Check-list of Putnam County, Tennessee, Birds

Table 1. UCR Bird List with species observed in Putnam County indicated (X in right column).  Species denoted below with one asterisk (*) are rare and with two asterisks (**) very rare within the UCR; sightings of these species should be reported via a documentation form.  Species on the Audubon WatchList are indicated below in pink (27 species) or red (8 species), with the latter being more critically decreasing species.

Table 2. Annotated list of Putnam County bird species.  * = Rare species in UCR; **  = Very rare species; ***  = Very rare subspecies.

_____ Greater White-fronted Goose **

_____ Snow Goose *

     _____ Snow Goose, white form

     _____ Snow Goose, blue form

_____ Ross's Goose **

_____ Cackling Goose **

_____ Canada Goose

_____ Mute Swan **

_____ Tundra Swan **

_____ Trumpeter Swan ** (14–22 December 2010+, BHS et al.—includes a CBC record)

_____ Wood Duck

_____ Blue-winged Teal

_____ Northern Shoveler

_____ Gadwall

_____ American Wigeon

_____ Mallard

_____ American Black Duck

_____ Northern Pintail

_____ Green-winged Teal

_____ Canvasback

_____ Redhead

_____ Ring-necked Duck

_____ Greater Scaup *

_____ Lesser Scaup

_____ Surf Scoter *

_____ White-winged Scoter *

_____ Long-tailed Duck **

_____ Bufflehead

_____ Common Goldeneye

_____ Hooded Merganser

_____ Common Merganser ** (21–29 November 2007 (TMS et al.)

_____ Red-breasted Merganser

_____ Ruddy Duck

_____ Northern Bobwhite

_____ Ruffed Grouse (24 March 1935, CC [Crook 1936]).

_____ Wild Turkey

_____ Pied-billed Grebe

_____ Horned Grebe

_____ Rock Pigeon

_____ Eurasian Collared-Dove * (4 June 2003, TDP)

_____ Mourning Dove

_____ Yellow-billed Cuckoo

_____ Black-billed Cuckoo *

_____ Common Nighthawk

_____ Chuck-will's-widow

_____ Eastern Whip-poor-will

_____ Chimney Swift

_____ Ruby-throated Hummingbird

_____ Calliope Hummingbird **

_____ Rufous Hummingbird * (October 2003–12 January 2004, MB, SJS et al.; late fall 2003–8 April
            2004 [2], SH, SJS et al.; 7 October 2004–3 April 2005, SH et al.; 8 November 2005–30 March 2006,
            SH et al.)

_____ Virginia Rail ** (6 September 2005, ILC [specimen; photo by SJS]; the record cited in Alsop
            [undated {1980}] and Stedman [1993] is invalid)

_____ Sora *

_____ Purple Gallinule **

_____ Common Gallinule **

_____ American Coot

_____ Sandhill Crane

_____ Whooping Crane ** (17 January 2013, SJS)

_____ Black-bellied Plover **

_____ American Golden-Plover **

_____ Semipalmated Plover

_____ Killdeer

_____ Stilt Sandpiper **

_____ Dunlin *

_____ Least Sandpiper

_____ White-rumped Sandpiper **

_____ Pectoral Sandpiper

_____ Semipalmated Sandpiper

_____ Western Sandpiper *

_____ Short-billed Dowitcher **

_____ Long-billed Dowitcher ** (October 2015, Chris Agee et al. [eBird])

_____ American Woodcock

_____ Wilson's Snipe

_____ Spotted Sandpiper

_____ Solitary Sandpiper

_____ Greater Yellowlegs

_____ Willet **

_____ Lesser Yellowlegs

_____ Wilson's Phalarope **

_____ Black-legged Kittiwake **

_____ Bonaparte's Gull

_____ Ring-billed Gull

_____ Herring Gull *

_____ Sooty Tern ** (12 July 2005 [road casualty], SJS photo [of specimen], BHS)

_____ Caspian Tern *

_____ Black Tern *

_____ Forster's Tern *

_____ Common Loon

_____ American White Pelican * (12 November 2017, SJS photo, Reggie Fristoe)

_____ Double-crested Cormorant

_____ American Bittern *

_____ Least Bittern **

_____ Great Blue Heron

    _____ Great Blue Heron, blue form

    _____ Great Blue Heron, white form *** (21 September–11 November 2002, CDW, SJS photo, m.ob.
                [Stedman and Williams 2003]--a Putnam County FBC record on the first date)

_____ Great Egret

_____ Snowy Egret **

_____ Little Blue Heron *

_____ Cattle Egret **

_____ Green Heron

_____ Black-crowned Night-Heron 

_____ Yellow-crowned Night-Heron *

_____ White Ibis *

_____ Dark Ibis sp. ** (17 May 2004, K. Dean Edwards; 7 October 2008, Ginger K. Ensor, Nancy S. Layzer)

_____ Black Vulture

_____ Turkey Vulture

_____ Osprey

_____ Golden Eagle **

_____ Northern Harrier

_____ Sharp-shinned Hawk

_____ Cooper's Hawk

_____ Bald Eagle

_____ Mississippi Kite **

_____ Red-shouldered Hawk

_____ Broad-winged Hawk

_____ Red-tailed Hawk

     _____ B. j. calurus

     _____ B. J. harlani (most winters 1988–1989 through 1998–1999—probably same individual)

_____ Rough-legged Hawk **

_____ Barn Owl *

_____ Eastern Screech-Owl

_____ Great Horned Owl

_____ Barred Owl

_____ Short-eared Owl *

_____ Belted Kingfisher

_____ Red-headed Woodpecker

_____ Red-bellied Woodpecker

_____ Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

_____ Downy Woodpecker

_____ Hairy Woodpecker

_____ Northern Flicker

_____ Pileated Woodpecker

_____ American Kestrel

_____ Merlin *

_____ Peregrine Falcon ** 

_____ Great Crested Flycatcher

_____ Western Kingbird **

_____ Eastern Kingbird

_____ Scissor-tailed Flycatcher **

_____ Olive-sided Flycatcher *

_____ Eastern Wood-Pewee

_____ Acadian Flycatcher

_____ Alder Flycatcher **

_____ Willow Flycatcher *

_____ Least Flycatcher *

_____ Eastern Phoebe

_____ Loggerhead Shrike

_____ White-eyed Vireo

_____ Yellow-throated Vireo

_____ Blue-headed Vireo

_____ Philadelphia Vireo *

_____ Warbling Vireo *

_____ Red-eyed Vireo

_____ Blue Jay

_____ American Crow

_____ Horned Lark

_____ Purple Martin

_____ Tree Swallow

_____ Northern Rough-winged Swallow

_____ Bank Swallow

_____ Cliff Swallow

_____ Barn Swallow

_____ Carolina Chickadee

_____ Tufted Titmouse

_____ Red-breasted Nuthatch

_____ White-breasted Nuthatch

_____ Brown-headed Nuthatch * (19 & 21 February 1999, TRR—a GBBC record; 20 January 2002, SJS photo)

_____ Brown Creeper

_____ House Wren

_____ Winter Wren

_____ Sedge Wren *

_____ Marsh Wren *

_____ Carolina Wren

_____ Bewick's Wren **

_____ Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

_____ Golden-crowned Kinglet

_____ Ruby-crowned Kinglet

_____ Eastern Bluebird

_____ Veery

_____ Gray-cheeked Thrush

_____ Swainson's Thrush

_____ Hermit Thrush

_____ Wood Thrush (20 November–17 December 2009, SJS, BHS—includes a CBC [count week] record on the last date)

_____ American Robin

_____ Gray Catbird

_____ Brown Thrasher

_____ Northern Mockingbird

_____ European Starling

_____ Cedar Waxwing

_____ House Sparrow

_____ American Pipit

_____ Evening Grosbeak *

_____ House Finch

_____ Purple Finch

_____ Red Crossbill ** (16 January 2017, SJS)

_____ Pine Siskin

_____ American Goldfinch

_____ Lapland Longspur *

_____ Eastern Towhee

_____ Bachman's Sparrow **

_____ American Tree Sparrow *

_____ Chipping Sparrow

_____ Field Sparrow

_____ Vesper Sparrow

_____ Lark Sparrow **

_____ Savannah Sparrow

_____ Grasshopper Sparrow

_____ Henslow's Sparrow (12 May 2007, BHS; 30 July 2007, SJS)

_____ LeConte's Sparrow (6 December 2015, SJS, EKL)

_____ Fox Sparrow

_____ Song Sparrow

_____ Lincoln's Sparrow *

_____ Swamp Sparrow

_____ White-crowned Sparrow

_____ White-throated Sparrow

_____ Dark-eyed Junco

_____ Yellow-breasted Chat

_____ Bobolink

_____ Eastern Meadowlark

_____ Western Meadowlark * (14 & 22 February 2009, SJS, EKL audio)

_____ Orchard Oriole

_____ Baltimore Oriole

_____ Red-winged Blackbird

_____ Brown-headed Cowbird

_____ Rusty Blackbird

_____ Brewer's Blackbird *

_____ Common Grackle

_____ Ovenbird

_____ Worm-eating Warbler

_____ Louisiana Waterthrush

_____ Northern Waterthrush

_____ Golden-winged Warbler

_____ Blue-winged Warbler

     _____ "Brewster's" Warbler (28 April 1995, SJS)

_____ Black-and-white Warbler

_____ Prothonotary Warbler *

_____ Swainson's Warbler **

_____ Tennessee Warbler

_____ Orange-crowned Warbler *

_____ Nashville Warbler

_____ Connecticut Warbler **

_____ Mourning Warbler *

_____ Kentucky Warbler

_____ Common Yellowthroat

_____ Hooded Warbler

_____ American Redstart

_____ Cape May Warbler

_____ Cerulean Warbler

_____ Northern Parula

_____ Magnolia Warbler

_____ Bay-breasted Warbler

_____ Blackburnian Warbler

_____ Yellow Warbler

_____ Chestnut-sided Warbler

_____ Blackpoll Warbler

_____ Black-throated Blue Warbler *

_____ Palm Warbler

_____ Pine Warbler

_____ Yellow-rumped Warbler

     _____ "Audubon's" Warbler *** (16 February 2008, SJS)

_____ Yellow-throated Warbler

_____ Prairie Warbler

_____ Black-throated Green Warbler

_____ Canada Warbler 

_____ Wilson's Warbler *

_____ Summer Tanager

_____ Scarlet Tanager

_____ Northern Cardinal

_____ Rose-breasted Grosbeak

_____ Blue Grosbeak

_____ Indigo Bunting

_____ Dickcissel *

Key to Initials and Abbreviations:

Literature Cited:

See Stedman (1993) and Stedman (2006-2018; link below) for further information about the birds of Putnam County:

Birds of Putnam County, Tennessee (2nd edition)

   If you have personal records for species not listed above or if you know of historical records for species not listed above, please send details to me at this e-mail address: birdbfly7101@gmail.com

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• HomePage for SJS

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