Forty-fourth Annual Report of the Vermont Bird Records Committee
By Susan Elliott and the Vermont Bird Records Committee
The Vermont Bird Records Committee (hereafter VBRC or the Committee) held its annual meeting on 2 December 2024 virtually with an additional online meeting held 10 February 2025. The 44th annual report of the VBRC covers the evaluation of 47 records involving 34 species. Thirty-eight records were accepted with the majority decided unanimously.
A highlight for 2024 was the state’s first state records of Hammond’s Flycatcher (Empidonax hammondii) and Black-throated Gray Warbler (Septophaga nigrescens). Also of note was the state’s second accepted record for Ruff (Calidrix pugnax), last accepted in 1991, and the second accepted record of Mexican Violetear (Colibri thalassinus), last accepted in 2021.
In 2024, ornithologists lumped Common Redpoll, Hoary Redpoll, and Lesser Redpoll (a European species) into a single species now with the common name Redpoll (Acanthis flammea). With the addition of the two new species and this merger, the Vermont Bird Checklist is now at 398 species representing 22 orders and 63 families. The names of the birds and their taxonomic arrangement follow the American Ornithological Society Checklist of North American Birds 7th Edition (1998) and 65th supplement (July 2024) available at https://americanornithology.org/publications/north-and-middle-american-checklist/. Nomenclature for subspecies or ‘identifiable subspecific forms’ follows the taxonomy of the eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, available at https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/.
The Vermont checklist includes one extinct species (Passenger Pigeon [Ectopistes migratorius]), two extirpated (Loggerhead Shrike [Lanius ludovicianus] and Henslow’s Sparrow [Ammodramus henslowii]). There have been 205 species found breeding in the state. The checklist can be viewed and downloaded at https://vtecostudies.org/wildlife/wildlife-watching/vbrc/bird-checklists/
The 2024 roster of VBRC voting members included Susan Elliott (Co-Chair), Taj Schottland (Co-Chair), Cat Abbott, Bridget Butler, Ken Cox, Chip Darmstadt, Chris Rimmer, Judy Sefchick, Ruth Stewart, Zac Cota-Weaver, Sue Wetmore, and Chad Witko. Kent McFarland was the administrative assistant.
The Vermont Bird Checklist is based on more than a century of documented observations. Reports that will expand this knowledge base are encouraged and appreciated. Consult the checklist to see species and time periods for which the Committee requests detailed documentation. An online form for documenting rare species, out-of-season encounters, and rare nesting species along with past Committee annual reports can be found on the Vermont Bird Records Committee website at https://vtecostudies.org/wildlife/wildlife-watching/vbrc/annual-reports/.
