Rare Bird Alert

Arizona continues to have the balance of continuing rare birds in the ABA Area, with stunners like Eared Quetzal (ABA Code 4), Berylline Hummingbird (4), and Plain-capped Starthroat (4) reliably being found many weeks after their initial discovery. In California, a Common Crane (4) in the northeast part of the state is hanging on for yet another week.

The big weather event of the week was the landfall of Hurricane Laura near the Louisiana-Texas border as a major storm. Gulf hurricanes tend not to bring as many pelagic species along for the ride as Atlantic hurricanes as the Gulf of Mexico is generally less birdy than the Gulf Stream, but reports of classic storm waifs like Sooty Tern were coming from affected states and will likely be pushed inland along with coastal species like Laughing Gulls and terns. We hope those residents in the path of the storm are staying safe.

It’s been awhile since we mentioned Florida here, but as we head into the fall we’ll certainly be seeing that state more often. This week, a Thick-billed Vireo (4) was seen in Miami-Dade. More, it appeared to be a recently fledged individual suggesting that the species has bred in southern Florida for the second consecutive year, which is almost more exciting that the find itself.

There is one 1st record to report for the period, in Ohio, which has hopped on the Brown Booby (3) train with a bird in Summit. This is the second 1st record of Brown Booby in the midwest this month following the individual in Missouri a couple weeks back. Interestingly enough, this does not seem to be a hurricane related sighting, though Brown Boobys have shown in the past that they don’t need a tropical storm to wander through the interior of the continent.

Tennessee also had a Brown Booby (3) this week, though not its first, in Marion. 

In Kentucky, a Brown Pelican, which is sort of close to a booby, was in Meade. 

Banders on Kiawah Island in Charleston, South Carolina, netted a Black-whiskered Vireo this week.

Ontario also had a Brown Booby (3) at Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto.

Noteworthy for Quebec was a White-winged Dove at Capitale-Nationale.

Connecticut’s 5th record of Long-tailed Jaeger was seen this week in Fairfield. 

Massachusetts’s 5th record of Pacific Golden-Plover was seen on Nantucket. Note that the bird in the checklist is listed as an American Golden-Plover.

Shooting over to the west coast, Oregon had a Northern Wheatear at Ocean Shores this week.

Good for California was a Common Ringed Plover recorded in Del Norte. 

Arizona had a Hooded Warbler in Gila. 

And in British Columbia, an Ash-throated Flycatcher was photographed in Coquitlam.

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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.