ABA area state and province checklists

The built-in checklists for ABA area states and provinces are created from two sources, merged together:

  1. I obtained state checklists from eBird. Any species on an eBird state list but not on the ABA checklist were excluded.
  2. I made a “grandfather” list of species that were in the state checklists from Jerry's last release but are not in corresponding eBird state lists. This was necessary to pick up the numerous species that that are recorded on the basis of only one or a few historical records, or that are extirpated or extinct.

For each entry in the grandfather list, I checked the state's official checklist (*) to be sure that the species is actually on the list. I removed species that I did not listed.

(*) For a few states or provinces, I could not find a list that was published by a records committee, so I had to use an unofficial list.

For species that were on a state's eBird list but not on the state's official list, I used my judgement to exclude presumed exotics.

The resulting checklists are more inclusive than you would get from a state records committee, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Some states or provinces do not even have an official list published on the internet, and many states have a list that has not been updated in years. I do not have the time or inclination to search for information on records committee decisions more recent than the last published checklist. With a more inclusive list though, it is easy enough to remove any species that you object to by editing the state checklist status. With a records committee list that is outdated, it would be a lot of work to do the research to find out what needs to be added.