First, congratulations to Dave Rankin on such a great find. Secondly, I am surprised no one has made comment on this bird. It would as far as I can tell be a first record for New York. The photos are clearly a Gray-crowned Rosy-finch, and the timing is perfect for a vagrant of this species. Since I knew nothing about Rosy-finches vagrancy to the east, I checked it out and was surprised at what I found. Though not frequent, it certainly does occur. Here is what I've found: E-bird: 1 - McComb, Michigan 3/11/84 1 - Lucas, Ohio 2/26/86 1 - Will, Illinois 11/17/90 1 - two days Chelmford, Ontario, CAN 1/30 - 1/31/05 1 - Chippewa, Michigan 2/14/05 1 - apparently wintered: Barago, Michigan 12/17/06 12/21/06 12/30/06 3/16/07 >From state and province records: 1 - accepted report Quebec Avian Records Committee (date location I was unable to find) 1 - Gorham Maine - wintered at feeder 12/15/36 - 3/10/37 captured and banded on 3/7/37 Hopefully, there will be followup on this bird,with possible repeat sightings. If weather eventually turns bad, close watch at feeders is warranted. John Haas --
NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
