Rare Bird Sightings

I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at the birds I have seen in the United States and other countries I have been to and list the ones I saw that were rare for that region. Below is my list of rare birds seen, starting in the United States and listed state by state, followed by other countries I have been to. If you would like to share your own rare bird sightings, just post a comment!

Colorado:

Hermit Warbler- A rare bird in Colorado, with I think only one or two records, maybe none at all. I was birding in Telluride during the summer, in July. While I was walking around the forest outside of Mountain Village I spotted some movement in the top of a tree. I looked through my binoculars and immediately noticed this bird, a warbler, had a completely yellow face, characteristic of Hermit Warblers. The bird remained very cooperative and did not move from the top of the tree, allowing me to gaze at it for some time.

North Carolina:

Trindade Petrel- A rare but regular visitor off of the Outer Banks, specifically in the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras. I saw two of this petrel, both a light and intermediate morph, during my July 2011 pelagic with Brian Patteson.

Golden Eagle- An uncommon to rare bird in North Carolina, especially the eastern part of the state. While hiking in Croatan National Park with my scout troop (probably in 2006) I noticed a large raptor take off from the ground. I watch it as it flew through the pine forest and saw two white patches, one on the back of each wing, and noticed that the bird had a white ring around its tail. After I lost sight of the bird I consulted my field guide and saw these were characteristics of juvenile Golden Eagles.

Ruff- A rare Eurasian species that shows up randomly across the United States. On October 7, 2011, Brian Bockhahn and I headed down to the NC coast to search for Yellow Rails and rare shorebirds. While at Cedar Island, birding the ferry terminal pond, Brian and I noticed a shorebird land in the horse pasture behind the pond. The bird was a male, in breeding plumage; its chest had black patches on the side, and there were black streaks on the sides of the bird. The bird had a long neck, with a small head, and had long legs. We immediately came to the conclusion that this was a Ruff, an ABA bird for me and a lifer for Brian. And what is even rarer is that this Ruff was in breeding plumage. Most of the Ruffs found in the U.S. have not been in breeding plumage.

Long-eared Owl- A very uncommon to rare species in the state. During the Bodie/Pea Island 2010 Christmas Bird Count, my group was doing some owling at Bodie Island. We had played Northern Saw-whet Owl and had a couple birds respond to our call. As we were listening to the Saw-whets calling and going crazy, we also heard a very unusual call. The call was like no other bird I have ever heard, and for a while we were wondering if it was even avian at all. We did not realize until at the end of our owling that we had heard a Long-eared Owl. We heard, before the saw-whets started going crazy, a really loud cat like screech behind us coming from the trees, and I alone briefly saw a large owl (later realized the Long-eared!) flying from a perch and gliding, slightly descending, into the brush. I knew that it was something else, and definitely not a saw-whet when we saw one flying. Much larger, about twice the size, and it was grayish on the back of its wings. This and the behavior and habits of a long-eared owl and the habitat we were in all fit together. I am probably one of the few people ever to see one in North Carolina.

Anna's Hummingbird- 3rd state record. Stay tuned for more

Allen's Hummingbird- 2nd state record. Staty tuned for more

Clay-colored Sparrow- An uncommon species in NC, rare on the east coast, but several are reported each year. During the Lake Mattamuskeet 2010 Christmas Bird Count we were informed that two Clay-colored Sparrows had been reported. We drove to the area where they had been first found and were able to relocate the birds, sitting in a tree with chipping sparrows. A lifer for me, we were treated with excellent views of this bird.

Texas:

Gray Hawk- 2 seen, first at Rio Grande Village

White-eared Hummingbird- 4 seen, 3 females, 1 male. Vagrant to Texas

Dusky-capped Flycatcher- 2

Tropical Kingbird-

Colima Warbler- several

Costa Rica:

Eastern Kingbird-

Panama:

Harpy Eagle-

Pheasant Cuckoo-

Galapagos:

White-faced Storm-Petrel



Comments

[chat in]

This article is very interesting. I have found out a lot of new, amazing things in it.
chat-ave cheat room

[Kyle]

Awesome Jerry! Thanks for the post.

[jerry]

i have spotted a bald eagle around shoo fly road near bridgton three days in a row a adult male