Eurasian Dotterel (twice!) from Pt. Reyes, CA, Green-breasted Mango from Corpus Christi, TX, Tufted Flycatcher from Big Bend, Masked Tityra from Bentson, Brown Shrike from Pt. Reyes, CA, Aztec Thrush from SE Arizona, Gray Silky-flycatcher from El Paso, TX, Crimson-collared Grosbeak from Aransas NWR, TX, and Black-vented Oriole just south of Kingsville, TX. In addition, Jeff Buecking added a Variegated Flycatcher from Toronto Island, Canada on 10/17/93.

Three more birds just came in, leaving us with only two ABA Code 3 birds remaining: Fea's/Zino's Petrel and Streak-backed Oriole. The recent additions were Himalayan Snowcock (Gina Buckey), White-collared Swift (Jeff Buecking), and McKay's Bunting (GB, Judy Howard).

We just added six more birds with contributions from Paul McSweeny, Dave Horn, and Bob Conlon. New additions are California Condor (DH), Barnacle Goose (PM), Northern Jacana (DH, BC), Flame-colored Tanager (PM, DH, BC), Yellow-faced Grassquit (PM), and Yellow Grosbeak (DH).

The first call for birds resulted in quite a jump in the total. Bill Whan, Janet Holzworth, Connie Wolcott, Doreene Linzell, and Pam Raver all contributed. New additions since July 24th are: Arctic Loon (JH, CW), Short-tailed Shearwater (BW, JH, CW), Red-billed Tropicbird (DL, PR), Blue-footed Booby (BW, JH, CW), Steller's Eider (JH, CW), Roadside Hawk (BW), Aplomado Falcon (BW), Common Ringed Plover (JH, CW), Gray-tailed Tattler (JH, CW), Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (BW, JH, CW), Red-legged Kittiwake (JH, CW), Parakeet Auklet (JH, CW), Least Auklet (JH, CW), Crested Auklet (JH, CW), Oriental Cuckoo (JH, CW), Buff-collared Nightjar (BW), Yellow-green Vireo (BW), Bahama Swallow (BW), Arctic Warbler (JH, CW), Bluethroat (JH, CW), Bahama Mockingbird (BW), and White Wagtail (JH, CW).