-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct. 31, 2025
* NYNY2510.31
– Birds Mentioned
COMMON CUCKOO+
VARIED THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
PINK-FOOTED GOOSE
Canada Goose
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
Parasitic Jaeger
Razorbill
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
BROWN PELICAN
American Bittern
WESTERN CATTLE EGRET
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Grasshopper Sparrow
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Vesper Sparrow
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
Orange-crowned Warbler
SUMMER TANAGER
DICKCISSEL
If followed by (+) please submit documentation of your report electronically and use the NYSARC online submission form found at http://www.nybirds.org/NYSARC/goodreport.htm
You can also send reports and digital image files via email to
nysarc44<at>nybirds<dot>org
If electronic submission is not possible, hardcopy reports and photos or sketches are welcome. Hardcopy documentation should be mailed to:
Gary Chapin – Secretary
NYS Avian Records Committee (NYSARC)
125 Pine Springs Drive
Ticonderoga, NY 12883
Hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert
Number: (212) 979-3070
Compiler: Tom Burke
Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
Transcriber: Gail Benson
[~BEGIN RBA TAPE~]
Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, October 31, 2025 at 11:00 pm. The highlights of today’s tape are COMMON. CUCKOO, PINK-FOOTED GOOSE, VARIED THRUSH, WESTERN KINGBIRD, BROWN PELICAN, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, WESTERN CATTLE EGRET, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, SUMMER TANAGER, DICKCISSEL and more.
The COMMON CUCKOO first noted out in Riverhead back on October 23rd, stayed roughly in the same area just east of Roanoke Avenue through Saturday, though eluding birders for quite a while, and then on Sunday it was found in the morning a little further east along Reeves Avenue but soon thereafter apparently disappeared for good.
The PINK-FOOTED GOOSE, keeping company with CANADA GEESE at the Buffalo Farm on the west side of Roanoke Avenue just south of Reeves Avenue, continued through Monday and was reported Tuesday just north of there but not since, though a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was found Tuesday at the Buffalo Farm, both of these rarer geese likely still in that area.
Last Monday a stunning adult male VARIED THRUSH was found in Prospect Park and has continued there through today. The location is near Litchfield Villa just east of Prospect Park West and 5th Street. Check with birders at the site for more specific directions.
A WESTERN KINGBIRD found at the Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay last Sunday was still present today around the fenced in farm by the arboretum.
Five BROWN PELICANS were seen off Coney Island Creek Park last Sunday but not reported subsequently.
A WESTERN CATTLE EGRET, present since Wednesday in the Cutchogue area on the North Fork, was still being seen today, usually briefly, as it flies around back fields at the Pellegrini Vineyards, following the cattle herd on the northwest side of Main Road.
Among the shorebirds, an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER visited Fort Tilden Tuesday, where 9 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were also counted, and the HUDSONIAN GODWIT was seen again Saturday and Tuesday on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.
The recent storm event did produce 5 PARASITIC JAEGERS spotted off Riis Park on Thursday, 11 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS also noted there, and a CASPIAN TERN was around Robert Moses State Park Wednesday and Thursday, while the season’s first alcids featured 2 RAZORBILLS off Smith Point County Park in Shirley on Thursday.
An AMERICAN BITTERN was spotted in Prospect Park last Saturday and again today.
RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS this week included 1 in Green-Wood Cemetery last Saturday and 1 all week at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye.
On Sunday and Monday single CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS were present at Hudson River Park in lower Manhattan and at Jones Beach West End, and a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW visited Planting Fields Arboretum Monday and Tuesday, while several VESPER SPARROWS were also locally uncovered during the week.
YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS occurred at the JFK Tobay Sanctuary Saturday, Green-Wood Cemetery Sunday, Marshlands Conservancy in Rye Sunday and Monday, and Inwood Hill Park Monday, and several ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS and DICKCISSELS were found, but the surprise was a SUMMER TANAGER seen Saturday and Tuesday in Kissena Park in Queens.
To phone in reports, call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922.
This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.
– End transcript