And welcome to DU!

just amazing IMO

https://geospatialsense.com/2025/03/28/bird-migrations-10000km-connecting-europe-and-africa/

Apparently they are seeing more sightings further north.

Sometimes storms etc cause birds to go in all sorts of places, but seeing that they are also being spotted in other northern states indicates they may show up more often. If spoonbills take up permanent residence in freshwater areas, they could lose their pink!

One bird that is expanding it's range, is the crested caracara. They were usually confined to southern part of Bexar County. Now they are quite common. Hawks and vultures venture into neighborhoods, but I only see caracaras in the park. It could be their "low flying" habit, that keeps them out of residential areas, where they could be hit by cars or shooed way by homeowners. They are often in pairs.


Who knows the caracara may be coming to you! LOL
https://lauraerickson.substack.com/p/crested-caracara-in-wisconsin
(It's interesting, because they don't seem to be the strongest flyers)



Meet the Carrion-Craving Falcon That’s Taking Over Texas
Crested caracaras used to range no farther north than Texas’s southern tip, but now they’re expanding across the state—perhaps because of climate change and habitat loss.
https://archive.ph/ASjoj



This is a map of local spottings. As you can see they are fairly common in San Antonio. They live in the parks. They are also spotted more sporadically throughout northern parts of Texas, but sightings will probably increase in north Texas as the birds take up permanent residence further north.
https://www.sariverauthority.org/blog-news/south-texas-natives-crested-caracara/

My hometown's sports mascot was the cardinal, but I recently read they weren't documented here until the early 1900's. Now they're all the way to Duluth (and absolutely mob my bird feeders).

They are beautiful.

Have you any idea how many Republican assholes there are out there who want to go kill that thing? And award themselves extra asshole points because it’s rare or endangered?

nt

The new subtropical paradise.

It surely didn't hatch AND fly there in a few short months.. and the parents couldn't live there over the winter

Don't give them the keys to the car.

Every now and then we see a pelican or two here in eastern AZ, after a big wind storm coming in from the Pacific. Good thing so many people hike in out of the way places. When a pelican is spotted, a call to game and fish brings rescuers and the bird generally gets to fly back to California.... by jet.

I wonder if they were blown here by a hurricane

The dump in Seattle was full of them!


https://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek040115.html
Yes, indeed, these noisy white birds that folks associate with coastal habitats have become quite common here in the Carolina Piedmont--more than 150 miles from the nearest saltwater. Despite the commonly applied misnomer of "seagull"--partly the result of that spiritual minibook entitled "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"--not all gulls are restricted to maritime habitats. In fact, Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) are almost as likely to be found along major rivers and large lakes as on the oceanfront; they even breed in the Great Plains and in central Canada. Herring Gulls (L. argentatus), larger relatives of the ring-bills, also occur in similar habitats in ever-increasing numbers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jfn8t5/eli5_why_are_seagulls_the_main_birds_flying/

Apparently, they are in Salt Lake City and another blog mentioned Idaho.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/comments/tw2h5k/what_happened_to_all_the_seagulls/

There’s plenty water for them. Every now and then a random bald eagle stops by.

Guessing a lot of birds end up in odd locations after big storms.

sent to the milwaukee 'domes'.