‘Super rare’ bird discovered at Oregon’s Hug Point, first in U.S. history

Portland, Oregon.coyne) Birdwatchers cheered after an extremely rare bird sighting occurred April 21 at Hug Point State Recreation Area.

Vancouver resident Michael Sanchez told KOIN 6 News he was photographing Hug Point Falls at sunrise when he noticed a small bird near the shoreline.

“I happened to look behind me at the ocean and saw this cute little bird standing on the beach,” Sanchez said. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, so it looked like a little black bird to me. It posed for me for a minute or two, then flew off to the rocks. It stayed there for a moment or so, then flew off to the east. I didn’t think too much about it.

Sanchez had no idea he had photographed the first known sighting of a blue rock thrush in the United States.

When Sanchez returned home and looked at the photos, he discovered that the little black bird was more colorful than he had imagined.This led to him posting his photo on social media Shocked the local bird watching community.

“I noticed that the bird was not black at all, but a beautiful blue and maroon bird,” he said. I posted it on social media to ask for help identifying it, and a friend of mine passed it on to a birding friend of hers. He let me know that this was an extremely rare bird in this part of the world.

According to experts, the Blue Rock Thrush sighting is only the second unofficial sighting in North American history. Nolan Clements, a member of the Oregon Birding Association and a doctoral student in OSU’s Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, told KOIN 6 News that the blue rock thrush is native to Europe and Asia. They do not inhabit any area of ​​the United States.

Clements said there was only one report in North America. In 1997, a photo was taken in British Columbia. However, many birdwatchers are skeptical of the bird’s origins, suggesting that it may have been a bird that escaped from a cage, or that it may have been accidentally transported across the Pacific on a cargo ship. Eventually, the 1997 BC record was cancelled.

Birders have flocked to Hug Point in recent days to try to find Sanchez’s Blue Rock Thrush. However, no other sightings were reported. While Sanchez’s sighting is still under expert review, Clements said the bird seen in the photo is definitely a blue rock thrush.

Clements said the report has not yet been reviewed by the Oregon Bird Records Commission or the American Birding Association Records Commission, both voting bodies that adjudicate natural history records, and is therefore not yet an official record. I am currently a voting member of the OBRC and I suspect there will be a long discussion about this bird, but my guess is that ultimately the report will be accepted.

Clements said it’s unclear how the bird arrived in the United States, but added that a similar species, the red-tailed rock thrush, was photographed in northern Alaska in 2021. Found in Alaska.

He said it seemed possible that the bird had hitched a ride on the ship, but it was probably unlikely. If this bird was in Astoria or Portland, I’d say it’s more likely to be helped by a boat. It’s really hard to say for sure with an event like this.

Sanchez said he is working with the Oregon Bird Records Committee to provide as much information about the sightings as possible. KOIN 6 will continue to follow the story as it unfolds to learn the commission’s final verdict on the sighting.

“Now that I know how rare this sight is, I wish I could have taken more photos,” he said. However, I am pleased with the photos I was able to capture and I hope this will bring new interest to the fascinating world of birding.