With 2019 on the horizon, a new year of birding, listing, and exploring is about to begin. However, before leaving 2018 in the year view mirror, lets take a moment to look back at some of the coolest birds that showed up during this past year. Here are the top 5 birds of 2018 in Wisconsin.
5. Tufted Duck
Month: January
Difficulty to view: High
Starting the year off with a bang was a Tufted Duck that made an appearance in early January. Tufted Ducks have a large native range being found from Russia and Siberia all the way to Iceland and Northern Canada. Thee birds do show up on the east and west coast of the United States but rarely make their way inland. With this bird typically found in Eurasia it’s no wonder that it caused a stir in the Wisconsin birding community. The problem however, was that the bird was spending most of its time on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi River and placed itself in an inconvenient location for viewing. While it occasionally floated into Wisconsin waters and flew over the state, the time it did was sporadic at best. In fact, only 6 reports of this duck in Wisconsin made it to ebird.
4. Swallow-tailed Kite
Month: August
Difficulty to view: Low
As summer ended, one of the coolest birds to visit Wisconsin in recent years made a visit: the Swallow-tailed Kite. This particular bird was spotted west of White River Marsh in Marquette County and was nice enough to stick around long enough for almost everyone interested in seeing it to get a view. Typically found as far north as the Southeastern United States and with a range that spans well into South America, surprisingly, it isn’t unheard of for Swallow-tailed Kites to stray north. One made an appearance in Door County, Wisconsin in 2016 and some reports of this species are as far north as Canada.
3. Clark’s Nutcracker
Month: February
Difficulty to view: High
In one of the more bizarre situations in the Wisconsin birding community, a Clark’s Nutcracker was found at a private residence in the northern city of Minocqua. Native to the Western mountains of the United States and typically not straying into the Midwest, many were eager for a chance to view this bird. The problem though, was that the homeowners did not want hoards of birders and photographers descending on their house. As a result, area birders served as gatekeepers and only let a select few view the bird. The situation was irritating for many, but the bird was an interesting find nonetheless. Hopefully a more viewable member of the species is found in Wisconsin some day.
2. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Month: August
Difficulty to view: Moderate
The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is another extremely rare Eurasian visitor that is almost never found in the Midwest. It was found in Wisconsin’s Mecca for rare migrating shorebirds: Horicon Marsh. The Sandpiper was viewed by several people but locating it was a major task as it spotted on the mud flats of highway 49 where thousands of other shorebirds were also spending their time. Between heat shimmers, thousands of moving birds, and the target bird making inconsistent appearances, to many, this was the equivalent of finding a hay colored needle in a football field of hay stacks. Those that were able to find it were rewarded with adding a very rare species to their state lists.
1. Hammond’s Flycatcher
Month: December
Difficulty to view: Low
Coming in at number one in the countdown is the Hammond’s Flycatcher. Maybe it’s because it’s the most recent rare species to visit Wisconsin, or because of it’s ease to find that it ranks number one. Either way, the Hammond’s Flycatcher showed up just in time to give Wisconsin birders an early Christmas present. Found in the rolling hills of Iowa County, this bird would come and go multiple times a day seemingly at random. Much like the Swallow-tailed Kite, almost everyone who wanted to see this bird was able to cash in on the opportunity. This was Wisconsin’s first state record of the species.
