A few birders who keep a nectar feeder available into late fall had off-course hummingbirds visit last week, including this First State Record Mexican Violetear photographed in a southern Virginia yard by Harrol Blevins.

A surprisingly long list of Rare Bird sightings last week lends an added excitement to this report, which includes 15 Record birds with 4 First Records among them. Canadian birders documented 2 First Provincial Records and American birders matched that recording 2 First State Records: a Vermillion Flycatcher in Manitoba, a Masked Booby in British Columbia, a Mexican Violetear in Virginia, and a Bar-tailed Godwit in Georgia. In addition to the Mexican Violetear, off-course hummingbirds included a Fifth State Record Anna’s Hummingbird in Minnesota and a Calliope Hummingbird in New Jersey. Another American Flamingo was also sighted in Louisiana, which created a Sixth State Record – and there are many more exciting rare bird reports.

STATE & PROVINCIAL RECORDS

First Provincial Record Vermillion Flycatcher – Victoria Beach, Manitoba

First State Record Mexican Violetear – Carroll County, Virginia

First Provincial Record Masked Booby – offshore Haida Gwaii, British Columbia

First State Record Bar-tailed Godwit – Skidaway Island, Georgia

Second Provincial Record Dusky Flycatcher – Hilliardton, Ontario

Second Provincial Record Brewer’s Sparrow – Thunder Bay, Ontario

Third Provincial Record Fork-tailed Flycatcher – Sackville, New Brunswick

Third Provincial Record Yellow-throated Warbler – near Edmonton, Alberta

Fourth Provincial Record Vermillion Flycatcher – Stamford, Nova Scotia

Fifth State Record Cassin’s Finch – Jamestown, North Dakota

Fifth State Record Anna’s Hummingbird – near Lakeville, Minnesota

Fifth Provincial Record Eared Grebe – Amherst, Nova Scotia

Sixth State Record American Flamingo – near Creole, Louisiana

Sixth State Record Ancient Murrelet – Nampa, Idaho

Twelfth State Record Prothonotary Warbler – near Winchuck River, Oregon

REALLY RARE BIRDS

Calliope Hummingbird – Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey

Limpkin – near International Falls, Minnesota

Hudsonian Godwit – Lewiston, Idaho

Brown Booby – offshore Haida Gwaii, British Columbia

Black-throated Gray Warbler – Saint-Georges, Quebec

Western Flycatcher – Sandy Hook, New Jersey

Gray-crowned Rosy Finch – Evanston, Illinois

CONTINUING REALLY RARE BIRDS

American Flamingos – Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas

Large-billed Tern – Florida

LaSagra’s Flycatcher – Florida

Nutting’s Flycatcher –Texas

Brown Jays – Texas

Golden-crowned Warblers – Texas

Blue Bunting – Texas

For more information, you can refer to the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at Rare Bird Alert: November 3, 2023 - American Birding Association (aba.org) to the ABA, and Nate Swick, who does such a great job of compiling the ABA’s Rare Bird Alert, which we use to prepare this weekly replay.

You can often find more info about individual rare bird sightings from the ABA state rare bird alert listserves that you can access at Birding News brought to you by American Birding Association - (aba.org) or at ABA Rare Bird Alert | Facebook