First ARCC Historical Report
By Phil Rusch
This is the First Historical Report of the Avian Records Committee of Connecticut (ARCC). The report presents the results of many hours of research reviewing specimens and documents at The Biological Research Collections (BRC) at the University of Connecticut (UCONN) in Storrs, CT, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) at Harvard University in Cambridge MA.
This report is the direct result of the Committee’s concerted attempt to document and review records of Review List species found in Connecticut prior to the formation of the Committee in 1985. It was decided to treat all records prior to January 1, 2000 as “historic”. This report documents 13 first state records for Connecticut.
In the 25th and 26th reports of the ARCC, the committee reviewed several historic records including:
6 records, 5 specimens and 1 photo, documented of Sooty Tern from 1979’s Hurricane David;
The first specimen record from Connecticut and New England of Black-headed Grosbeak from 1978.
A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher photo documented record from 1977.
And the first state record, photo documented, of Gray Kingbird from Old Lyme in 1974.
The Committee decided to treat this large batch (47) of records from the BRC at UCONN and 1 from the MCZ at Harvard University as a special report. Future historical reports are planned for specimen records from Yale’s Peabody Museum (YPM), The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington DC, The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York, The Field Museum Of Natural History (FMNH) in Chicago, and the University of Iowa Ornithological Collections (SUI) in Ames, Iowa.
COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP:
Members, in addition to the author, who voted on records in this report are Nick Bonomo, Frank Gallo, Tina Green, Greg Hanisek, Julian Hough, Jay Kaplan, Frank Mantlik, and Glenn Williams.
FORMAT:
This report will vary slightly from prior reports since most of the records are of specimens. Each record has been designated a unique ARCC file number. As this report spans the years of 1849-1979, the ARCC file number will use the designations H1-01 to H1-48. H1 referring to Historical Report #1, and 01-48 referring to the individual record. The species are listed in order according to the latest American Ornithological Society (AOS) checklist. Multiple records of a particular species will be listed by the ARCC reference file number. Months of the year are shortened to the first 3 letters. In addition, the catalog number of the specimen and the collector, if known, will be listed.
ACCEPTED RECORDS:
King Eider (Sometaria spectabilis).
H1-01. One female was collected in Old Lyme on 1 Jan 1971 by R. Billard. Round Skin UCONN 6820. Photos of the specimen on file. King Eider was removed from the review list in 2000.
Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis)
H1-06: One was collected in Portland on 8 Sep 1894 by FRH Gould. Round skin UCONN 1512. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-07: One was collected in Portland on 5 Oct 1912 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 1513. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-08: One was collected in Portland on 30 Sep 1911 by JH Sage. Round skin UCONN 1514. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-09: One was collected in Portland on27 Sep 1894 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 1515. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-10: One was collected in South Windsor on 14 Oct 1920 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 1516. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-11: One was collected in Portland on 24 Sep 1901 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9368. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-12: One was collected in Portland on 9 Oct 1877 by JH Sage. Mounted Specimen UCONN 11260. Photos of the mounted specimen on file.
H1-13: One was collected in Portland on 10 Oct 1877 by JH Sage. Mounted Specimen UCONN 11261. Photos of the mounted specimen on file.
Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius)
H1-02: One was collected in East Hartford on 27 Sep 1886 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 1973. Photos of the specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
H1-03: One was collected in Portland on 2 Oct 1903 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9401. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-04: One was collected in Portland on 21 Oct 1890 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9402. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-05: One was collected in Portland on 24 Nov 1895 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9403. Photos of the specimen on file.
Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus)
H1-14: One was collected in Noank/Groton on 10 Sep 1903 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 1977. Photos of the specimen on file. Parasitic Jaeger was removed from the review list in 2002. This becomes the first documented State Record.
Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)
H1-15: One was found deceased on Groton Long Point in Groton on 30 Sep 1979 by an unknown collector. Round Skin UCONN 7815. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-16: One was collected in Portland during the fall of 1875 by JH Sage. Mounted Specimen UCONN 9265. Photos of the mounted specimen on file. Originally identified as Parasitic Jaeger, in 1988(?) Louis Bevier correctly identified it as Long-tailed. There is a specimen from 30 August 1873 collected in Wallingford that would constitute the first state record except it cannot be located. Therefore, this becomes the first documented state record of this species
Dovekie (Alle alle)
H1-31: One was found deceased in Ashford on 11 Nov 1968 by ? Paige. Round Skin UCONN 2001. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-32: One was found deceased in Brooklyn on 5 Nov 1969 by R Dubos. Round Skin and partial skeleton UCONN 4195. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-33: One was found deceased in Stamford on 15 Nov 1974 by unknown. Round Skin UCONN 7281. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-34: One was collected in Portland on 10 Nov 1849 by Wood. Mounted Specimen UCONN 9262. Photos of the mounted specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
H1-35: One was collected in Branford on 14 Jan 1891 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9415. Photos of the specimen on file.
Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia)
H1-20: One was collected in Portland on 22 Dec 1894 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2042. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-21: One was collected in Branford on 12 Jan 1891 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2043. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-22: One was collected in Branford on 12 Jan 1891 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2044. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-23: One was collected in Essex on 11 Dec 1894 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2045. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-24: One was collected in Essex on 11 Dec 1894 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2046. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-25: One was collected in Rocky Hill on 18 Nov 1893 by WE Treat. Round Skin UCONN 2048. Photos of specimen on file.
H1-26: One was collected in Portland on 13 Dec 1894 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2049. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-27: One was collected in Portland on 22 Dec 1894 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2050. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-28: One was collected in Portland on 13 Dec 1894 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2051. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-29: One was found deceased in Stamford/Darien near exit 8 / Interstate 95 in Darien on 31 Dec 1976 by a CT State Trooper. Round Skin UCONN 7490 / Skeleton UCONN 8771. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-30: One was collected in Portland on 22 Dec 1894 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9414. Photos of the specimen on file.
Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle)
H1-36: One was collected in Branford in Dec 1887 by J. Trumbell. Round Skin UCONN 9416. Photos of the specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
Little Gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus)
H1-18: One was collected in Stratford on 20 Jun 1968 by Walt Bulmer. Round Skin UCONN 1999. Photos of the specimen on file. Little Gull was removed from the review list in 1998. This becomes the first documented state record.
Leach’s Storm Petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous)
H1-37: One was collected at Portland on 18 Oct 1904 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9298. Photos of the specimen on file.
H1-38: One was collected at Portland on 16 Sep 1903 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9299. Photos of the specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus)
H1-40: One was found deceased in Stafford on 3 June 1976 by E. Stuart Mitchell. Round Skin UCONN 7479. Swallow-tailed Kite was removed from the review list in 2004. Photos of the specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
H1-39: One was collected in Essex on 1 Nov 1892 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9350. Photos of the specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)
H1-46: One was seen and well described by George T Griswold and Arthur G Powers in the City of Hartford on 12 Jan 1938. A detailed description noting the key field marks were found in the field notes of Griswold. His account also appeared in The Auk Volume 55; pp 533-534. The bird was seen 4 times by Griswold and Powers as it moved from the edge of the business district into a residential area of Hartford. This constitutes the earliest accepted record of the 3 accepted records of the species for CT. There are also 2 unreviewed sight records and 3 missing specimens of this species.
Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula)
H1-47: one was seen and described in detail by George T Griswold at Podunk Swamp in South Windsor on 25 Jan 1934. Griswold kept meticulous field notes from 1911-1954. These field notes are located at UCONN in the BRC Library. Account also appears in The Auk Volume 51; pp 521. The committee looks forward to investigating the field notes in the future for other well documented historical sightings. This is currently the only accepted record of Northern Hawk Owl from Connecticut. There are 2 additional unreviewed sight records, 1 missing specimen, and 1 newly discovered unreviewed specimen.
Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)
H1-41: One was collected in South Windsor on 22 Feb 1924 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 2487. Photos of the specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)
H1-42: One was collected in Durham on 27 Jan 1907 by JH Sage. Round Skin UCONN 9353. Photos of the specimen on file.
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus)H1-19: One was sighted at Griswold Point on 25 May 1974 by William Burt. Photos were obtained and are on file.
Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
H1-45: One was collected in Old Saybrook in Nov 1878 by James Chalkers. Round Skin MCZ 249184. Photos of the specimen on file.
Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus)
H1-43: One was collected in Stratford on 29 Aug 1968 by Walt Bulmer. Round Skin UCONN 6614. Photos of the specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
Smith’s Longspur (Calcarius pictus)
H1-44: One was collected in Stratford on 24 Mar 1968 by Walt Bulmer. Round Skin UCONN 6618. Photos of the specimen on file. This becomes the first documented state record.
NOT ACCEPTED RECORDS
Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus)
H1-48: One was seen in flight and described by George T Griswold and C. Viebert at the former site of Bissel’s Ferry in Windsor on 2 Dec 1932. This record is another find from the field notes of GT Griswold. The Committee felt that the description did not adequately eliminate Northern Saw-whet Owl.