What is the Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC)?

The Illinois Ornithological Records Committee (IORC) is a volunteer group of regional bird experts that documents and maintains records of rare bird occurrences in Illinois. Founded in 1985, the committee reviews submitted sightings and decides whether they are accepted into the state's official record. Its work is hosted on illinoisbirdrecords.org, a digital archive that also covers historical records dating back to 1857.

What the IORC does

The committee's core job is verification. When someone reports a bird species on Illinois's Review List — species rare enough that a sighting needs documentation — the IORC examines the evidence and votes on whether to accept the record.

The site describes the committee as "focused on documenting and maintaining details on rare bird occurrences in Illinois as far back as 1857." That means its scope is both current and historical: new sightings go through review, while older records are preserved and made searchable.

The archive at a glance

The illinoisbirdrecords.org database gives a sense of the committee's scale:

Each accepted record carries an identifier, a species name, and often a photograph, date, and county. Examples shown on the site include a Black-throated Sparrow (1980-010) photographed in Cook County on 10 Jan. 1980, and a Boreal Owl (1997-002) photographed in Winnebago County on 9 Feb. 2007.

How records get accepted

The process works in three broad stages:

1. A sighting is reported. A birder who observes a species on the Review List of Illinois Birds submits documentation to the committee.
2. The committee reviews it. Volunteer experts examine the submitted evidence — written details, photos, or other media.
3. A decision is issued. The committee votes, and accepted records enter the archive. The database also preserves reports, media, and voting decisions issued over the years.

If you have seen a Review List species, the site's "Report Your Sighting" section is the entry point for submitting documentation.

What else lives on the site

Beyond the records database, illinoisbirdrecords.org hosts two publication archives:

• Illinois Birds and Birding — published by the Illinois Audubon Society and compiled by Vern Kleen, running from January 1985 to December 1991 and covering the 1984 Summer through 1991 Spring seasons.
• The Meadowlark — the quarterly magazine of the Illinois Ornithological Society, spanning 1992 to 2026 and covering the 1991 Summer through 2024–2025 Winter seasons. It includes field notes, seasonal highlights, technical papers on avian studies in Illinois and the Midwest, photos, original drawings, and joy-of-birding essays.

Both archives are browsable from the site.

When the IORC matters to you

You'll want to know about the committee if you:

• Saw a rare species in Illinois and want your observation to count toward the official state record.
• Are researching Illinois bird distribution and need verified occurrence data going back more than a century.
• Want to check whether a species is on the Review List before deciding whether documentation is expected.

For casual birders, the committee is mostly relevant at the moment a sighting seems unusual — that's when submitting a record makes a difference.