Kansas Bird Records Committee

The Kansas Bird Records Committee (KBRC) reviews records of rare bird sightings in the state. This committee of the KOS is composed of 7 member appointed for four year terms. A list of the current KBRC members can be found here; please feel free to contact any of the members if you have questions about the committee or its activities. Procedural rules for the function of this committee have been formulated and approved by the KOS board. In addition, the secretary of the committee has prepared a Review List, a list of species which, if sighted, should be reported to the KBRC. Please consult this list if you think you have seen a rare bird in the state of Kansas. If you want to report a Mute Swan sighting in Kansas, please use this form.

You can now submit your report electronically, if your web browser is capable of reading forms. If not, or if you just like to submit records the old-fashioned way (paper and pencil), then we have also provided some options for printing out a form.

 A downloadable and printable Rare Bird Report form (12 kb), and a downloadable and printable KOS Checklist (updated November 2022 - PDF format) are available for your use; you will need Adobe's free Acrobat reader software to view and print these files. The KBRC report form is also available in Microsoft Word, Rich Text (RTF), and ascii text format. If you are using a Windows version of Internet Explorer, just right-click on those links and you will be able to save the file to your computer's hard drive for future use.

An excellent HTML document, "How to write convincing details," including instructions on taking field notes and making sketches, is available from Mike Patterson. If you have had a report "rejected" and are feeling "dejected" about it, you NEED to read this article.

The KBRC reports, listing bird records accepted by the committee and those rejected by the committee, are also available. Currently we have reports for

If you have questions about the activities of the Kansas Bird Records Committee, contact Chuck Otte the secretary of the Kansas Bird Records Committee, or Max Thompson, the chair of the committee. Electronic versions of the current KOS checklist, available in several formats, can be accessed at the Kansas County Checklist page.


updated November 20, 2023, by Chuck Otte

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