Category: PORC

Welcome Welcome to the homepage of the Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee. We are a group of volunteers tasked with maintaining the Official List of Birds for Pennsylvania and maintaining a record of rare birds seen in the state. We request documentation of all PA Review List species. Want to report a rare bird sighting in PA? Click the button…

Documenting Rarities TIPS FOR DOCUMENTING RARE BIRD SPECIES:WHAT THE RECORDS COMMITTEE LOOKS FOR Since its first annual report in 1989 the Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee has accepted an average of about 70% of the records it evaluated – a testament to observers’ care and ability to provide adequate documentation of rarities. Success in the other…

Review List Revised January 2023 The following Review List contains species that are considered rare or accidental in Pennsylvania. The Records Committee requests details including full descriptions, photographs, video, or sound recordings for review and possible inclusion on the state’s Official List. The Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee will review reports of: Review List A: Rarities Review…

Recent Additions to the State List This page contains a list of species most recently added to the state’s Official List. A species is added to the Official List if PORC accepts a record of the species including an identifiable photo, video, audio, or specimen (Class I record). New species accepted by sight-only records (Class II…

Recently Completed Records Here we will periodically post the most recent records that the committee has completed reviewing. More information about the Committee’s procedures is available in this summary or in our bylaws. Posted 2023 April 9 Accepted Class I-P: Accepted Class I-Pe: Not accepted: Posted 2021 Sep 26Accepted Class I-P: Accepted Class I-Pe: Accepted Class III: Not…

Recent Submissions Below are select records that have been recently submitted to PORC with attached photographs. Submit a photograph or video along with your rare bird sighting if you would like to see your observation featured here. If you have any questions whether a bird you saw has been submitted by someone else, please feel…

Pennsylvania Bird List Published Lists The Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee is tasked with keeping the Official List of the Birds of Pennsylvania and associated abundance codes revised every five years for publication in Pennsylvania Birds. The next revision will be completed in 2023. The most recent version of the list (click to view) was published in July 2018.…

Annual Reports The committee publishes an annual report in Pennsylvania Birds of all records that have received a committee vote and a decision for or against acceptance in the previous year. While a report for a given year primarily includes records of sightings occurring in that year, PORC also receives and reviews records from previous…

Bylaws Current Bylaws 2022 Bylaws Revision PORC Bylaws Revised 07/2022The section for meetings was revised to include “Elections” specified to occur during each December of the calendar year. Elections will be held annually for PORC Chair and Secretary and as needed for replacement of PORC voting members. This was done to streamline terms which begin…

Committee Members Current Members and TermsVoting members are elected to three-year terms beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31 of the listed year. Recently, PORC’s bylaws were revised such that a member can only be elected to two consecutive terms, and after that, is prohibited from serving for three years, the length of…