Cattle egrets or "fathers of all ticks" as they known in their home, originating in Africa, came to America in 1953, spreading to California in 1964 and were first recorded in Ketchikan in 1981, and have been sighted very rarely in other parts of Alaska over the years.
Wrangell's unusual end of October avian visitors may have hopped a few islands to the north as winter creeps in, as a pair of Cattle Egrets caused a fair stir in Petersburg last week, enticing several out of town birders to witness the sightings themselves.
The birds, regularly spotted along lawns in town for more than a week, are not a native resident to Alaska, or to the American continents, hailing originally from Africa. They arrived in Florida around 1953, hopping across the continent to California by 1964 and were first seen in southeast Alaskan in 1981, when four birds landed in Ketchikan, according to reports from the University of Alaska, which had two of the birds preserved after they perished on the island.
"The last I know of was a sighting by Steve Heinl in Ketchikan (in 1998)," said James Levison, an avid birder retired from the university who flew out from Fairbanks, discovering the presence of the egrets through a string of emails batted between avian enthusiasts.
"I like to keep a list of birds I see just in Alaska," he said. "This was a new bird for that list for sure - Cattle Egrets don't get to Alaska very often, so when they do it's a nice opportunity if you're interested in seeing birds in the state itself."
Fortunately for Levison, his visit was productive.
"All three days I was there I was able to see them," he said, laughing off his early concerns that he might have wasted a plane ticket. "Most time I saw them over on Haugen Street and the corner of Third and Fram (streets) seemed to be popular spots."
Levison's visit also came with bonuses beyond his checklist, he added. For his part, he was treated to the open-arms hospitality of Petersburg, welcomed into homes and invited to dinners during his stay as texts and calls throughout the community relayed egret locations.
"The economics of birding is something I often think is overlooked," he added. "I came on down for three days, and I spent money in Petersburg. I rented a car, got a hotel and bought food there - and I know of three friends from Anchorage that came down to see the bird; they were around for a couple of days."
Communities along strong migration paths like the fertile Stikine River, often got annual visits from fair numbers of enthusiasts, armed with binoculars and logs, he said.
Southeastern Alaska is quite a bit out of the usual habitat range for Cattle Egrets, he added, noting the birds appeared to forage off tiny insects, hefty night crawlers and the occasional large grub. "When I watched them they were feeding on the lawns and seemed to having no trouble finding lots of food."
Though he does not possess the expertise to say for certain, Levison speculated that the birds were a pair, mated for a season, citing the yellow-ish crest feathers of one and the darker legs on the other as an example of sexual dimorphism.
"I don't know enough of the molt of Cattle Egrets to tell if that's an adult bird, retaining a bit of his breeding plumage, or whether it's a younger bird that's just now beginning to molt into next year's plumage," he said. "A lot of the rarities you see in the state of Alaska in the fall are frequently juvenile birds. That's one of the fun things about birding there's so many questions."
The Audubon Society notes the egrets are very adaptable birds, diversifying from their typical diet of insects disturbed by large grazing animals to consume the eggs of other birds and scavenge garbage, depending on their situations. The birds also are regularly documented alongside roadways and airports, where they feast upon insects and small rodents disturbed by traffic.
Birding societies, some national, some local, typically keep catalogues of
member sightings and often are the only records available in Alaska, he said, noting that there was no statewide collection of historical numbers, rare and migration sightings readily available in a single, comprehensive document or website.
"It's in documents here and there and in the minds of bird enthusiasts throughout the state," Levison noted.
Reader Comments(0)