Revised Checklist of North Dakota Birds

Craig A. Faanes and Robert E. Stewart
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Science
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Jamestown, North Dakota 58401

Male Black-Headed Grosbeak
Photo by Chris Grondahl

This resource is based on the following source (Northern Prairie Publication 0503):

Faanes, Craig A., and Robert E. Stewart.  1982.  Revised checklist of North 
     Dakota birds.  The Prairie Naturalist 14(3):81-92.

This resource should be cited as:

Faanes, Craig A., and Robert E. Stewart.  1982.  Revised checklist of North 
     Dakota birds.  The Prairie Naturalist 14(3):81-92.  Jamestown, ND: 
     Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.
     http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chnbird/chnbird.htm
     (Version 16JUL97).

Introduction
Standards
Summary
Terms
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Checklist

Introduction

During the years since publication of the most recent checklist of North Dakota birds by Stewart (1971), the status of several species has changed. At the same time, a growing interest in bird observation has continued to expand our knowledge of the State's avifauna. The North American Breeding Bird Survey (Bystrak 1981) now provides a means for comparison of yearly changes in breeding bird populations across the State. Christmas Bird Counts that have expanded in coverage throughout North Dakota (Randall 1980) are also providing important data on early winter distribution and abundance of many species. Also the "sport" of bird watching has become more popular, and numerous groups and individuals are amassing a considerable base of information on the occurrence, distribution, and relative abundance of most bird species in the State.

The occurrence and distribution of many species in North Dakota has been changing since the first settlers arrived. Because changes are still occurring, it is important to periodically update our information. The first bird list for the State (Wood 1923) included 292 accepted species. Nearly 30 years later, Randall (1952) included 316 species on a provisional list. Later, Stewart (1971) listed 339 acceptable species including 181 with breeding records and 19 additional hypothetical species.

During the period since Stewart's list was published, several changes have occurred in the taxonomy of North American birds (A.O.U. 1982) including some changes affecting species occurring in North Dakota. Additional field work across the State has resulted in the confirmation of breeding records for several species that earlier were suspected breeders. Stewart (1975) summarized breeding status as known up to that time. Increased observer interest has resulted in additional observations, photographs, and specimens which have verified the status of several species on the State list. The growing network of observers has increased the coverage of the organized reporting system established in 1970, which presents results in American Birds, published quarterly by the National Audubon Society.

Stewart (1971) stated that no official rules or guidelines existed for determining the validity of a species on the State list. Such guidelines were established in 1979 by the North Dakota Natural Science Society, which requires the documentation of unusual species or date observed. Records of bird occurrence in North Dakota are now permanently stored at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and are available to other researchers. The official guidelines for determining the validity of a species occurrence in North Dakota are presented below.

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Standards

A species will be included on the valid list of North Dakota birds when both of the following criteria are satisfied:

Its occurrence in the State is free of doubt as determined by fulfillment of at least one of the following:
1. One or more clearly identifiable photographs is presented
2. A correctly identified specimen is preserved and maintained in a museum or collection
3. A fully audible voice reproduction is presented
4. Three or more observations are obtained; each such observation or sight record must be supported by a completed documentation form submitted to the North Dakota Ornithological Records Committee (NDORC). No more than two of the sight records may be made by the same individual, and these must be separated in time and space. When three documented sight records acceptable and approved by NDORC have been reviewed, the species can then be added to the valid list based on sight records alone.
The bird(s) occurred in the State as wild and free-flying, and there is no evidence to indicate it occurred as an escape or as a release from captivity.

A species will be placed on the hypothetical list when less than three acceptable sight records have accumulated, and none of the other criteria for the valid list has been met.

All observations of species not on the valid list in North Dakota will be reviewed by the NDORC. Supporting documentation is to be submitted by the observer on a standardized form. These completed forms are submitted at the end of each reporting period to the appropriate compiler of North Dakota records for American Birds. Observations of casual, extra-limital, out-of-season, or other unusual occurrences will be reviewed by NDORC to determine their appropriateness as acceptable records.

Acceptance of a record that is classified under criteria 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 above (primarily for first State records) will be made by a unanimous decision of the NDORC. Records classified under criteria 1.4 above (including subsequent State records, unusual dates, or out-of-range birds) will be accepted or rejected by a simple majority vote of the Committee.

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Summary

This current list includes 365 species of which 353 are considered valid and 12 are hypothetical. A breakdown of this list includes 207 species that nest or have nested, 95 that occur as migrants, 28 accidental, 21 occasional, 2 extirpated, and 1 extinct species. Species that have nested at least once in the State are indicated with an asterisk (*) in the list. An additional 16 species that are either summer residents, casual, or primarily migrants are considered to be inferred nesting species, based on observations of territorial behavior in the proper habitat during normal breeding periods. These species are indicated by (i) before their name in the list. Including those with inferred breeding status, at least 223 species can now be considered components of the breeding avifauna of North Dakota.

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Terms

Because of the varied nature of bird populations and movements, seasons are difficult to define. Many shorebird species overlap their northward and southward migrations with the summer season. White-rumped sandpiper and semipalmated sandpiper are only two of the species that are regularly found migrating north in early and mid-June, whereas the lesser yellowlegs is regularly found in southward migration during late June. Most arctic nesting shorebird species on southward migration are well-distributed across the State by mid-July. Realizing that confusion may occur among observers if summer status is indicated we have deferred from providing abundance status during the summer season. In general, the abundance classification for shorebirds during spring or fall migration are applicable to northbound or southbound birds during the appropriate portion of the breeding season. For conformity, seasons used in this report are defined as:

Spring - March 15-May 31
Summer - June 1-July 31
Fall - August 1-November 15
Winter - November 15-March 15.

Terms used in relating relative abundance of each species according to season are adopted primarily from Faanes (1981).

Abundant (Ab): A species that occurs in very large numbers and is easily observed because of its habits and conspicuousness.
Common (C): A species that occurs in large numbers.
Fairly Common (F): A species that occurs in fair to moderate numbers.
Uncommon (U): A species that occurs in low numbers.
Rare (R): A species that occurs yearly somewhere in the State, but in very low numbers.
Occasional (O): A rare species that occurs at intervals of 3-5 years.
Accidental (Ac): A species that is not expected to occur again or that occurs very infrequently. This classification includes species that have occurred in the State three or fewer times.
Extirpated (E): A species that formerly occurred naturally in the State.

Although occurrence of many species is widespread across the State, others have either a discontinuous distribution (e.g., field sparrow) or are highly restricted in their range. This aspect of bird distribution posed problems when assigning abundance classifications among species. For example, the sage grouse is considered fairly common and the greater prairie-chicken is uncommon. Both species are fairly easily found within their range; the grouse in the extreme southwest and the prairie-chicken in the extreme southeast. Throughout this checklist, we have indicated the relative abundance of species that are locally more common than elsewhere in their range with parentheses ( ), bracketing the seasonal abundance category. For the most part, delineation of ranges for many of these species can be found in Stewart (1975).

Data used in assigning relative abundance categories for each species were derived from several sources. In addition to personal field experience in the State totalling 25 years between the authors, we also contacted numerous observers across the State for their input. Important published information included papers by Stewart and Kantrud (1972, 1973) and Stewart (1975).

The taxonomic order of species follows the most recent supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list (A.O.U. 1982).

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Acknowledgements

This paper has benefitted from the thoughtful analysis and comments of Gordon Berkey, Thomas Gatz, Douglas Johnson, Harold Kantrud, Gary Krapu, David and Sharon Lambeth, Ben Pinkowski, Robert Randall, and Paul Springer.

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Bibliography

American Ornithologists' Union. 1982. Thirty-fourth supplement to the American 
     Ornithologists' Union checklist of North American birds. Auk 99 (Suppl.):
     1CC- 16CC.
Bystrak, D. 1981. The North American Breeding Bird Survey. In: C. J. Ralph and 
     J. M. Scott, eds. Estimating numbers of terrestrial birds. Studies in Avian
     Biology 6:34-41.
Faanes, C. A. 1981. Birds of the St. Croix River Valley: Minnesota and Wisconsin.
     N. Am. Fauna 73. 196 pp.
Randall, R. N. 1952. A provisional checklist of birds of North Dakota. Mimeo Rep.
     23 pp.
Randall, R. N. 1980. Christmas Bird Counts for North Dakota- 1980. Prairie Nat.
     12:15-18.
Stewart, R. E. 1971. Checklist of birds in North Dakota. Prairie Nat. 3:3-12.
Stewart, R. E. 1975. Breeding birds of North Dakota. Tri-College Center for 
    Environmental Studies, Fargo. 295 pp.
Stewart, R. E., and H. A. Kantrud. 1972. Population estimates of breeding birds
     in North Dakota. Auk 89:766-788.
Stewart, R. E., and H. A. Kantrud. 1974. Breeding waterfowl populations in North
     Dakota. J. Wildl. Manage. 37:39-50.
Wood, N. A. 1923. A preliminary survey of the bird life of North Dakota. Univ. of
     Michigan, Mus. of Zool., Misc. Publ. No. 10. 96 pp.

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