STATUS OF THE BIRDS OF THE CHATTANOOGA AREA

This status report was updated by Kevin Calhoon in August of 2006 using data from the report created by V. Jowayne Stone and Daniel R. Jacobson in October 1983 with revisions in 1985 and a list Birds of Hamilton County, Tennessee created by Rock L. Comstock, Jr. in March 1962.  Also the Checklist of Birds of the Chattanooga Area  by Kenneth H. and Lillian H. Dubke, October 1977 was used as well as records gleaned from the Chattanooga TOS and local birders.  Most records have been published either in The Migrant or American Field Notes, but a few unpublished records have been included also.

The Chattanooga area is defined as Hamilton, Marion, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Meigs and Bradely counties in Tennessee and Catoosa, Walker and Dade counties in Georgia.

The seasons of the year are defined as follows:

Spring (Sp)        March, April, and May

Summer (Su)     June and July

Fall (F)               August, September, October, and November

Winter (W)        December, January, and February

Abundance is defined as follows:

c    common:  a species certain to be observed in suitable habitat

fc   fairly common:  a regulary occuring species not certain to be seen in all suitable habitat.

u    uncommon:   a species observed regularly in limited numbers

o    occasional:     observed one to five times during a season

r    rare:    observed only once or twice every few years

x    accidental:  observed fewer than five times

#    only one known record

Nesting status is defined as:

(*)   presently known to nest

(*r)  rare nester

(*f)   formely known to nest

(*?)   thought to nest in area

(*#)   only one known nesting record

Location:

These locations are historic centers of concentration or just good habitat to see specific species.  They should be used as a general guide to begin a search, but are not usually the only location where a species can be found

AMM    Amnicola Marsh – Hamilton co.

BAY      Baylor School – Hamilton co.

BRA      Brainerd Levee – Hamilton co.

BRO       Bradley County

BTW     Booker T Washington State Park – Hamilton co.

BLE       Bledsoe co.

CHA      Chattanooga, Hamilton co.

CHL      Chickamauga Lake – Hamilton co.

CHF      Chester Frost State Park – Hamilton co.

CRA      Craven’s House Unit of the Lookout Mountain National Military Park – Hamilton co.

HLC      Hamilton co.

HRA      Hiwassee Wildlife Refuges (including the Blythe Ferry unit) – Meigs co.

MAR      Marion co.

NIL        Nickajack Reservoir – Hamilton, Marion co.

RAM     Raccoon Mountain – Marion co.

RIV       Riverport area, Riverport Dr. – Hamilton co.

SEQ       Sequatchie Couinty

SAV       Savannah Bay – Hamilton co.

SIG        Signal Mountain – Hamilton co.

SGM       Standifer Gap Marsh, Hamilton co.

SMG        Soddy Mountain Hawkwatch

TNR      Tennessee River – Hamilton co.

TNR Gorge – Mullen’s Cove Rd., Marion co.

TWC     Tennessee Wildlife Center – Hamilton co.

WCG     Walker co, GA

This report follows the order and uses the common names of The AOU Checklist of North American Birds, Seventh Edition (1998).  It includes 323 species of which 127 have been known to nest in the Chattanooga area.

I would like to thank:  Benton Basham, Carl Chadwell, Dennis Harris, Ken Dubke, John Henderson, and Daniel Jacobson for their help with this report.

Kevin Calhoun

STATUS  OF THE BIRDS OF THE CHATTANOOGA AREA

Species

Status

Location

Sp

Su

F

W

Red-throated Loon

x

x

BTW

Common Loon

fc

x

fc

fc

BTW, NIL

Yellow-billed Loon

#

BTW

Pied-billed Grebe (*f,*?)

c

o

c

c

Rivers, ponds, lakes

Horned Grebe

u

fc

fc

BTW, NIL

Eared Grebe

x

TNR

Red-necked Grebe

x

x

BTW, NIL

Clark's Grebe (First TN record)

#

NIL

Western Grebe

#

NIL

Storm-petrel species (Band-rumped?)

#

HLC

American White Pelican

#

r

#

CHL,BTW

Brown Pelican

#

#

CHL

Double-crested Cormorant

u

r

u

u

TNR,HRA

Anhinga

#

#

AMM,SIG

American Bittern

o

o

r

BRA,AMM, SGM

Least Bittern (*)

o