Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Significant Findings

Biodiversity research around the world

Table of Contents

Member of the lab are constantly keeping track of species they observe everywhere they go in an effort to document biodiversity in Nebraska and elsewhere. The following are significant observations from members of the lab; all records are from Nebraska unless states otherwise. Records are listed in reverse chronological order.

2025

  1. Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla - first county record for Buffalo. (Jacob C. Cooper)
  2. Least Bittern Botaurus exilis - first county record for Nance. (Peggy M. Huss, Robin Harding, Jacob C. Cooper)
  3. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis - first county record for Merrick. (Jacob C. Cooper, Peggy M. Huss)
  4. Golden-winged Warbler Vermivora chrysoptera - first county record for Dawes. (Eugene A. Huryn)
  5. Black-throated SparrowAmphispiza bilineata - tenth state record for Nebraska, second county record for Sioux. (Eugene A. Huryn)
  6. White-rumped SandpiperCalidris fuscicollis - first county record for Howard, Nebraska. (Cody McGregor)
  7. Gray-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus - first county record for Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. (Eugene A. Huryn, Cody McGregor, Tommy Childers)
  8. Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus - first county record for Buffalo, Nebraska. (Eugene A. Huryn, Cody McGregor)
  9. Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius - first county record for Hitchcock, Nebraska. (Jacob C. Cooper, Robin Harding, and others)
  10. Barrow’s Goldeneye Bucephala islandica - second county record for Buffalo, Nebraska; one of only a few records east of Lincoln County within Nebraska. (Cody McGregor)
  11. Leucistic Trumpeter Swan Cygnus buccinator - a rare color mutation in Trumpeter Swans posing a unique ID challenge. (Jacob C. Cooper, Cody McGregor, Peggy M. Huss, Eugene Huryn)

2024

  1. Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis - second record for Buffalo, Nebraska. (Eugene A. Huryn, Cody McGregor)
  2. Winter Wren Troglodytes hiemalis - first county record for Red Willow, Nebraska. (Jacob C. Cooper, Cody McGregor, Peggy M. Huss, Keith Geluso)
  3. Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus - first county record for Sherman, Nebraska; thirteenth accepted state record at that time. (Jacob C. Cooper, Eugene A. Huryn, Robin Harding)
  4. Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius - first county record for Dawson, Nebraska. (Mike Roffman)
  5. Western Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea (obscura subspecies group) - first county record for Custer, Nebraska; one of the easternmost records in the state. (Jacob C. Cooper, Darcey Taylor, Nate Eidem)
  6. Zabulon Skipper Lon zabulon - first county record for Howard, Nebraska. (Jacob C. Cooper)
  7. Western Wood-Pewee Contopus sordidulus - first county record for Buffalo, Nebraska (easternmost record in Nebraska at that time, though vagrants have been found to east coast). (Jacob C. Cooper, Darcey Taylor)
  8. Brant Branta bernicla hrota - first documented Buffalo County, Nebraska record since 1930. Likely the same bird as was found in January was later found the following December through January. (Jacob C. Cooper)

2023

  1. Rusty Blackbird Euphagus carolinus - first county record for Thomas, Nebraska. (Jacob C. Cooper, Caroline Cooper)
  2. Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides - first county record for Blaine, Nebraska. (Cody McGregor, Jacob C. Cooper, Nate Eidem)
  3. Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides - first county record for Valley, Nebraska. (Cody McGregor, Jacob C. Cooper, Nate Eidem)