Thanks to everyone who shared info and knowledge about old checklists from around New York State. There are lots!
First, having a reference librarian respond is helpful, as Donna Schulman let me know about a tool to find some lists (I will include her information about that below my signature). Thanks to Andy Guthrie (who also pointed out that many of the older works are available for free online as google books), Joseph Dicostanzo (who provided a ton of info), Jerry Lazarczyk, Harry Maas, Bill Purcell, Brett Ewald, and Sally Svenson for responding with information about checklists from around New York State. Below are all of the checklists about which I was informed. Sorry about the different formats but I largely cut-and-pasted and edited directly from other folks' emails. Please note that the geographical areas I divided the lists into are pretty rough... WESTERN NEW YORK Birds of Western New York by Ernest Short from 1893. He lived in Chili, NY (a suburb of Rochester), and the checklist was printed by A. M. Eddy in Albion, NY. It is a 13 page checklist. A Popular Account of the Bird life of the Finger Lakes Section of New York, with Main Reference to the Summer Season by C. J. Spiker (1935, Roosevelt Wildlife Bulletin Volume 6, Number 3) The Birds of Livingston County , New York by K. Fox (1998, Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science, vol. 18, no. 4) Studies of breeding birds in the Allegany State Park by A. A. Saunders (1938, New York State Museum bulletin, no. 318) Birds of the Niagara Frontier Region: An Annotated Checklistby C. S. Beardslee and H. D. Mitchell (1965, Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences) CENTRAL NEW YORK Annotated list of the birds of Oneida County, N.Y., and of the west Canada Creek Valley by Egbert Bagg, published in Utica, NY, by the Press of T.J. Griffiths, 1912 The Birds of Central New York Marshes by A. A. Saunders (1926, Roosevelt Wildlife Bulletin Volume 3, Number 3) Ornithology of the Oneida Lake Region: with reference to the late spring and summer seasonsby D. Stoner (1932, Roosevelt Wild Life Annuals, volume 2, nos. 3 and 4, New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University) ADIRONDACKS / NORTHERN NY Summer Birds of the Adirondacks in Franklin County, N.Y., from 1877, by Roosevelt and Minot. Birdlife of the Adirondack Park by B. Beehler (1978, Adirondack Mountain Club) The Summer Birds of the Northern Adirondack Mountains by A. A. Saunders (1929, Roosevelt Wildlife Bulletin Volume 5, Number 3) Birds of Essex County, New York by G. Carleton (1999, High Peaks Audubon Society) Birds of Clinton County, Second Edition by C. W. Mitchell and W. E. Krueger (1997, High Peaks Audubon Society) There was a list put together by resident/members of the "Trudeau Bird Club" at the Trudeau tuberculosis sanitarium in Saranac Lake, reprinted from the October 1904 issue of Outdoor Life. It recorded local arrival dates of 163 birds. It is on file as a pamphlet in the Adirondack Room at the Saranac Lake Library: T867b pam. MOUNTAIN REGIONS Notes on Some Birds of the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains, New York by K. C. Parkes (1954, Annals of the Carnegie Museum ) CATSKILLS A Review of the Summer Birds of a Part of the Catskill Mountains, with Prefatory Remarks on the Faunal and Floral Features of the Region by E. P. Bicknell (1882, in Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York , vol. I) LONG ISLAND A list of the birds of Oyster Bay and vicinity, Long Island, by Rudyerd Boulton and J T Nichols, published in Roslyn, NY by the The Bird Club of Long Island, 1940 The Birds of Great Gull Island, 1966-1972 by D. C. Duffy and C. LaFarge (1973, privately published) The Birds of Long Island - Jacob P. Giraud, 1844 A List of the Birds of Long Island, New York, Dr. William C. Braislin, 1907 CAPITAL REGION The Birds of Albany County by Wilbur Webster Judd, 1907 Birds of Washington Park, Albany , New York by D. Stoner and L. C. Stoner (1952, New York State Museum Bulletin 344) DOWNSTATE Guide to the summer birds of the Bear Mountain and Harriman Park sections of the Palisades Interstate Park by P M Silloway; New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University.; Palisades Interstate Park Commission and published in Syracuse, NY by the State University College of Forestry at Syracuse University, 1920. (Syracuse University publications vol. 9, no. 21; Bulletin of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, no. 11) The Birds of Dutchess County, New York by L. Griscom (1933, Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York , vol. III) NYC Birds Around New York City , Where and When to Find Themby A. D. Cruickshank (1942, American Museum of Natural History) Birds of the New York City Region by L. Griscom(1923, American Museum of Natural History) Birds of the New York Areaby J. Bull (1964, Harper & Row) The Birds of the New York City Area; A Guide to the Exhibit of Local Birds in the American Museum Of Natural History, New Yorkby J. Bull (1958, American Museum of Natural History) In the 1950's, Geoffrey Carleton produced "The Birds of Central and Prospect Parks" in collaboration with Peter Post and Edward Whelen. Its format is similar to Bull's Birds of New York sans text. STATE-WIDE LISTS Check List of New York Birds, 2nd ed. By M. S. Farr (1900, Bulletin of the New York State Museum , no. 33, vol 7) Preliminary Annotated Checklist of New York State Birds by E. M. Reilly and K. C. Parkes (1959, New York State Museum and Science Service State Education Dept.) Bull's Birds of New York State (1974), and again by Levine in 1998 Birds. Volume 2 of Zoology of New York, or the New-York Fauna, James E. De Kay, 1844 Birds of New York, Part 1 - Elon Howard Eaton, 1910. Covers Water & Game Birds. There is also a Part 2 covering Land Birds published in 1914. The physical versions are worth getting for the nice plates by Fuertes. These two volumes are also available as digitized versions from the New York State LIbrary: http://nysl.nysed.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/CLynDNHfIO/NYSL/38890092/523/88249 REGIONAL WORKS THAT INCLUDE NYS INFO Our Birds in Their Haunts, a book by Rev. J. Hibbert Langille M.A. from 1884. It was published by S. E. Cassino & Co. of Boston and is 624 pages. It is basically a popular treatise on the birds of Eastern North America. As the author was from Buffalo, there are many references to birding and locations in Western New York, such as the Niagara River and Johnson Creek in Niagara County. Good Birding, Corey Finger http://10000birds.com PS If you are interested in the blog post I was writing that led me to the decision to learn about these checklists it is here: http://10000birds.com/the-skylarks-of-brooklyn.htm SEARCH INFO FROM DONNA SCHULMAN The Adelson Library of the Lab of Ornithology has a good collection of these lists. >(1) Go to http://library.cornell.edu >(2) Go to Advanced Search >(3) Select Subject field, type in - birds > 2nd Subject field, type in - new york (state) (note -- parentheses > around >state helps a lot) > Select publication time frame (example, 1850 - 1946) -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
