Gray-hooded Gull made an appearance at Coney Island even though its native to Africa and South America.
There are also other possible sightings including exotic birds that escaped from the captivity or hybrid birds. However, birders tend to not be as interested in these other types of sightings because they usually aren’t counted as official sightings.
Report it
Once you’ve figured out for sure what type of bird it is, you should report it. Although there’s no rule or obligation saying you have to report the sighting of a rare bird, it’s a great service to all the other birders who are looking to see the bird in person. To report it, you could notify a local birding group, Rare Bird Alert, a nearby Audubon chapter and even eBird. When you report the bird, you should be prepared to give a detailed description of where you saw it as well as a picture and physical description.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it’s likely you’ll be questioned a lot, but you should not be offended:
It is essential for official records to be accurate, and the overall feeling is that it’s best to leave out some legitimate sightings that aren’t well-enough documented than to include some inaccurate ones. Virtually every birder has had at least one sighting rejected by a state organization.
Nevertheless, remember to keep an eye out for any unusual sightings at your feeder because you never know when that rare bird is going to stop by.
2 Comments
Thanks for sharing!
This is a helpful post. In order to attract more birds in your area, you should acquire a bird feeder, which is a device that holds the bird foods. Depending upon its placement and the type of bird food that you provide, you will definitely draw the attention of the birds. Who knows? You might attract a rare bird in the long run of your bird feeding experience.