The week of the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival always results in some interesting finds in south Texas, but this year the highlights are largely continuing birds. To be fair, they’re really good ones in the form of Cattle Tyrant (ABA Code 5) up the coast, along with reports of the long-staying Mottled Owl (5) and Brown Jay (4) in the southern tip.
BiBirders in California have welcomed a new bird to the state list in every month of Fall 2025 so far. And right on schedule, November sees the state’s 1st record of Chihuahuan Meadowlark in Imperial Co, in the far southeast of the state. This species, recently split from Eastern Meadowlark, has been seen quite close to the California border in Arizona in the past, so birders have been looking for since before the split went through.
In addition to the long-staying rarities, two more exciting finds have graced the state of Texas this month. The latest, what appears to be a Siberian (Amur) Stonechat (5) in Williamson Co would be the surprising 2nd record of this species, not much more than a year after the state’s 1st was first recorded in December of last year at Anhuac.
The week before, a House Crow was photographed in Nueces Co. This species is not currently on the ABA Checklist but it has been recorded in the ABA Area several times before. House Crow is native to southern Asia but is well-known to catch rides on ships, and has turned up just about everywhere on the planet with a deep water port. House Crow waifs have established sizable populations in Southeast Asia, East Africa, and even western Europe. Most ABA Area records come from the Gulf Coast of Florida, where a single bird apparently spend the better part of five years in the area before disappearing. Given this species’ reputation, this certainly won’t be the last to be encountered in the ABA Area.
Perhaps the poster-bird for the fall vagrant season, a Tropical Kingbird turned up this week in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
New Hampshire’s 4th record of Bell’s Vireo was well-photographed in Rockingham Co.
In Ontario, a Razorbill was seen quite close to land at Port Lands.
New York’s 3rd record of Tundra Bean-Goose (3) in Nassau Co adds to the impressive run of Old World rarities that have been seen in the New York City area this fall.
Good birds in Delaware this week include both a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (3) and a Barnacle Goose (3) at Bombay Hook.
Kansas’s 2nd record of King Eider, a female “Queen”, was seen in Jefferson Co this week.
And in Montana, the state’s 5th White-eyed Vireo was enjoyed by many in Bozeman.
Omissions and errors are not intended, but if you find any, please message blog AT aba.org and we 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 installments of the ABA Rare Bird Alert. Readers should note that most of these reports have not yet been vetted by a records committee. All birders are urged to submit documentation of rare sightings to the appropriate state or provincial records 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.
