Sphyrapicus varius Status: Uncommon regular spring migrant east and central, rare casual west. Fairly common fall migrant east, uncommon central, rare west. Rare regular winter visitor southeast, rare casual elsewhere. Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM6307, 9 Oct 1921 Lancaster Co. Taxonomy: Yellow-bellied (S. varius), Red-naped (S. nuchalis), and Red-breasted (S. ruber) Sapsuckers are closely related, having […]
CRESTED CARACARA
Caracara plancus CHERIWAY Status: Accidental in summer. Documentation: Photograph: 11 Nov 2012 Genoa, Nance Co, first seen 14 Jul (Brogie 2013). Taxonomy: The caracaras of North, Central, and South America, traditionally considered a single species C. plancus with four or five subspecies, was treated as three species by Dove and Banks (1999) and Banks et […]
[IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER]
Campephilus principalis Status: No accepted records. Taxonomy: Two subspecies are recognized, principalis of the southeastern USA and bairdii of Cuba (AviList 2025). Most authorities consider both subspecies extinct or nearly so (AOU 1998). Comments: Bruner (1896) cited a report by G.A. Coleman that this species was rare in the vicinity of Peru. Bruner et al […]
BELTED KINGFISHER
Megaceryle alcyon Status: Fairly common regular breeder and spring and fall migrant statewide. Uncommon local winter visitor southern half of state, rare elsewhere. Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM6277, 23 Jun 1916 Mitchell, Scotts Bluff Co. Taxonomy: Belted Kingfisher was previously included in genus Ceryle, but recent genetic studies (Moyle 2006, Kelly et al 2020) re-assigned it […]
BARRED OWL
Strix varia Status: . Fairly common regular resident east, rare east central, rare casual elsewhere. Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM7741, 28 Nov 1937 Fontenelle Forest, Sarpy Co. Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (AviList 2025). Four weakly-defined subspecies have been recognized (Pyle 1997, Mazur and James 2020, Clements et al 2016), in Texas (helveola), the southern US […]
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL
Aegolius acadicus acadicus Status: Rare regular breeder west, rare casual north central. Rare casual summer visitor away from northwest. Uncommon regular spring and fall migrant and winter visitor statewide. Documentation: Specimen: SUI 28762, Wood River, Hall Co 14 Oct 1884. Taxonomy: There are two subspecies recognized, brooksi of the Queen Charlotte Islands of western Canada, […]