The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds, Second Edition

Introduction

INTRODUCTION HE SECOND EDITION of The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds continues an effort to accurately reflect the bird life of Texas that began with the first edition of the Check-list of the Birds of Texas published by the Texas Ornithological Society (TOS) in 1974. As were previous editions, it is based on the observations of past and present ornithologists and naturalists. The Texas Bird Records Committee (tbrc) has the responsibility to maintain a state checklist and as part of that responsibility has published updates on the average of every 10 years. The second edition of The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds is in effect the fifth edition of the society’s Check-list of the Birds of Texas. Changes in terms of additions or deletions to the TOS state list since 2004 have appeared in the annual reports of the tbrc published in the Bulletin of the Texas Ornithological Society (Carpenter 2012; Lockwood 2005a, 2006, 2007a, 2008b, 2009, 2010, 2011). This edition reflects the recent additions and deletions to the state list as a result of taxonomic revisions as well as changes in distribution. We have also attempted to capture changes in range and relative abundance. This edition has been substantially enlarged to incorporate discussion of subspecies known to occur in the state and of their distribution . The Texas List and Its Nomenclature This fifth edition of the TOS “checklist” includes 639 species of birds accepted for the state by the tbrc. It represents an increase of 17 species since 2004. Most of these gains are the result of new discoveries or documented occurrences ; however, a number of changes reflect recent taxonomic decisions by the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) Committee on Classification and Nomenclature. The taxonomic treatment and species sequence in this checklist follow the Check-list of North American Birds, Seventh Edition (AOU 1998), as currently supplemented. 2 introduction The return to inclusion of subspecies in this volume is complicated by the fact that the AOU has not treated subspecies since 1957. Primary sources for the subspecies listed here include the online Clements et al. (2012) and Gill and Donsker (2012) publications. This base list was also compared against the taxonomy used by Pyle in the Identification Guide to North American Birds, Parts I and II (1997, 2008) and the various volumes of the Handbook of the Birds of the World. Even though we have used these excellent resources, the subspecific taxonomy included here should be considered provisional. In addition, many species have occurred in Texas for which there are no specimens known and therefore no opportunity for a subspecific determination. These are primarily vagrants, and the subspecies listed are based on probability of occurrence. These cases are noted in the species account. Documentation For a species to be considered for inclusion on the of- ficial Texas state list of birds of the TOS, there must exist a known specimen, a recognizable and confirmed photograph or video, or a recognizable and confirmed audio recording . Any potential new state record must meet these criteria and be reviewed and accepted by the tbrc. The tbrc requests and reviews documentation on any report of a species that appears on its Review List or that has never been recorded in the state. Review Species occur, on average , fewer than four times per year for a 10-year period. Those on the current list are indicated in the species accounts , and a complete listing is found in appendix D. The tbrc reviews reports of Review List species. If the tbrc votes in favor of a report, it is considered to be an “accepted ” record. The review of such reports is a continuing process, and information about the number of accepted records of any particular Review Species is likely to have changed as of this book’s publication date. The files of the tbrc are housed at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection at Texas A&M University in College Station. For more information about TOS and the tbrc, please visit http://www.texasbirds.org/. introduction 3 Species Accounts The purpose of this book is to define and update the known status and distribution of the birds of Texas, as defined by the tbrc. It is not intended as an identification guide, and the authors make no effort toward describing physiological features, vocalizations, other identifying traits, or a species’ natural history. A...