The ABA Rare Bird Alert’s Weekly Highlights

Wednesday November 7, 2018   |

A Western Gull was found near Corpus Christi, Texas.

The craziest rare bird news of last week was the re-discovery of the first recorded Great Black Hawk in the United States. The immature raptor was re-sighted and photographed in Maine – two months after it was first reported in that state, and six months after it was first reported in Texas. Obviously, this convoluted story represents another chapter in what is turning out to be the wildest rare bird story of the year. Great Black Hawks normally range from northern Mexico to northern Argentina – a long distance from Maine!

In our August 15 issue of The Birding Wire, we reported this rare find the first time it was reported in Maine. The same Great Black Hawk was first reported in Texas in April, so this is certainly another exciting report for this wayward raptor. With cold weather coming soon, where will the next report come from?

Excited birders also found a First State Record Gray-headed Swamphen in South Carolina, plus state records for a Western Gull in Texas and a Slaty-backed Gull in Minnesota. There were several more exciting state and provincial rare birds documented last week, s.

Re-found: First ABA record and first state record Great Black Hawk – White Rock, Maine

First state record Gray-headed Swamphen – southern, South Carolina

Fifth state record Western Gull – near Corpus Christi, Texas

Ninth state record Slaty-backed Gull – Grand Portage, Minnesota

Really rare sightings:

Red-throated Pipit – Saanich, British Columbia

Northern Wheatear – eastern Long Island, New York

Western Spindalis – near Miami, Florida

Mew Gull – Biddeford, Maine

Exciting rare sightings:

Sage Thrasher – central Illinois

Evening Grosbeak – Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Ash-throated Flycatcher – near Ludington, Michigan

Groove-billed Ani – southeast Mississippi

Common Gallinule – Halifax, Nova Scocia

White-eyed Vireo – Montreal, Quebec

Notable rare species reported here previous weeks that continue to be observed include the Golden-crowned Warbler in southern Texas, a Pink-footed Goose in Nova Scotia and the Blue-footed Booby in southern Utah. The question remains, what rare birds are in store for lucky birders to find across the continent this week?

For more information, see the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at http://blog.aba.org/2018/08/rare-bird-alert-august-3-2018.html

You can often find more information about individual rare bird sightings from the state rare bird alert listserves that you can access at http://birding.aba.org/