UNITY – A Farmington couple may go down in the state’s record book of rare bird finds after spotting an unusual tropical species visiting Maine last week.
Steve and Debby Muise saw and were able to photograph a crested caracara sitting at the top of a utility pole near a farm in Unity, on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at about 6:25 p.m.
“The bird took flight, and I immediately telephoned the Maine Rare Bird alert caretakers. We learned that this will be a state record of the first confirmed sighting of this species in Maine,” Steve Muise said.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “all about birds” website describes a crested caracara as: “A tropical falcon version of a vulture, it reaches the United States only in Arizona, Texas and Florida. It is a bird of open country, where it often is seen at carrion with vultures.” Crested caracara are sometimes referred to as the “Mexican eagle.”
A rare bird alert was sent out by Doug Hitchcox after Muise’s announcement as, “a Crested Caracara was photographed atop a telephone pole near Hawks Ridge Farm in Unity, at the intersection of Route 139 and Reynolds Road, on the evening of the 26th.”
Soon, other sharp eyes signing on to the rare bird alert reported seeing it on the morning of Aug. 27 before moving west on Route 139 into Benton where it only remained for a couple hours.
“I received reports that several people located and photographed the crested caracara the next morning, but it was only seen between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. between Unity and Benton. The bird has not been relocated since in Maine,” Muise said.
Hitchcox noted the “possibility of this being an escaped bird but with the increase of records in the northeast over the past few years (New Jersey and Nova Scotia come to mind), I think this has great potential to be a natural vagrant,” or a bird that is spotted outside its expected range.
“Pending acceptance by the Maine Bird Records Committee, this would represent the first occurrence of this species in Maine,” Hitchcox wrote.
Record books for the Muise-ic man!
Congratulations, Steve and Debby! An amazing sighting!!! You must have been jumping out of your socks – how did you get those pictures with all that adrenaline surging, Steve??? I have goose bumps just thinking about it!! WOW!
That must have been a thrill Steve.
Very cool! Way to go Steve and Debby!
Thanks for sharing the photos and congratulations!!!!
Sharp eyes and great pictures! Congratulations.
Congratulations!
Now that’s AWESOME!!!
Awesome! What wonderful attention to the visual world around you both. You bring joy to all of us!
WOW how cool is that… Congratulations !! Great pictures what a trip to see something like that up here in Maine..
Fantástico! Felicidades, what an eye you have. A Mexicano in Maine, who´d have thought…
That southern boarder is useless.
“Family” did you mean border, or boarder?
Two different words, two different meanings…..
TOTALLY AMAZING. WHAT LUCK…….
I’m surprised some goober didn’t try to ask it if it had a green card, threaten to shoot it, or attempt to throw it back across the border. (I tried, I couldn’t resist.)