Somebody give this bird a compass

[mrasm282]

That is pretty crazy.

 

[archer wapiti]

Crazy. Remarkable record. Great Photos! I grew up in Marquette and it's always fun to see what's going on up there, including the 16 F temperature stamp on that photo.

Maybe it's just one of those years... A hepatic Tanager showed up in the Keewenaw Peninsula a week or so ago. Also a southwestern species that should've been in Mexico at this time of year.

 

[NCSU_Lewis]

I saw a picture of a snowy owl in Myrtle Beach last week. Seems like everybody is swapping roles these days. Thats an awesome picture! Always love flipping through a trail cam and not knowing what has shown.

 

[Oak]

Very cool sighting. There was a Crested Caracara observed several times in northern Colorado last fall.

 

[huronmtns]

I stopped in and reported this sighting to the local biologist on Tuesday. He said he was aware of the previous sighting last year in Munising. That bird was in the summer. He was kind of surprised that this bird was actually toughing it out in the cold winter weather. He was going to forward the sighting on to our local bird expert to document this sighting.

We also had some interesting conversation about the deer herd numbers and the predator prey relationship. Distemper swept through the area recently. It really had a significant impact on coyote and wolf population in the central and northern upper peninsula. They are scheduled to do the biannual wolf count this winter and will have a better idea what the real loses were. Based on the mortality rate acquired from collared wolves there was a very significant impact to that species.

 

[schmalts]

Cool. Birds do seem to change the territory they spend time in. When I was a kid growing up along lake Michigan you would never see pelicans, now it is fairly common.

 

[bobbydean]

I really enjoy this thread.

Can a tropical bird survive the winter, or will the snow send him south?

 

[archer wapiti]

I really enjoy this thread.

Can a tropical bird survive the winter, or will the snow send him south?

Sometimes they seem to survive if they can find a place that has enough food, but of course it's hard to say absolutely about what an individual's ultimate fate was. They're amazingly hardy if they can find enough fuel for their system to stay warm.
These often are young birds from species that do not learn their migratory routes. It seems that sometimes these guys with genetically controlled navigation systems seem to have a "wire crossed" and go the opposite direction that they should have gone. Take the recent record of the Hepatic Tanager that showed up in the Keewenaw Peninsula of Michigan. I drew a line from the junction of the Arizona/New Mexico/Sonora border (an approximation of their breeding distribution) northeast to where it was found. I then took that same distance but mirrored the bearing on the horizontal axis so that it was heading southeast and you end up in Guatemala, where it was supposed to be for the winter. Not very scientific, but it is suggestive. When their navigation is screwed up like that, I doubt there's any going back.

 

[huronmtns]

I checked the trial camera again today. The southern visitor has seemed to left the area. The photos I captured of it were only on two consecutive days. No sign of it in the area since. There is still plenty for it to eat but I'm sure the carcass is really frozen solid with the weather we 've had.

 

[bigdonniebrasco]

Pretty sure I have a recipe somewhere!

 

[tarheel]

I was out working in my garden some years back when a green Macaw went flying by squawking it's head off, headed NW with some conviction. It no doubt had escaped from some residence and was enjoying the independence.

 

[huronmtns]

Well it looks like there is proof that Mother Nature doesn't forgive abnormal behavior and geographical distribution. Now that the snow has melted the rest of the mystery behind this rare sighting has come to an end.

 

[huronmtns]

Found it about 30 yards from where the original photo was taken.

 

[nrpate05]

I took a birding class in college and I know my professor would be blown away to see this bird so far out of his normal range. Really cool sighting!

 

[mtmiller]

I missed this the first time. Awesome find and thanks for sharing.

 

[huronmtns]

The MDNR requested that I bring the bird carcass in to them. If the birds tissues are still in good enough condition to allow a taxidermy mount, they are going to have it mounted for display at Marquette DNR office.