Primarily ranging within Mexico, the sighting of a Varied Bunting by Wisconsin birders at Lion's Den Gorge Nature Preserve along Lake Michigan north of Milwaukee established a First State Record last week (photo by David Le).

May is an exciting month for rare birds, and it’s getting better week after week, considering that last week birders documented 9 new state records, including 2 First State Records – a Varied Bunting in Wisconsin and a Mottled Duck for Rhode Island. There were also 2 new Second State Records – a Swainson’s Warbler in Iowa and a Neotropic Cormorant in Wyoming; plus a Third State Record Mountain Bluebird in Maine. A pair of Fourth State Records were also created, a Black-necked Stilt in New Hampshire; and a Black-billed Magpie in Ohio. To round out the rare bird records rodeo, New Mexico birders found a Fifth State Record Ruff and a Seventh State Record Common Redpoll – and there are more really rare birds to report.

STATE & PROVINCIAL RECORDS

First State Record Varied Bunting – near Grafton, Wisconsin

First State Record Mottled Duck – New Shoreham, Rhode Island

Second State Record Swainson’s Warbler – West Des Moines, Iowa

Second State Record Neotropic Cormorant – near Hawk Springs, Wyoming

Third State Record Mountain Bluebird – Monhegan Island, Maine

Fourth State Record Black-necked Stilt – Rye, New Hampshire

Fourth State Record Black-billed Magpie – Fairport Harbor, Ohio

Fifth State Record Ruff – Vaughn, New Mexico

Seventh State Record Common Redpoll – near Maljamar, New Mexico

REALLY RARE BIRDS

Crescent-chested Warbler – Pinery Canyon, Arizona

Slate-throated Redstart – Big Bend National Park, Texas

Black Noddy – Port Aransas, Texas

Lesser Nighthawk – Tofino, British Columbia

Ferruginous Hawk – near Port Crewe, Ontario

Ferruginous Hawk – Chilliwack, British Columbia

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher – near Britton, South Dakota

MacGillivray’s Warbler – Fort Meyers, Florida

Black-throated Gray Warbler – Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

CONTINUING REALLY RARE BIRDS

Mottled Owl – Texas

Yellow-headed Caracara – Florida

White-cheeked Pintail – Florida

Cattle Tyrant – Texas

Mexican Violetear – Texas

Berylline Hummingbird – Arizona

American Flamingos – Florida and Texas

Brown Jays – Texas

Flame-colored Tanager – Texas

For more information, you can refer to the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at Rare Bird Alert: May 11, 2024 - American Birding Association (aba.org) 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 ABA state rare bird alert listserves that you can access at Birding News brought to you by American Birding Association - (aba.org) or at ABA Rare Bird Alert | Facebook