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ring ouzel (1 Viewer)

cmw

Member
I'm in New Jersey and two days running saw a black bird with an orangish bill and a white neck ring. I can find nothing in the USA books similar, but the photo of a ring ouzel looks just like it. Problem, that's a UK bird. Has anyone heard of them migrating due to warmer weather in UK? Has anyone seen one in North America? Thanks.
 
According to this checklist, http://www.bcpl.net/~tross/nabirds.html, Ring Ouzel has never occurred in North America. Nothing's impossible, of course, but that and the distribution and migratory habits of Ring Ouzel in Europe make it very, very unlikely to be a Ring Ouzel.

Can you describe your sighting in any more detail - both the bird and it's behaviour and the immediate and surrounding location and habitat?

Graham
 
The habitat is a very small lake in a state that's usually hot, but this year is chilly. Part of the lake is open grass. There are some areas with trees, but more large clumps of bushes. I was focused on a family of Egyptian Geese and the sighting was very casual, but two days running it flew past me. It had an orangish bill, white neck ring, otherwise black. The bill color is distinctive.
 
Doesn't sound like great habitat for ring ouzel - ideal locations are uncultivated upland slopes and gulleys with scree, very few trees, some areas of short grass and usually fast-running water nearby. On passage they can be found in other habitats, though usually uncultivated and often having some of the features above, horse paddocks are popular.

One thing you would normally notice in flight is that a Ring Ouzel has pale wings that can appear almost white. The bill is rarely a stand-out feature, certainly not to the extent it shows on a European Blackbird. And Ring Ouzel will normally give a chack-chack-chack alarm call as it flies if disturbed.

Any chance of getting a photo to clear up the mystery - or failing that a sketch or notes on the perched bird?

Graham
 
I'm going to park myself at the lake with camera (a sure sign it won't appear). But the little lake is fed by an area like you describe with a small but rapid river.

Thanks for your help.
 
does the ring completely circle around the neck? in ring ouzels its just like a moon crescent on their breast. I dont know of any US bird that could resemble a ring ouzel?
 
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