After its initial sighting was reported, many birders were been able to observe and photograph the First State Record Crested Caracara, far off-course in Woodstock, Vermont.

An exciting find for Vermont birders was the First State Record Crested Caracara! Eastern Canada yielded a threesome of rare birds, including a Varied Thrush in Nova Scotia, a Carolina Wren on Prince Edward Island, and a Black Vulture in Quebec. Far south, a Bananaquit sighted on St. George Island proved to be the first record for the species in the panhandle region of northern Florida. Farther west in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, an off-course MacGillivray’s Warbler provided fine photos and exciting memories, and in Sherman, Illinois a Lazuli Bunting was photographed at a lucky birder’s feeding station.

STATE RECORD

First State Record Crested Caracara – Woodstock, Vermont

REALLY RARE SIGHTINGS

Bananaquit – St. George Island, Florida

MacGillivray’s Warbler – Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Carolina Wren – Montague, Prince Edward Island

Varied Thrush – Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Black Vulture – Mont-Laurier, Quebec

Lazuli Bunting – Sherman, Illinois

CONTINUING RARE BIRDS

The growing list of continuing rare birds reported in earlier Rare Birds articles includes:

Garganey – Colusa and Salton Sea, California

Siberian Accentor – Woodland, Washington

Thick-billed Vireo – Long Key, Florida

La Sagra’s Flycatcher – Everglades National Park, Florida

White Wagtail – Austin, Texas

March will likely improve the number of rare bird sightings as more birds begin seasonal movements and migrations, so keep vigilant as spring wanderlust takes effect.

For more information, see the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at https://www.aba.org/28800-2/ 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 information 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/