Inconclusive Records and non-countable records

Wild Turkey /
Dindon sauvage:

(as of Nov 2019)
*** Update - Nov 28, 2019 ***

As of Nov 3, 2019, the NB Bird Records Committee has completed an assessment of Wild Turkeys in NB and has decided to include the Wild Turkey on the official checklist for the birds of NB. Based on the evidence that was gathered and presented to the committee, the committee felt that populations of Wild Turkeys found in the western part of the counties bordering the state of Maine now met the criteria to be considered a non-native self-sustaining wild population; however, the status of isolated populations of Turkeys found further east within those counties or in other counties further to the east should still be considered as birds of unknown origin.

For the purposes of the winter list, Wild Turkeys will continue to be considered non-countable prior to the 2019-2020 winter period because they only meet the criteria for acceptance by the NBBRC as of Nov 3, 2019. Also, because Turkey's will most likely continue to expand their range eastward in the province, albeit slowly, I will use my judgement when determining if a sighting is whithin an area where they can be considered naturally occuring. Since the winter list really only tracks the first reported sightings for each species and they are fairly well established in certain areas, this should not pose any issues as they will almost certainly be reported on the first day or within the first week somewhere within that "natural range" area.


Nov 2017

I have decided to add Wild Turkey to the list of species on the Winter List; however, since the species is currently not officially on the New Brunswick Birds checklist, it will not be counted in the annual totals and will have an NC rather than an X in the column to indicate that it was observed in a given year.

This species is currently under review by the NB Bird Records Committee (NBBRC) to determine if it meets the criteria to be added to the official checklist. I won't go into all the details except to say that due to various circumstances, this species is being treated as an "introduced" species in NB so it must meet certain criteria prior to being officially added to the provincial checklist which is what the NBBRC is now in the process of reviewing. It seems very likely that the species will be added to the provincial checklist sometime in the near future (probably in 2018 or 2019).

 
 
Loggerhead Shrike /
Pie-grièche migratrice:

(2006/2007)
I have removed Loggerhead Shrike from the totals/cumulative totals for the 2006/2007 winter period; however, I chose to leave it in the list with a "?" to indicate that it was reported but that the ID was uncertain.  Although the description provided did mention a few field marks that could suggest a possible Loggerhead, a few key field marks were not mentionned.  For this reason, and the fact that a Loggerhead Shrike in mid-December would be highly unlikely (though I wouldn't say impossible), I just didn't feel comfortable including it as a confirmed sighting.

 
 

Contact Info:    (Top of page)

If you wish to send me sightings or report any errors/omissions in the list, you can send me (Gilles Belliveau) an email at gilles.belliveau@gmail.com


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