Pitangus sulphuratus texanus Status: Accidental in spring. Taxonomy: A recent decision by AOS (Chesser et al 2018) rearranged the order of subfamilies within the Tyrannidae, placing Tyranninae (Nebraska-occurring genera Myiarchus, Pitangus, Tyrannus) ahead of Fluvicolinae (Nebraska-occurring genera Contopus, Empidonax, Sayornis, Pyrocephalus). We follow this order of genera. Of ten recognized subspecies (Gill et al 2022), only […]
BLACK PHOEBE
Sayornis nigricans semiatra Status: Accidental in spring. Taxonomy: There are six subspecies, two of which occur in South America and may be a separate species, White-winged Phoebe, and four in central America and Mexico, only one of which occurs north of Mexico, semiatra (Gill et al 2022, but note spelling). The Nebraska record is presumed […]
[MEXICAN WHIP-POOR-WILL]
Antrostomus arizonae Status: No accepted records. Taxonomy: There are five subspecies, only one north of Mexico: arizonae, occurring in the southwestern USA into Mexico (Gill et al 2020). This species was split from Eastern Whip-poor-will (former Caprimulgus vociferus, now A. vociferus) in 2010 based on differences in vocalizations and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA (Han et […]
Making sense of eBird’s Canada Goose subspecies
Joel Jorgensen | 8 January 2020 | joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov eBird (eBird.org), the dominant platform used by birders these days, provide birders the opportunity to report certain birds to recognized subspecies. Birds of Nebraska – Online (BONO) provides detailed information about recognized subspecies in the taxonomy section of each species account. In some instances, though, eBird merges […]
Harlan County CBC – 2019 recap
Joel Jorgensen | 17 December 2019 | joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov The 12th Harlan County Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place 14 December 2019. Before going any further, it is important to mention the big change in conditions that took place between the 2018 and 2019 editions of the CBC. Harlan County Lake had been chronically below its […]
The summer of Redheads
Joel Jorgensen | 8 August 2019 | joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov As the species account on the Birds of Nebraska – Online states, Redheads have been uncommon, albeit casual, summer visitors away from their Nebraska breeding range in the Sandhills. This species has also bred a handful of times in the Rainwater Basin (RWB) in south-central Nebraska. Thus, […]