Rare birds in the USA

[Michael T]

In the UK we get most of our rare birds from USA, How many rare birds in USA are from Britain & Europe?

[MichaelF]

Very, very few. Birds have a much harder job of crossing east to west against the wind, than they do crossing west to east with a following wind.

[Michael T]

Thanks for the info Michael F! Hope youve had a good birding year?

[marklhawkes]

In the UK we get most of our rare birds from USA, How many rare birds in USA are from Britain & Europe?

Just to pick up on a small point - most of our (UK) rare birds come from Europe and Asia, but I see where you are coming from.

Some European birds do make it to the Americans (including regular Eurasian Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Ruff for instance). Some are mega rare (European Honey Buzzard, Red-footed Falcon). Alaska benefits from being much nearer to Asia, and has occasional records of more Western & Eastern Palearctic species. Recently there was also a Bluethroat in California!

[Hotspur]

Very, very few. Birds have a much harder job of crossing east to west against the wind, than they do crossing west to east with a following wind.

Transatlantic vagrants from the western palearctic often have an easier time getting to the southern west indies (barbados, trinidad etc) as the winds are more favourable

[Paul Leader]

Just to pick up on a small point - most of our (UK) rare birds come from Europe and Asia, but I see where you are coming from.

Some European birds do make it to the Americans (including regular Eurasian Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Ruff for instance). Some are mega rare (European Honey Buzzard, Red-footed Falcon). Alaska benefits from being much nearer to Asia, and has occasional records of more Western & Eastern Palearctic species. Recently there was also a Bluethroat in California!

Although most of these species have an enormous part of their breeding range in Asia and vagrants of these species in America almost certainly originate from Asia and not Europe; my understanding is that palearctic vagrants are much more regular in the western US than in the eastern US..

[Colin Key]

...... my understanding is that palearctic vagrants are much more regular in the western US than in the eastern US..

I cannot find the reference, but I do remember reading something a while ago that some species such as Marsh Sandpiper might possibly be arriving in the W Palearctic by going "the long way round" (i.e. moving eastwards and arriving via N America and the Atlantic).

This could account for your comment above?

Colin :err:

[AndyB]

As mentioned above, we do get some megas from across the Atlantic eg Red-footed Falcon, Whiskered Tern and Corncrake and then there are some species like Ruff, Black-headed Gull and Tufted Duck that seem to turn up anywhere across the lower 48.

But most of the palearctic passerines hail from the west and turn up along the west coast. Most regular being Red-throated Pipit, Siberian Pipit, Dusky Warbler, Arctic Warbler, Yellow Wagtail plus a host of shorebirds. There's been quite a bit of discussion about the migration routes of these birds and where they winter. Visiting birders to Mexico have been routinely turning up late autumn and wintering vagrants such as Yellow-browed Warbler, Olive-backed Pipit and more and even this Red-throated Pipit from Ecuador last winter (http://www.surfbirds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3445).

Other than a nice spring Eye-browed Thrush recently, we don't see these species returning in spring heading north so perhaps they perish or return by a different route.

This fall, Santa Cruz had its second Dusky Warbler at the same pond as the first a few years earlier. A remarkable coincidence or perhaps indicative of more regular numbers of this species heading through the state and just the birds at the well-watched locales get discovered. The number of asian vagrants being found in the deserts and central valley, many miles from the coast makes you wonder how many get missed and whether there is a more regular pattern of inland occurence waiting to be unearthed.

Colin also brings up an interesting point. The Long-billed Murrelet in Devon no doubt came from the west (as vagrants sporadically turn up on the north american east coast). And perhaps, the Irish Brown Shrike came from that direction too. There has been a late fall record from Nova Scotia. Perhaps, that's also the route that European Slaty-backed or Black-tailed Gulls will also hail from.

[MichaelF]

Siberian PipitNo such name! Which species is it? Richard's? Blyth's? Pechora? Buff-bellied? Or Siberian Thrush?

[Johnny X]

No such name! Which species is it? Richard's? Blyth's? Pechora? Buff-bellied? Or Siberian Thrush?

'Japonicus' Buff-bellied Pipit.

See http://www.surfbirds.com/ID%20Articles/Pipits1.html