by John Parker

Have you ever wondered how many birds have been seen in Montana, and who decides if a bird is added to the cumulative state list?  The answer to the first question is 448 bird species as of February 2026.   You may not be familiar with the Montana Bird Records Committee (MRBC), but this is the volunteer body that evaluates all rare bird reports and keeps an official list documenting the naturally occurring birds in the state, and a list of any bird species to be reviewed.

So, what birds get reviewed?  The simple answer is any bird seen in Montana 20 or fewer times.  Also, birds that may be somewhat expected in certain areas of Montana, but rare in most of the state may also come under review.

Prior to the 1960’s, many rare birds and especially first state records were “collected” as proof that a bird had occurred in a particular state or region.  

With the advent of better field guides, optics, and better field identification skills, requiring a specimen for posterity no longer seemed necessary.  Around this time Bird Record Committees (BRC) began to first take shape in Europe, and in the United States the first BRC came into existence in 1970 when California’s BRC was formed.  Montana followed suit in 1991.  During these formative years BRC mainly relied on written reports, often times with field notes and drawings to accompany the official rare bird forms.

Increasingly, with advances in technology over the past twenty-five years BRC’s have become more reliant on photographs, videos, and in some cases audio recordings.  This has been a real boon for the BRC’s, as it has speeded up the review process, and taken some of the subjectivity out of the review process.

The MRBC can consist of 7-15 members, with at least two thirds of the committee in attendance at the annual meeting for a quorum. A rare bird record will be accepted with 3 dissenting votes with 14-15 members voting, 2 dissenting votes with 11-13 members voting, and only 1 dissenting is allowed with 10 or fewer members voting. If there are more dissenting votes than allowed, the bird is not accepted into the records for the state.  The official Montana bird list can be accessed through the Montana Bird Advocacy website.  All MRBC records and minutes are archived with the Montana Historical Society in Helena.

In any given year the MRBC will review between 20-50 rare bird reports.  Currently, of the 448 bird species on the Montana list, 106 species are review species. 17 new bird species have been added to the official list in the last ten years, and the newest addition in 2025 was a Mexican Violetear.

There have been several mid-winter surprises in our corner of southwest Montana.  You may remember that a Burrowing Owl was discovered along Bench Road south of Three Forks on December 1^st.  This Burrowing Owl was relocated on January 13^th by Robin Wolcott, and was continuing to be seen into February.  This is the first documented over wintering Burrowing Owl for Montana, and the first February record.

On January 25^th, Anna and Gavin Blackburn photographed a female Williamson’s Sapsucker at Lewis and Clark Caverns.  This represents Montana’s third winter record for Williamson’s Sapsucker.  Interestingly, all three of these sightings have occurred the last two winters.  A fourth Williamson’s Sapsucker was seen just across the Wyoming line in Mammoth during the 2024 Christmas Bird Count.

With less than ten winter records for Greater Yellowlegs in Montana during the winter, it is notable that three of those detections have occurred in our area this winter.  The first this winter was an audio recording December 26^th by Don Profota near his home south of Bozeman, and then the following day another Greater Yellowlegs was seen during the Three Forks Christmas Bird Count.  And finally, on December 30^th Avery Benzinger found another Greater Yellowlegs on the East Gallatin River northeast of Belgrade.  This yellowlegs was seen by several others throughout the month of January.