Birders like to share their ‘best birds’
One of the most-asked questions among birders when they are introduced is “what is your best bird?” To some of us that means the rarest bird. To others it means the prettiest bird. To others it is a bird that brings up a memory from the past.
Over the years we have had several birds that fit one or more of the requirements. Two birds that have appeared on the pages of this paper are theAnna’s hummingbird and the peregrine falcon. The peregrine has chosen to nest on the Security Mutual Building in downtown Binghamton and has delighted the non-birder as well as the birding community. This bird, once rare in our area, has become visible to anyone eager to see a rare raptor. The Anna’s hummingbird, on the other hand, is a bird that never was seen before of after its one-time visit to Binghamton’s South Side. Only because one family was willing to share this rare visitor was the Anna’s able to be seen by a great deal of people on the East Coast. Either of these two birds could be somebody’s “best bird.”
This past winter, a long-billed murrelet showed up on a local lake. Most members of the Broome Naturalists Club had never seen this bird. So a number of us piled into a car to see it. We found this bird only after a long, cold search of the lake. The bird was on the far side and we never did get a really good look. So even though this was a rate bird, nobody in our group put this bird in the “best bird” category.
One of the rarest birds in America is the whooping crane. Curing the winter months this bird can be found in a refuge in Texas. In order to see this bird at its best you must take a boat trip out into the refuge. Seeing not one but many of these magnificent birds is a sight to behold for any birder. The whooping crane is on a lot of “best bird” lists.
On one of our weed walks we came across a bird that is a hybrid between a blue-wing warbler and a golden-wing warbler. This hybrid is rarely seen and goes by the name Lawrence’s warbler. Because of its rarity and its beauty it landed on a number of “best bird” lists.
I have many “best birds” and I can give you a good reason for choosing any one of them. However, my stock answer is “my best bird is the next bird that I have not seen.”
In the recent past, a number of birds have been identified by members of the Broome Naturalists Club, such as black tern, king rail, cerulean warbler, yellow-throated vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, Baltimore oriole and cliff swallow.
If you wish to join us on our next walk, we meet at 8 a.m. Wednesdays in the Sears parking lot at the Oakdale Mall. Come and join us, you will be glad you did and perhaps you will get a “best bird.”
Birders’ Watch is provided by members of the Naturalists’ Club of Broome County. This column was written by Dan Watkins. For information on the Naturalists Club, write P.O. Box 191, Vestal, N.Y. 13850.
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