Rare Bird Alert

Continuing in the ABA Area this week are a couple of familiar faces.  The Garganey (ABA Code 4) in California and the La Sagra’s Flycatcher (4) in Florida were still seen into this week.

Arguably the most exciting bird of the week came from Montana, where a young Ivory Gull at Flathead Lake represents the 1st record for the state. The last decade has been pretty good for wayward Ivory Gulls, at least for birders in the Lower 48, but the interior west is still a quite unusual place for the species to turn up. There have been somewhat more records in southern Alberta (2019), eastern Washington (2008), and South Dakota (2008).

There was one other 1st to report for the week, from Maryland where a Black-chinned Hummingbird at a feeder in St. Mary’s is a state 1st. This species is one of the more regular “other than Rufous” western hummingbirds to show up in the eastern half of the continent.

In Washington, a Siberian Accentor (4) in Woodland in the southwest part of the state is Washington’s 3rd record and the first in nearly 3 decades.

In Kansas, a Mew Gull was a nice find at Lake Quivira in Johnson, not to be confused with Quivira NWR elsewhere in the state.

Indiana had a sharp-looking Ferruginous Hawk this week, which was seen by many in Sullivan. 

Notable for Connecticut, a male Painted Bunting was noted visiting a feeder in New Canaan.

And in Georgia, a male Scott’s Oriole visited a feeder in Houston. It’s not clear how many records for this southwestern species exist for the state, but almost certainly fewer than five.

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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.