Illinois birders were treated to a surprise sighting of a Crested Caracara far north of any other of its species near Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, which established a First State Record.

Birders established 3 new state records last week, finding a First State Record Crested Caracara in Illinois, a Second State Record Smith’s Longspur in Georgia, and a Fourth State Record Mountain Bluebird in New Hampshire. Other rare finds included an exciting brown morph Gyrfalcon that was photographed in New Jersey, another Brambling in Washington, a Red Phalarope in Mississippi, and a Slaty-backed Gull in Texas. As many as 150 enthusiastic birders at a time were on hand near Georgetown, Maine to add a new species to their life lists as the Steller’s Sea Eagle continues to show daily.

STATE & PROVINCIAL RECORDS

First State Record Crested Caracara – near Emiquon Refuge, Illinois

Second State Record Smith’s Longspur – Andrews Island, Georgia

Fourth State Record Mountain Bluebird – Peterborough, New Hampshire

REALLY RARE BIRDS

Gyrfalcon – Merrill Creek Reservoir, New Jersey

Brambling – Seattle, Washington

Red Phalarope – Waveland Beach, Mississippi

Slaty-backed Gull – Lake Travis, Texas

CONTINUING REALLY RARE BIRDS

Steller’s Sea Eagle – Maine

Red-flanked Bluetail – California

Common Crane – Washington

Whooper Swan – Washington

Common Shelduck – Pennsylvania

LaSagra’s Flycatcher – Florida

Bahama Mockingbird – Florida

Little Stint – California

Curlew Sandpiper – California

For more information, refer to the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at Rare Bird Alert: February 10, 2023 - American Birding Association (aba.org) Special Thanks to the ABA, and Nate Swick, who does such a great job of compiling the ABA’s Rare Bird Alert, which we use to prepare this weekly replay.

You can often find more info about individual rare bird sightings from the state rare bird alert listserves that you can access at http://birding.aba.org/ or at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ABArare/