Far from the Pacific Coast, a Second State Record Black Turnstone was found and photographed near the Colorado River by very surprised birders in Yuma, Arizona.

May continues to award birders across the continent with surprise rare bird sightings, including 10 state and provincial records, starting with a First State Record Great Kiskadee in Nebraska. A Second State Record Black Turnstone was observed in Yuma, Arizona, and a surprising Third Provincial Record Crested Caracara was found adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park in far northern Alberta. Also, a Third State Record Mexican Whip-poor-will was reported from Canon City, Colorado; but read on to find out about the rest of last week’s rarest sightings!

STATE & PROVINCIAL RECORDS

First State Record Great Kiskadee – Barneston, Nebraska

Second State Record Black Turnstone – Yuma, Arizona

Third Provincial Record Crested Caracara – northern Alberta

Third State Record Mexican Whip-poor-will – Canon City, Colorado

Third State Record Neotropical Cormorant – Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

Third Provincial Record Townsend’s Warbler – Waterside, New Brunswick

Fourth State Record Golden-crowned Sparrow – Jefferson, Maine

Fifth State Record Bullock’s Oriole – near Brainerd, Minnesota

Eighth State Record Yellow-throated Warbler – near Kulm, North Dakota

Eighth State Record Kirtland’s Warbler – near Boone, North Carolina

REALLY RARE SIGHTINGS

Flame-colored Orioles (2) – near Sierra Vista, Arizona

Common Crane – Nanaimo, Arizona

Cave Swallow – South Kingston, Rhode Island

Hooded Warbler – Reno, Nevada

Cape May Warbler – near Cheyenne, Wyoming

Dickcissel – Agassiz, British Columbia

Harlequin Ducks (2) – near Willard Bay, Utah

Great-tailed Grackle – Calgary, Alberta

Yellow-headed Blackbird – Blanc Sablon, Quebec

American White Pelican – Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

CONTINUING RARE BIRDS

All the continuing rare birds are being reported in Arizona this week, including Crescent-chested Warblers near Portal, and a Berylline Hummingbird in Madera Canyon. With 10 new state and provincial records found last week, be especially alert for birds far beyond their normal range.

For more information, see the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at https://www.aba.org/rare-bird-alert-may-15-2020/ 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/