Rare Bird Alert

Here’s your roundup of new ABA Area rarities for the week. A quick programming note; there will not be an RBA next week as I am out of town.

New York offers the first 1st record of the week in a subadult Glaucous-winged Gull in the Bronx borough of New York City. This is one of the rarest western gulls in the east, and all previous records of this species east of the Mississippi River have been well inland. Notably, Ohio boasted its 1st record earlier this year and this is a species that could very easily slide under the radar of birders.

Nebraska also welcomes a new species this week, as a pair of Western Bluebirds in Kimball are a 1st record. A Common Crane (ABA Code 3) in Hamilton is, by comparison, completely expected for the season.

Newfoundland’s 3rd record of Whooper Swan (4) was seen in the New Wes Valley in the northwest of the island. Newfoundland is one of the few places in the ABA Area where provenance questions with regard to vagrant waterfowl are almost never asked.

Florida continues to host Red-legged Honeycreepers (5) this year, as another was found in Monroe to join the one seen in Miami last week. Also in Monroe, a stunning male Western Spindalis was seen.

It’s Garganey (4) season in the middle of the continent, as a nice male was photographed this week in Loess Bluffs NWR, Missouri.

And the 13th record of Surfbird for Texas was seen this week in Cameron. 

Omissions and errors are not intended, but if you find any please message blog AT aba.org and I will try to fix them as soon as possible. This post is meant to be an account of the most recently reported birds. Continuing birds not mentioned are likely included in previous editions listed here. Place names written in italics refer to counties/parishes.

Readers should note that none of these reports has yet been vetted by a records committee. All birders are urged to submit documentation of rare sightings to the appropriate state or provincial committees. For full analysis of these and other bird observations, subscribe to North American Birds, the richly illustrated journal of ornithological record published by the ABA.