Rare Bird Review List

The species in the review list always require documentation, reviewed by the seven member Records Committee, to archive the details of birds rare in Iowa. This list is subject to change annually as we learn more about distribution and as records ebb and flow. Check back after the Records Committee annual meeting, usually in October, to see those changes.

The following species, although meeting criteria to be regular in the state, should be documented when they are observed away from known locations:

Bewick's Wren - Argyle junkyard, Lee County

Go to Documentation Form

Some Iowa Rare Birds

Black-headed Grosbeak
Photo by Ann Johnson
Roseate Spoonbill
Photo by Paul Roisen
Brown Booby
Photo by Stephen J. Dinsmore
Mexican Violetear
Photo by Paul Roisen
Western Tanager
Photo by Kathi Cunningham
Heermann's Gull
Photo by Aaron Brees
Bar-tailed Godwit
Photo by Stephen J. Dinsmore
Boreal Owl
Photo by Scott Garrett
White-tailed Kite
Photo by Larry Reis

DEFINITIONS
Casual - recorded in 3-8 of the last 10 years
Accidental - recorded in 0-3 of the last 10 years
Extirpated - Gone from Iowa

Fulvous Whistling-Duck - Accidental	Taiga Bean Goose - Accidental	Tundra Bean-Goose - Accidental
Garganey - Accidental	Eurasian Wigeon - Accidental	Mottled Duck - Casual
King Eider - Accidental	Common Eider - Accidental	Barrow's Goldeneye - Accidental
Greater Prairie-Chicken - Accidental	Clark's Grebe - Accidental	Inca Dove - Accidental
Common Ground Dove - Accidental	Groove-billed Ani - Accidental	Mexican Violetear - Accidental
Anna's Hummingbird - Accidental	Rufous Hummingbird - Casual	Broad-billed Hummingbird - Accidental
Purple Gallinule - Accidental	Limpkin - Accidental	Whooping Crane - Accidental
Long-billed Curlew - Accidental	Bar-tailed Godwit - Accidental	Red Knot - Casual
Ruff - Casual	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper - Accidental	Curlew Sandpiper - Accidental
Pomarine Jaeger - Accidental	Parasitic Jaeger - Casual	Long-tailed Jaeger - Accidental
Thick-billed Murre - Accidental	Long-billed Murrelet - Accidental	Ancient Murrelet - Accidental
Ivory Gull - Accidental	Black-headed Gull - Accidental	Little Gull - Casual
Ross's Gull - Accidental	Black-tailed Gull - Accidental	Heermann's Gull - Accidental
Short-billed Gull - Accidental	Slaty-backed Gull - Accidental	Glaucous-winged Gull - Accidental
Arctic Tern - Accidental	Royal Tern - Accidental	Yellow-billed Loon - Accidental
Wood Stork - Accidental	Magnificent Frigatebird - Accidental	Brown Booby - Accidental
Anhinga - Accidental	Tricolored Heron - Accidental	Reddish Egret - Accidental
White Ibis - Accidental	Roseate Spoonbill - Casual	White-tailed Kite - Accidental
Northern Hawk Owl - Accidental	Great Gray Owl - Accidental	Boreal Owl - Accidental
Lewis's Woodpecker - Accidental	Acorn Woodpecker - Accidental	Red-breasted Sapsucker - Accidental
Black-backed Woodpecker - Accidental	Crested Caracara - Accidental	Fork-tailed Flycatcher - Accidental
Western Wood-Pewee - Accidental	"Western" Flycatcher - Accidental	Vermilion Flycatcher - Accidental
Canada Jay - Accidental	Pinyon Jay - Accidental	Clark's Nutcracker - Accidental
Common Raven - Accidental	Boreal Chickadee - Accidental	Violet-green Swallow - Accidental
Cave Swallow - Accidental	Pygmy Nuthatch - Accidental	Pacific Wren - Accidental
Curve-billed Thrasher - Accidental	Sage Thrasher - Accidental	Sprague's Pipit - Casual
Brambling - Accidental	Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch - Accidental	Hoary Redpoll - Casual
Lesser Goldfinch - Accidental	Chestnut-collared Longspur - Accidental	Black-throated Sparrow - Accidental
Lark Bunting - Accidental	Golden-crowned Sparrow - Accidental	Baird's Sparrow - Accidental
Green-tailed Towhee - Accidental	Hooded Oriole - Accidental	Bullock's Oriole - Casual
Scott's Oriole - Accidental	Swainson's Warbler - Accidental	MacGillivray's Warbler - Accidental
Black-throated Gray Warbler - Accidental	Townsend's Warbler - Accidental	Black-headed Grosbeak - Casual