Rare Bird Alert: April 14, 2017

Into mid-April, and the listservs across the continent are buzzing with reports of returning migrants. But there are still a few birds moving to places where they don’t belong, and even fewer  continuing rarities in the ABA Area. The continuing Black-backed Oriole in Pennsylvania was seen into the beginning of the past week, but has not been seen in a few days as of the composing of this post. Both Tufted Flycatcher (ABA Code 5) and Streak-backed Oriole remain in Arizona. The Redwing (4) in British Columbia is now singing, and there continue to be a couple Pink-footed Geese (4) here and there in the northeast.

There are few places in the ABA Area more attractive to be in mid-April than Florida, which saw some incredible Caribbean strays this week in addition to the return of migrants from those islands. The first was a vCuban Pewee in Miami-Dade, which was followed a day later by a Loggerhead Kingbird (5), also in Miami-Dade. Then, one day later, a Cuban Vireo (not yet accepted) – potentially the same bird as last year but who knows – turned up in Monroe. And if that wasn’t enough, a Black Noddy  was seen among the tern colony in the Dry Tortogas, making for a truly exceptional week.