The uncommon and rare bird thread

Post photos of any bird that is uncommon or rare in your area. It is always fun to see birds that are not usually supposed to be in your area, or during that season.

Here are a couple from my area - Portland Oregon.


Eurasian Widgeon.

We occasionally see a few of these in the Portland area. They are uncommon winter visitors from Asia. Seen at Dawson Creek Park in Hillsboro, OR.

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A couple from a few years ago. Both are very rare here in the Upper Snake River Highlands.

Scrumhalf wrote in post #18026061
Northern Mockingbird:


It was quite newsworthy in birding circles a few months ago when one of these guys ventured up north. Seen on Sauvie Island in the Portland area:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/HiYA​mo Northern Mockingbird (Rare in OR) by Scrumhalf, on Flickr

It's ironic how one species is rare for one person and another person (like me) throws Pine cones at them to scare them away because Mockingbirds will attack any other bird that gets too close to it's food source. These birds are actually a nuisance in my yard and I'd rather not have them around.


We had a lot of rare visitors to the Mid-Atlantic region in 2013-2014...Owls that I never thought I'd see in my lifetime but I ended up photographing 13 of them between 2013-2014 then #14 in 2016.

Wow, great shot, Duane! Yeah, the mockingbird was newsworthy here as they are in CA but rarely venture up to Oregon!

indigo buntings aren't seen around here really...but there's been one that seems to come back every year...i couldn't get a photo of him last year(may have heard him...not good with calls) but i got him this year:

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This is a good idea for a thread. Funny to see how common birds in one area ( like mockingbirds and indigo buntings are all over here ) are so uncommon in other places.

Here are a few that came into my yard

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Nice shots, Geoff! I agree - we have a lot of Oregon juncos here (hence the name, I suppose), so it's kinda boring to see one but it's nice to see someone else get excited about seeing one!

Nice jaeger shot - I saw one on a pelagic birding trip a couple of years ago, about 30 miles off the Oregon coast.

Thanks! The Oregon junco is like the 13th record in my city for one. So yeah, nice and rare. The regular slate colored ones are EVERYWHERE in the winter.

The jaeger was cool, came in mid summer and hung out for several days. This was a long tailed. I took 110 shots of it in like 30 minutes of contact haha

Wish I'd seen this thread a few minutes ago-the sandhill cranes with young I just posted in their own thread would fit in great here. Some nice shots though.

Piping Plover. Threatened and endangered.

Great shot!

Shackleton wrote in post #18033540
Wish I'd seen this thread a few minutes ago-the sandhill cranes with young I just posted in their own thread would fit in great here. Some nice shots though.

You are more than welcome to post here as well!

Like I said in the dedicated thread, between posted land and not wanting to disturb them I had to shoot a long distance from the road, but they were a thrilling find. Just got word the other night the lady who found this pair found another pair with at least one colt 45 minutes to the northwest. It's been a good year in Iowa for cranes!

This Baird's Sandpiper has just fetched up in the UK. It's a rare bird here although we get one or two every year.

Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus).

Relatively rare on the Oregon Coast. Photographed about 20 miles offshore of Newport, Oregon.

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