SEASONAL OCCURRENCES OF SHELBY COUNTY, TENNESSEE BIRDS The following is a revision of the compilation of several thousand field cards and notes collected for Shelby County since 1929. The original publication in 1982 was supported by the tireless efforts and encouragement of the late Ben B. Coffey, Jr., whose records provided the basis for this publication and the start of the Memphis Chapter of TOS. The previous revisions were in 1987 and 1998. This publication extends the reporting time into 2013 in an ongoing attempt to maintain an accurate and timely record of sightings in Shelby County. It would not have been possible without the continued work and support of the members of the Memphis chapter who have contributed countless hours of work, but most importantly kept field cards of their sightings. MTOS maintains a database of well over 9000 (and growing) records of these sightings for Shelby County, a large part of Tennessee and the mid-south. This compilation provides a reasonable estimate of arrival and departure dates of transients, seasonal residents and visitors, a record of occasional and accidental sightings and the presence of year-round residents. The color graphing shows the expectation of sighting a species within Shelby County. An attempt is made to indicate current possibility of sighting a species though historical records may indicate greater density. The population densities of birds and chances of seeing them are divided into six categories; numbers indicate arrival or departure dates within that month. If no date is indicated the species may appear at any time in that month. An observation prior to the printed arrival date or after the printed departure date would indicate an early or late record and should be reported to MTOS. Common seen every day in proper habitat Fairly common seen almost every day in proper habitat Uncommon might be seen but infrequent or unpredictable numbers Rare seen now and then though could be expected almost every year Very Rare very few seen and not every year; single sighting Accidental sighting outside of normal range This revision was completed by Martha Waldron and Susan McWhirter 5/20/2014. Special thanks to Theresa Graham, Gaynell Perry, Dick Preston, and Virginia Reynolds.
Blk-bellied Whistling-Duck Fulvous Whistling Duck C Gr. White-fronted Goose 8 5 FC Snow Goose 10 2 UC Ross's Goose 21 30 R Brant VR Cackling Goose 22 26 A Canada Goose Mute Swan Trumpeter Swan Tundra Swan Wood Duck Gadwall 21 27 Eurasian Wigeon American Wigeon 20 19 American Black Duck 23 7 Mallard Mottled Duck Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler 20 Northern Pintail 3 Garganey Green-winged Teal 28 15 Canvasback 8 1 Redhead 13 26 Ring-necked Duck 29 13 Greater Scaup 8 3 Lesser Scaup 3 Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck Bufflehead 26 Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Red-br. Merganser 10 Ruddy Duck Wild Turkey Northern Bobwhite Common Loon 8 5 Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe 12 22 Red-necked Grebe Eared Grebe Clark's Grebe Am. White Pelican Brown Pelican
Neotropic Cormorant Double-cr. Cormorant 5 6 2 Anhinga American Bittern 4 7 11 20 Least Bittern 30 10 Great Blue Heron Great Egret 6 29 Snowy Egret 1 1 Little Blue Heron 23 17 Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret 6 21 Green Heron 21 29 18 Black-cr. Night-Heron 6 9 Yellow-cr. Night-Heron 7 29 White Ibis 14 Glossy Ibis White-faced Ibis 3 Roseate Spoonbill Wood Stork 14 20 Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey 16 Mississippi Kite Bald Eagle Northern Harrier 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 27 Cooper's Hawk Northern Goshawk Red-shouldered Hawk Feb Broad-winged Hawk 23 22 Swainson's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Golden Eagle Yellow Rail King Rail 24 1 Virginia Rail 10 3 5 17 Sora 12 nested 21 28 18 Purple Gallinule 19 29 Common Gallinule American Coot Sandhill Crane Black-bellied Plover 6 25 American Golden-Plover 9 6 Wilson's Plover Semipalmated Plover 11 27 16 Piping Plover Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt 15 17 American Avocet Greater Yellowlegs 2 18 3 23 Lesser Yellowlegs 2 21 Solitary Sandpiper 19 27 5 25 Willet Spotted Sandpiper 26 26 7 26 Upland Sandpiper 12 2 10 27 Whimbrel Long-billed Curlew Hudsonian Godwit Marbled Godwit Ruddy Turnstone Red Knot Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper 1 29 16 18 Western Sandpiper 16 23 23 Red-necked Stint Least Sandpiper 22 White-rumped Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper 9 22 7 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Dunlin 26 21 Stilt Sandpiper 3 26 Buff-breasted Sandpiper Ruff Short-billed Dowitcher 6 18 3 25 Long-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Snipe 8 11 American Woodcock Wilson's Phalarope 9 9 Red-necked Phalarope 14 28 Red Phalarope Pomarine Jaeger Jaeger sp. Laughing Gull Franklin's Gull Bonaparte's Gull 11 21 Ring-billed Gull 15 11 Herring Gull 3 Glaucous Gull Sabine's Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Caspian Tern 18 22 Royal Tern Common Tern
Forster's Tern Least Tern 25 Black Tern 14 Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove White-winged Dove Mourning Dove Common Ground-Dove Black-billed Cuckoo 22 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Barn Owl Eastern Screech-Owl Great Horned Owl Barred Owl Long-eared Owl Short-eared Owl 17 12 Northern Saw-whet Owl Common Nighthawk 19 Chuck-will's-widow 2 28 Whip-poor-will 23 23 Chimney Swift 17 Ruby-th. Hummingbird 27 Rufous Hummingbird 28 8 Selasphorus sp. Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 7 Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker "Red-shafted" Flicker Pileated Woodpecker American Kestrel Merlin 15 Peregrine Falcon 22 14 12 22 Prairie Falcon Monk Parakeet Nested in 1973 Olive-sided Flycatcher 8 Eastern Wood-Pewee 3 28 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 20 23 19 4 Acadian Flycatcher 11 25 Alder Flycatcher 14 18 Willow Flycatcher 13 Least Flycatcher 24 28 2 7 Eastern Phoebe Vermilion Flycatcher Ash-throated Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher 27 24 Western Kingbird Eastern Kingbird 27 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 8 Loggerhead Shrike White-eyed Vireo 21 Bell's Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo 19 23 Blue-headed Vireo 1 18 30 Warbling Vireo 18 Philadelphia Vireo 20 24 18 13 Red-eyed Vireo 5 3 Blue Jay American Crow Fish Crow Horned Lark Purple Martin 1 27 Tree Swallow 13 19 11 20 N. Rough-winged Swallow 12 2 Bank Swallow 8 26 Cliff Swallow 1 Barn Swallow 8 28 Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch 11 9 White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper 30 258 Rock Wren Carolina Wren Bewick's Wren Once considered an uncommon visitor and nesting species House Wren 7 9 22 17 27 Winter Wren 27 2 Sedge Wren 14 9 8 Marsh Wren 22 13 8 19 Golden-crowned Kinglet 24 18 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 12 17 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 17 29 Eastern Bluebird Veery 20 21 Gray-cheeked Thrush 12 31 9 13 Swainson's Thrush 6 2 30 Hermit Thrush 30 9 Wood Thrush 2 10 American Robin Gray Catbird 11 29 Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling
American Pipit 10 Sprague's Pipit No recent report Cedar Waxwing 8 Lapland Longspur 19 1 Snow Bunting Smith's Longspur 27 13 Ovenbird 3 4 6 18 Worm-eating Warbler 27 25 Louisiana Waterthrush 13 13 Northern Waterthrush 17 21 29 6 Blue-winged Warbler 27 12 7 25 Golden-winged Warbler 12 20 20 29 "Brewster's Warbler" "Lawrence's Warbler" Black-and-white Warbler 21 17 11 Prothonotary Warbler 26 Swainson's Warbler 6 31 Tennessee Warbler 4 25 19 27 Orange-crowned Warbler 24 10 28 12 11 8 Nashville Warbler 1 15 21 27 Connecticut Warbler 23 15 Mourning Warbler 15 19 27 Kentucky Warbler 30 Common Yellowthroat 27 21 Hooded Warbler 22 26 American Redstart 6 21 Cape May Warbler 3 22 19 20 24 2 Cerulean Warbler 3 30 Northern Parula 1 25 Magnolia Warbler 10 4 7 10 Bay-breasted Warbler 24 24 12 7 Blackburnian Warbler 3 28 8 23 Yellow Warbler 9 27 Chestnut-sided Warbler 16 27 1 27 Blackpoll Warbler 14 22 Black-thr. Blue Warbler Palm Warbler 1 23 13 Pine Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler 17 24 Yellow-throated Warbler 19 24 Prairie Warbler 9 18 Black-thr. Green Warbler 19 25 7 24 Canada Warbler 22 30 11 28 Wilson's Warbler 26 19 2 Yellow-breasted Chat 26 14 29 12 Green-tailed Towhee Spotted Towhee Eastern Towhee
Bachman's Sparrow Not reported since the 1950's American Tree Sparrow 23 21 Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Field Sparrow Vesper Sparrow 27 1 28 4 Lark Sparrow 12 21 Savannah Sparrow 23 9 Grasshopper Sparrow 17 Henslow's Sparrow LeConte's Sparrow 6 Nelson's Sparrow Fox Sparrow 27 18 Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow 28 22 Swamp Sparrow 16 White-throated Sparrow 4 15 Harris' s Sparrow 30 White-crowned Sparrow 17 4 Dark-eyed Junco 10 21 Summer Tanager 8 17 Scarlet Tanager 9 nested 6 28 Western Tanager Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak 15 22 30 Black-headed Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak 13 20 Lazuli Bunting Indigo Bunting 5 Painted Bunting 11 18 Dickcissel 27 14 29 3 Bobolink 17 29 Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Western Meadowlark 24 nested 1951 15 Yellow-headed Blackbird Rusty Blackbird 19 22 Brewer's Blackbird 15 27 Common Grackle Shiny Cowbird Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole 4 26 Baltimore Oriole 9 13 Purple Finch 7 House Finch Red Crossbill nested White-winged Crossbill Pine Siskin 22 10
American Goldfinch Evening Grosbeak 9 17 House Sparrow