Falco mexicanus Status: Fairly common regular winter visitor west and central, rare east. Uncommon regular breeder west, rare casual north. Rare casual summer visitor statewide. Documentation: UNSM ZM12533, 25 Feb 1896 Warbonnet Canyon, Sioux Co. Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022). Spring: winter <<<>>> May 9, 9, 11 (east and east central) […]
MERLIN
Falco columbarius columbarius, F. c. richardsonii Status: Uncommon regular spring and fall migrant statewide. Rare casual breeder northwest (richardsonii). Uncommon regular winter visitor statewide (richardsonii), south (columbarius). Documentation: Specimens: UNSM ZM12536, 20 Oct 1906 Omaha, Douglas Co (richardsonii), UNSM ZM7702, 1 Oct 1940 Stapleton, Logan Co (columbarius). Taxonomy: Nine subspecies are recognized, six in Eurasia […]
DOWNY WOODPECKER
Dryobates pubescens medianus, D. p. leucurus Status: Common regular resident east and central, fairly common west. Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM12374, 25 Nov 1893 Lancaster Co. Taxonomy: There have been several recent changes in generic assignment of woodpeckers. Genus Dryobates includes species previously assigned to genera Dendrocopos and Picoides, including Nuttall’s, Ladder-backed, and Downy Woodpeckers of North […]
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Melanerpes erythrocephalus Status: Common regular spring and fall migrant east and central, fairly common west. Common regular breeder east and central, uncommon west. Uncommon regular winter visitor extreme southeast, rare elsewhere east and east central, rare casual elsewhere. Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM6290, 5 Jun 1981 Gage Co. Taxonomy: No subspecies are currently recognized (Gill et […]
WILLIAMSON’S SAPSUCKER
Sphyrapicus thyroideus Status: Rare casual spring and fall visitor east and central. Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM15986, 13 May 1988 Omaha, Douglas Co. Taxonomy: Gyug et al (2023) list two weakly differentiated subspecies, thyroideus of the Pacific Coast region and nataliae of the Rocky Mountains. Spring: There are five reports, three documented: 24 Mar 1939, male […]
SHORT-EARED OWL
Asio flammeus flammeus Status: Rare regular resident north and west. Uncommon regular winter visitor statewide. Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM7740, 4 Dec 1902 Kirkwood, Lancaster Co. Taxonomy: There are 11 subspecies currently recognized, only one, flammeus, occurring in North America, the other 10 subspecies are distributed worldwide except for Australia; several are island endemics (Gill et […]