A blue blackbird is delighting bird lovers in the USA | Biodiversity

Spotting a bluebird (Monticola solitaruis) around here is not exactly a rarity, but it is not easy either. They are generally solitary and although they are distributed from North to South of the country (it is, however, practically non-existent on the North Coast), they tend to walk along cliffs or rocks, and sightings are often made from a distance. A speciespresent in practically all of Southern Europe, in some places in North Africa and in most Asian countries, is non-existent in the United States of America, so what appears to be a photograph of one of these birds on the Oregon coast is leaving North American bird lovers in awe.

The story is told in the pages of this Tuesday’s British newspaper The Guardian and involves a musician and director of a school musical band who recently took up photography as a hobby. Far from being a bird lover, Michael Sanchez was preparing his new camera next to a waterfall in the North American state of Oregon, on the west coast of the country, at dawn, when he noticed a small bird jumping around there. The diary states that he took some photographs of the bird and thought nothing more about it, until he realized, about a week later, that it had become a star among the local community of bird lovers.

This is because Sanchez may have captured the image of a blue blackbird, whose presence in North American territory is extremely rare. In fact, according to the The Guardian, the only sighting recorded in the region had taken place in 1997, and would end up not being validated. And, for now, the regional and national groups of bird lovers, who were excited by the musician’s photographs and rushed to the area where they were taken, in search of the small bird, have also been unable to confirm its presence. The question remains whether a sighting reported four days after Sanchez took the photographs, in the San Francisco area, could be of the same bird. This time, there was no photography.

The enthusiasm of bird lovers in the region began when Michael Sanchez decided to share photos of the bird he had photographed on social media. Even though he was not interested in birds, he still recognized that this brown-breasted blue bird was different from anything he had ever seen, and thought that was a good reason to share the photographs. “I was very, very surprised to see how this moved people,” he said, quoted by the British newspaper. “It’s mind-blowing.”

The great mystery that persists is how the little blue blackbird ended up there, confirming its presence. The regional manager of two bird-watching associations, Brodie Cass Talbott, offered some hypotheses: “Maybe this individual bird has a navigation problem,” he said. He could have gotten lost and been caught in a strong air mass or hitched a ride on a ship.

What is certain is that it is delighting local bird lovers, who, when they have been surprised by the presence of very rare birds, are generally seabirds and seen far off the coast. “This is part of the reason why this has been such an important story here and why people are so excited,” said Talbott, quoted by The Guardian.

For Michael Sanchez, the current fame caused by a small bird has made him “open his eyes” to the possibilities that nature has to offer at every step. At this point, he jokes, he also confesses to being “a bird watcher”. And the next time you go out with your camera, you’ll probably pay more attention to the little creatures.