Vancouver Rare Bird List

The following list contains records of Casual and Accidental birds recorded in the Vancouver Checklist Area. The Checklist Area covers Greater Vancouver and its vicinity from the International Boundary, (but including Point Roberts, Washington) north to 49’ 35’ N (including Furry Creek), west to the middle of the Strait of Georgia and Howe Sound (including Bowen Island), east to 122’ 33’ W (Bradner Road & 288th St.) in Abbotsford, Aldergrove and Maple Ridge, but including all Golden Ears Provincial Park. The Vancouver Checklist has a total of 432 species, 170 breeding species, 159 species seen less than once per year with 10 introduced and 9 extirpated species. Confirmed records appear first and are documented either by photographs, specimens, tape recordings or by written field notes (FN). Accepted records seen by a single observer are treated as a sight record (sr). There are 29 species on the list that are under the category of Hypothetical because they are either currently under review or haven’t fully been documented as a definitive record in the region. Below each species name is a list of records showing confirmed records then any Hypothetical records for that species. The casual and accidental records listed include historical records, including specimens, cited observations, photographed records, and accepted sightings found in the literature about BC Birds. This List is a general synopsis of occurrence and should be interpreted as such. Where there are more than 20 records of a particular species, I have tried to add a little extra information. I wish to thank the hard work of the following people who compiled information over the past decades and made researching this list possible: Bill Hughes, R. Wayne Campbell, Mike Shepard, John Toochin, Bruce MacDonald, Wayne Weber, Brian Kautesk, Richard Cannings, Michael Force, Doug Kragh, John Dorsey, Tom Plath, Brian Self, Alexis Harrington, Ilya Povalyaev, Melissa Hafting, and John Chandler. I wish to thank past and present members of Nature Vancouver (Vancouver Natural History Society), local, and out-of-town birders who have contributed sightings over the decades. These people made the creation of this document possible. I would also like to acknowledge the help of George Clulow and Eric Greenwood for without their help this document could not have been completed. It was also critical having the late Brian Kautesk’s field journals and copies of the Iona Island sightings logbooks from 1970 to the present where many credible observations have been made over the decades. A huge thank-you to George Clulow and Tom Plath for giving me access to all the Vancouver Natural History Society’s digital archival bird record information. A list of references and a complete list of contributors to this list are provided at the end of the document. If you have any comments, additional observations, or questions please contact the authors.

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