{"id":135967,"date":"2023-01-13T16:36:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T21:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=135967"},"modified":"2023-01-13T16:57:13","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T21:57:13","slug":"rare-birds-very-far-beyond-usual-northern-limits-spotted-in-southeast-n-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/rare-birds-very-far-beyond-usual-northern-limits-spotted-in-southeast-n-b\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare birds \u2018very far\u2019 beyond usual northern limits spotted in southeast NB"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Bird enthusiasts are bewildered by two rare feathered specimens that have taken up residence in Sackville.<\/p>\r\n

A Great White Egret has been fishing among the cattails of the water retention pond for weeks. The majestic heron-like bird is found across South America year-round, and it ranges widely<\/a> across Central and North America, reaching as far north as Quebec and New Brunswick.<\/p>\r\n

Tantramar would normally be far beyond its northern limit at this time of year.<\/p>\r\n

The other unusual avian is a Green-tailed Towhee, a kind of sparrow normally found in Mexico and the southwest United States<\/a> and known by its rust-coloured crown and yellow-green wings and tail.<\/p>\r\n

It has been spotted for weeks near the Tantramar Wetlands Centre, behind the high school. Some have suggested it blew in with Hurricane Fiona.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Both of the so-called \u201cvagrant birds\u201d are far beyond their normal range, but sightings have been reported<\/a> as recently as Thursday on the website eBird Canada.<\/p>\r\n

For more on this story, CHMA reached out to some local bird experts.<\/p>\r\n

Beth MacDonald is a lab instructor in the biology department of Mount Allison University, where she also teaches ornithology, the study of birds.<\/p>\r\n

Birds often land in the wrong part of the world after getting blown off course by a storm, and young birds are susceptible to flying off in the wrong direction, she said.<\/p>\r\n

The climate crisis is causing myriad changes to the natural world, including the northward expansion of ranges, but that phenomenon can\u2019t necessarily explain a lone Egret.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cFor a single bird, it's hard to know exactly what brought that individual here,\u201d MacDonald said.<\/p>\r\n

The Egret appears to have found an excellent source of fish, and it may have sensed the winter would be mild, said Moncton-based ornithologist and broadcaster Alain Clavette.<\/p>\r\n

He stressed that photographers should avoid going too close, since the Egret may burn precious energy by taking flight. \u201cIt's putting pressure on this bird.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

He\u2019s less worried about the survival of the Towhee, a \u201cbig hearty bird,\u201d especially now that people have provided it with a source of seeds to eat.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI think it's getting used to seeing people around and doesn't see people as threats,\u201d he said, noting that many people are snapping photos of the rare creature.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cLots of pictures, a lot of good pictures,\u201d he said. \u201cI'm trying to restrain myself to go back. I got some really good shots anyway.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Listen to the report that aired on Thursday, Jan. 12, on CHMA:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bird enthusiasts are bewildered by two rare feathered specimens that have taken up residence in Sackville. A Great White Egret has been fishing among the cattails of the water retention pond for weeks. The majestic heron-like bird is found across South America year-round, and it ranges widely across Central and North America, reaching as far…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":135971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[222],"tags":[22474,22473,5786,1201,5514,3999,824,22476,22475,823],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135967"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135967"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135981,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135967\/revisions\/135981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135967"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=135967"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=135967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}