Current:Home > reviewsBirders aflutter over rare blue rock thrush: Is the sighting confirmed? Was there another? -Mastery Money Tools
Birders aflutter over rare blue rock thrush: Is the sighting confirmed? Was there another?
View
Date:2025-04-17 20:31:04
Michael Sanchez's photos of what appears to be a rare blue rock thrush recently has made him the envy of the birding world.
It's the kind of discovery most avid birders wait their whole lives to find: Visual evidence of a species of bird never before recorded in the United States. And yet, Sanchez – who is far from an avian enthusiast – snapped the photographs entirely by happenstance while visiting an Oregon state park.
When Sanchez returned home to Vancouver, Washington and processed the images, the 41-year-old middle school band director realized it was no mere black bird that he had photographed.
Now, if Sanchez’s images are verified by local and national birding organizations, he could be credited as the first person to successfully record a blue rock thrush not only in Oregon, but anywhere in the United States.
'Bring my baby back:''Dad' of Wally, the missing emotional support alligator, makes tearful plea for his return
Why are blue rock thrush birds rare to the U.S.?
Defined by their blue and chestnut plumage, the blue rock thrush is most common throughout southern Europe, northwest Africa, Central Asia, northern China and Malaysia.
Just one possible sighting of the species has ever been reported in North America, a report of one in 1997 in British Columbia, but was ultimately rejected by the American Birding Association.
Sanchez, an amateur photographer, was photographing waterfalls at Hug Point along the coast of the North Pacific Ocean when he snapped some images of the bird on April 21.
He later posted his photos on Facebook to seek clarification on what species he had encountered, sending the birding world aflutter.
Birds such as this possible blue rock thrush that are spotted that far from their habitat are known as vagrants. Sightings of birds outside their natural wintering and breeding areas tend to attract the attention of birders, who are known to drop everything to travel to such spots to spot the birds for themselves.
"For some people, it turns into a lifestyle,” Nolan Clements, a member of the Oregon Birding Association, told the Register-Guard, a USA TODAY Network publication.
Scientists offer a range of explanations for why vagrant birds may drift so far away from their typical habitats.
In the case of Sanchez's possible thrush, the bird could accidentally have migrated in the fall down the west coast of North American instead of the east coast of Asia if it was blown off course by a storm, Brodie Cass Talbott, a senior educator at the Bird Alliance of Oregon, previously told USA TODAY. Another option is that the bird got lost at sea and then hitched a ride on a boat headed for the west coast.
What is the process to verify the bird sighting?
Sanchez told USA TODAY on Thursday that he recently wrote a report for the Oregon Bird Records Committee detailing where and when he spotted the bird.
"It was pretty thorough," Sanchez said. "I don't really know what's next, but they know I'm open to helping however I can."
If the organization confirms the sighting, the case could be taken up by a national birding group, such as the American Birding Association's committee. Neither the Oregon group or the national association immediately returned USA TODAY's messages on Thursday morning.
The Oregon group's committee was organized in 1978 to "collect, review, and maintain records on rare birds found in Oregon," according to its website. The organization host regular meetings where they take up all recent reports, rather than accepting each one as they come in.
While the sighting has not yet been officially accepted, Cass Talbott previously said "all of the details have been carefully vetted by the community."
"None of us really have any doubt it will be accepted," he said.
What do we know about the sighting a few days later?
Sanchez may have just been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time when he noticed the bird on a beach within the 43-acre park on Oregon’s coast.
No other birders have been able to spot the bird since Sanchez photographed it.
But coincidentally, another blue rock thrush sighting was reported four days later, at the Farallon Islands off the San Francisco coast.
That means that Sanchez's thrush either traveled roughly 500 miles south in a matter of days, or another incredibly rare bird made a historic trip to the United States at the same time. Whether it is the same bird or a second one may never be known.
"Both are so extremely unlikely that it seems hard to know which is more likely," Cass Talbott previously said.
Sanchez has never been one for birding, but the stunning discovery and the uproar it's caused has left him delighted.
"I'm loving the chance to interact with people and talk with them about my story," Sanchez said. "This is bringing people just a little bright spot in their day and I think that's a wonderful thing."
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
veryGood! (857)
Related
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Don't believe his book title: For humorist R. Eric Thomas, the best is yet to come
- Questions raised about gunfire exchange that killed man, wounded officer
- 'The Blind Side' subject Michael Oher's blockbuster lawsuit against Tuohy family explained
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Watch: Sam Kerr's goal for Australia equalizes World Cup semifinal before loss to England
- You're not imagining it: Here's why Halloween stuff is out earlier each year.
- Inside Rumer Willis' New Life as Mom
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- Arkansas school district says it will continue offering AP African American Studies course
Ranking
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Minnesota woman sentenced to 7 years in prison in $7M pandemic aid fraud scheme
- Woman charged with murder in case of Kansas officer killed in shootout with car chase suspect
- Protesters march through Miami to object to Florida’s Black history teaching standards
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Kim Kardashian Takes a Style Cue From Sister Kourtney With New Bob Hairstyle
- A viral video of a swarm of sharks in the Gulf of Mexico prompts question: Is this normal? Here's what an expert says.
- Inside Rumer Willis' New Life as Mom
Recommendation
Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
Nearly 80% of Texas' floating border barrier is technically in Mexico, survey finds
OCD is not that uncommon: Understand the symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.
Foreign invaders: Japanese Beetles now laying eggs for next wave of march across country
Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
Invasive yellow-legged hornet found in US for first time
Kentucky gubernatorial rivals Andy Beshear and Daniel Cameron offer competing education plans
Hearing begins over incarcerated youths being held at Louisiana’s maximum-security prison