Talk:List of birds of New York (state)

July 4, 2020 revisions
Because of the large number of changes necessitated by the update to the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds which the American Ornithological Society published on June 30, 2020, the revisions to this article are presented here rather than in a long series of edit summaries. Changes are per the AOS unless otherwise noted.

Craigthebirder (talk) 23:36, 4 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Revise the references, counts, and text in the introduction.
 * Add 1 species per NYSARC.
 * Delete tags per NYSARC.
 * Revise multiple families' common names per Clements.
 * Revise the sequence of species in family Phasiannidae (Pheasants, grouse, and allies).
 * Revise the sequence of species in genus Selasphorus (Hummingbirds).
 * Revise the sequence of species in family Rallidae (Rails, gallinules, and coots).
 * Revise the sequence of families in order Suliformes.
 * Revise the sequence of species in family Phalacrocoracidae (Cormorants and shags).

February 11, 2021 revision
I deleted all entries attributed to IUCN because the weight of evidence is that IUCN is not a reliable source for ranges (see Wikiproject Birds). I also did some minor cleanup such as removing unneeded pipes. Craigthebirder (talk) 15:29, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

Carolina parakeet
The Audubon article does not say that Carolina parakeet bred in New York; it only shows an overall range map. The original research paper cited in that article specifically shows a non-breeding winter-only occurrence in the state (Figure 3). Craigthebirder (talk) 13:39, 27 February 2021 (UTC)


 * Then the (H) tag should be removed. This is not a hypothetical native species; it was native, albeit only in winter. Other birds in this list have the same treatment. Ddum5347 (talk) 17:41, 27 February 2021 (UTC)
 * All of the records are sight records only (no photos or specimens) so the (H) is correct. Craigthebirder (talk) 17:45, 27 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Specimens I can understand, but photos is ridiculous. The bird went extinct before photos could be taken of wildlife. Ddum5347 (talk) 04:47, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Photos
I just noticed that most (all of the ones I've checked so far) of the photos on our list of birds of New York depict birds outside of New York. I've had a pet project on Commons for a little while now, commons:User:Rhododendrites/Birds of New York which includes a bunch of featured pictures/quality images. I was thinking about starting to import some (and remove some of the current ones), but figured I'd leave this message first. Adding a bunch of my own images is a little awkward and I want to make sure there are not objections first. Obviously other people's photos of birds taken in NY would be great, too -- I'm just not aware of anyone else actively doing so. &mdash; Rhododendrites  talk \\ 21:40, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Go for it! Craigthebirder (talk) 22:50, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I did. I started with the FPs and added a few others. There are plenty more I can substitute with higher quality and in NY, but I figured I'd pause for the time being. I included locations in the descriptions as I went. My only hesitation in doing so is that [due to where I do my birding] all but one or two are in NYC, so there are some repeat locations. &mdash; Rhododendrites  talk \\ 03:47, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

Ok, I think I'm done for the time being. Would love for someone else to review my changes to make sure things aren't too crowded. There are still some examples of photos of birds outside of NY where the quality is markedly better than any that I've seen which were taken in NY (mine of otherwise). The lovely photo of the evening grosbeak is one example. Otherwise, I think the quality is generally better with the ones I've added, although it sometimes meant switching species, and operating under the assumption that when two images are of similar quality, the one taken in NY is preferable. Thoughts? &mdash; Rhododendrites  talk \\ 17:29, 26 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Quite a project, well done, thank you. (I did fix one typo.) As a small point, usually only the first occurrence of a place is bracketed for linkage. But doing them all isn't wrong. Craigthebirder (talk) 19:05, 26 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks. As for linking, I don't have a strong opinion on the matter. I know there's a preference for first usage in the body, but there are some exceptions for tables, captions, infobox, and other locations "where it might be useful" so I tend to err on the side of including there. But again, no strong opinion. &mdash; Rhododendrites  talk \\ 19:08, 26 May 2021 (UTC)

August 2021 revision
These are the changes made to update this list to the 2021 Check-list of North and Middle American Birds published by the American Ornithological Society (AOS) on June 29, 2021. In addition, one species was added per the NYSARC.

Craigthebirder (talk) 17:18, 11 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Revise the sequence of families in Order Passeriformes.
 * Revise the genus of spruce grouse.
 * Split mew gull into common gull and short-billed gull and revise entries accordingly.
 * Revise the binomials of two cormorant species.
 * Revise the specific epithet of crested caracara.
 * Revise the genus and position of ruby-crowned kinglet.
 * Revise text, counts, and references as appropriate.

The lead
I'm always struck by how many "birds of New York" are actually extremely rare in New York. The last record eBird has for a Eurasian curlew in New York was in 1853, for example. 1891 for Eskimo curlew. It's jarring to think of them as "birds of New York". Others come through once in a while as vagrants. We had a two black-throated gray warblers come through last year, which was the first in a long time IIRC, but I don't think anyone would say they're "birds of New York".

What about a list of birds with New York in their range, or something along those lines.

Or perhaps a system closer to List of birds of New Jersey and List of birds of New Hampshire: remove the "other markings" (this isn't the NYSARC website, after all), and have a category for "rare or accidental".

thoughts? &mdash; Rhododendrites  talk \\ 01:38, 26 January 2023 (UTC)


 * The many hundreds of "List of birds of XXX" pages include all of the species known to have occurred in the state/country/continent regardless of how many times or when they occurred. The lists' respective sources provide different levels of detail; for instance Avibase (used for many nation lists) simply has "Rare/Accidental" and "Introduced Species" while NYSARC has many more categories. That state's source is not alone; see List of birds of North Carolina for a similar depth of detail. When I first brought the NY list to its present configuration in 2016, and annually updated it through the summer of 2021, I used all of the available information. I see no good reason to remove detailed, documented, material. But since I am no longer maintaining any state lists (except that of my own Ohio) I don't, so to speak, have a dog in that fight.
 * Regarding a list of birds whose ranges include New York, have at it, but not as a replacement for the current one. And, how will you define "range"? Breeding? Regularly breeding or known to have bred? Wintering? Migration only? I see a number of categories would be needed... Craigthebirder (talk) 02:52, 26 January 2023 (UTC)