Rare red-flanked bluetail bird spotted for the first time in the eastern US: See photos

Harry Riker did not realize he was looking at an exceptionally rare bird when he spotted the gray bird with the blue tail and yellow sides outside his home.

Riker, 69, spends significant amounts of time bird watching the visitors to the feeders outside his Whiting home, located in Ocean County, New Jersey, but he did not recognize the little bird when it landed in his yard on Dec. 5. He took a photograph and tried to identify the species using a popular birding app, but said he had no luck.

"I posted on Facebook (to a local bird watching community) and I asked for help," Riker recalled.

Riker said that a group member identified the bird as a red-flanked bluetail — which are typically found in northern Europe and Asia, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Only a few confirmed reports of the bird have been made within the U.S., and all were in the western half of the country, according to Jenna Curtis, a bird expert for Cornell's eBird.org website, which documents rare birds and their distribution through public submissions, 

Since the red-flanked bluetail's appearance outside of Riker's house, the Whiting man said bird lovers have flocked to his community from across the country to catch a glimpse.

"These birders are all over the neighborhood," he said. "The neighbors seem to love it. We're all retired and we're really enjoying it… This is good excitement."

In a statement emailed to the Asbury Park Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, Curtis confirmed that Riker's photographs marked “the first-ever confirmed red-flanked bluetail in the eastern U.S.,” she said. The bird sighting as far east as New Jersey is an "unprecedented occurrence.”

"The next nearest report was a bird in Laramie, Wyoming in November 2019," Curtis said.  

What do red-flanked bluetails look like? 

The red-flanked bluetails are recognized for their colorful plumage. Males can have shimmering blue feathers, orange sides and a small white "eyebrow," according to eBird.org. Female and juvenile birds often have tan bodies with more subdued blue coloring, but still have the blue tail and orange sides.

Are red-flanked bluetails becoming more common in the US? 

Although the east Asian songbird’s breeding range has been “steadily expanding” over the past century, its presence in the eastern U.S. has stumped Cornell experts, and more than 130 other sightings from Ocean County were submitted to eBird.org since Riker spotted the bird in his backyard, Curtis said.

"They currently breed as far west as Finland and winter in China and Japan," Curtis said.

Scientists believe a small number of the birds may have migrated to the western U.S. after crossing the Bering Strait into Alaska. 

"I don’t know whether the bird in New Jersey… just kept traveling east (from the West Coast), or whether it traveled westward from Europe, perhaps carried by strong winds or a major storm," said Curtis. "I think it is unlikely that this bird arrived via shipping container."

According to the American Birding Association, it may be impossible to determine which direction the bird in Rikers’ yard came from, “as the species is a rare but increasing vagrant to western Europe with several records now in Iceland, including two earlier this fall.”

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.