ABA Area Reintroduced Indigenous Species
This list, which is currently under construction and not yet comprehensive, comprises ABA Area indigenous species for which there are reintroduced populations. For each species, the reintroduced populations are listed, as well as countability information for each of the populations. Per Recording Rule 2.B(vi), an individual of one of these species may be counted only if the population it belonged to had successfully hatched young in the wild prior to the encounter. If you notice any errors in the information presented here or if you can add information, please email us at rsec@aba.org.
(To be clear, the RSEC currently uses the terms “indigenous” and “reintroduced” to reflect a species’s status at the ABA-Area level only. Caveats have been added to some species below for which these terms might be controversial or incorrect if applied at a finer geographic level.)
Canada Goose
Eastern U.S. and Canada – Countable
Trumpeter Swan
Eastern U.S. and Canada – Wild hatching confirmed in IL (2006), IA (1998), MI, MN, MO, OH, NE, NY (1993), SD, WI (1989), and Ontario (1990). We list all eastern states/provinces with (re)introduced birds for completeness, but the “indigenous” status of Trumpeter Swan in some of these locations is not agreed upon. More information can be found here. Regardless of the species’s indigenous status, birders may include Trumpeter Swan from these regions on their lists reported to ABA if they think the birds belong to a population that meets the ABA Checklist Committee’s criteria for determining establishment.
Greater Prairie-Chicken
Southern IA – Countable
Colorado, TX (Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR) – Countable
Galveston, TX (Texas City Prairie Preserve) – Countable (but no longer present)
California Condor
Kern/Ventura, CA (Release site: Bitter Creek NWR) – Countable – First confirmed wild hatching in 2002
Monterey, CA (Release site: Big Sur) – Countable – First confirmed wild hatching in 2008
San Benito, CA (Release site: Pinnacles National Park) – Countable – First confirmed wild hatching in 2009
Reintroduced Whooping Cranes. Linton, IN, February 10, 2012. @ Greg Neise
Northern AZ/Southern UT (Release site: Vermilion Cliffs) – Countable – First confirmed wild hatching in 2003
Aplomado Falcon
Coastal TX – Countable – First confirmed wild hatching in 1995
West TX/Southern NM – Not countable – No known wild hatching by reintroduced birds
Whooping Crane
Central FL non-migratory population – Countable – First confirmed wild hatching in 2002 (Although the RSEC currently considers this population as countable, the evidence for Florida ever having a breeding population of Whooping Cranes appears to be lacking. Thus, its status as “indigenous” and countable may change if/when the RSEC begins to look at these reintroduced species at a level finer than the ABA Area.)
WI-FL migratory population – Countable – First confirmed wild hatching on 22 June 2006
LA non-migratory population – Countable – First confirmed wild hatching in 2016
Thick-billed Parrot
Southeast AZ – Not countable (and no longer present) – No known wild hatching by reintroduced birds
