Non-native species are in the news this week.

Secondhand information through Lanny McDowell is that a flock of seven or eight long-tailed parakeet types visited some caged parrots on a hillside between the Allen Farm and the Keith Farm in Chilmark. We do not have any confirmation of this sighting and do not know what species they are, but monk parakeets are perhaps the most likely possibility. This species has established colonies throughout eastern North America, and both Page Rogers and Donna Davey report that there are a lot of them in nearby eastern Connecticut. There are no confirmed records for this species on the Island, so keep an eye out for these birds; it would be nice to confirm their presence!

An introduced species, the ring-necked pheasant, used to be common but now is quite scarce. Morgan Hodgson found a flock of ring-necked pheasants along East Pasture Shores Road in Aquinnah on Oct. 5, while Jan Orosz observed two at Lobsterville on Oct. 8, while Nancy and Ron Slate have observed them in Lobsterville and on the nearby Clay Pit Road, and Bob Shriber has been finding them all over Aquinnah.

This non-migratory species has been virtually absent all year, and then suddenly it appears in abundance; these new arrivals are farm-raised birds that were recently released just before the hunting season begins on Oct. 18. Over the past 15 years, Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife has released an average of 8,000 pheasants in southeastern Massachusetts. As Warren Gossen points out, there are small numbers of “wild” pheasants scattered around the Island, as they can be seen in small numbers year round in Katama, on Chappaquiddick, near Farm Neck in Oak Bluffs, and elsewhere. Matt Pelikan points out that we can not determine whether these ”wild” birds are offspring of breeding pheasants or whether they are individuals that were stocked but somehow managed to survive previous hunting seasons and winters.

The hunting season for bob-white quail also starts on Oct. 18, and this now uncommon native species could also benefit from releases of farm-raised birds.

And speaking of non-native species, an unusual house sparrow has been hanging out at a feeder in Vineyard Haven. Its upper mandible is at least two times longer than its lower mandible. From the photograph the bird looks healthy, so I do not think the sparrow is having a hard time eating with this deformed bill.

Bird Sightings

Katherine Scott was out kayaking on Sept. 28 and found two oystercatchers in the salt marsh near Maciel Marine. They were hanging out there and did not fly away. On the morning of Oct. 3, she observed a flock of cedar waxwings on the dead branches of a cedar near Lagoon Pond Road, when they left a flicker arrived, and then it moved on to another cedar tree and started to eat some cedar berries. Later that day she observed seven crows lined up along edge of the bed of a pickup truck, with two more perched on the cab. Question: what was in the bed of the truck that got them to perch there?

On Sunday, Oct. 5, Bob Shriber, Ken Magnuson and Mark Foster found indigo bunting, solitary vireo, swamp sparrow and yellow-rumped warbler at the Cliffs.

Kim Leonardo observed about 50 sanderlings soaking up the sun on one of the jetties at State Beach on Oct. 8. Some of them were perched on one leg. Believe it or not, they pull their second leg up into their belly feathers to relax, and they even sleep in this position while their beak is tucked into their back feathers. Go ahead, try to do that!

On Oct. 9, at the Cliffs , Bob Shriber, Mark Foster and Allan Keith spotted parula, Cape May, palm, and loads of yellow-rumped warblers, bobolinks, sharp shinned hawk, and red-breasted nuthatches.

October 10 was a busy day for birding! Lanny McDowell found blackpoll, palm warbler, yellow-rumped warblers and chipping sparrows. Pete Gilmore observed his first hermit thrush of the fall at the east end of Hopps Farm Road in West Tisbury. Jeff Bernier photographed a peregrine falcon flying high over Little Beach, but also observed one golden plover, large numbers of black-bellied plovers (both species were still present on Oct. 12), more than 40 greater yellowlegs, two dunlin and a short-billed dowitcher. Lanny McDoqwell found a ruddy turnstone in that same flock. And Ken Magnuson found a blue-headed vireo (formerly called a solitary vireo), palm warbler, and a male black-throated blue warbler at the Edgartown Golf Club the same day; the latter is a nice find for a warbler in the fall since they retain their colorful slate blue, black and white plumage through out the year.

In a recent column I pointed out that migration is stopped by rainy or otherwise bad weather. That, however, does not mean that we cannot find migrants in the rain! On Oct. 11, in the steady rain, my guided birding tour found a flock of 10 American wigeons at the Head of the Lagoon, a first for the fall season. These wigeon will most likely be present through the winter; they might be near the shellfish hatchery or across the pond near Sailing Camp Park if they are not at the Head of the Lagoon. There also were the usual mute swans, double-crested cormorants and herring gulls. We later observed two flocks of dark-eyed juncos, one a the Head of the Lagoon and another at Crystal Lake, where they were in an unusual place, perched on the telephone wires. Oystercatchers, laughing gulls, black-bellied plovers, cormorants, and sanderling were observed at both Sarson’s Island and Eel Pond. And four great egrets were in the marshes at the Edgartown end of State Beach.

A lot of birders were at Gay Head Cliffs in Aquinnah early in the morning of Oct. 12, including Ken Magnuson, Lanny McDowell, Pete Gilmour, Bob Shriber and Rob Bierregaard. Birds were even more abundant and their highlights include lots of pine siskins, lots of accipiters, blue-headed vireo, clay-colored sparrow, Lincoln’s sparrow, indigo buntings, purple finches and ruby-crowned kinglets. October 13 was also a busy morning at Aquinnah, with Bob Shriber and Mark Foster’s best bird being an orange-crowned warbler. There were also both sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks; while on the water they found northern gannets and all three species of scoters (white-winged, surf and black).

Hatsy Potter observed a phoebe at Pimpneymouse Farm on Chappaquiddick. And Bob and Edo Potter report an influx of red-breasted nuthatches at their feeder, a species which they had not observed for a few years.

Bob Shriber and Ken Magnuson found American pipits and a field sparrow at Katama on Oct. 13, and a palm warbler was observed at the Edgartown Golf Club. That day Warren Woessner, Pete Gilmore and Lanny McDowell visited Thimble Farm and found bluebirds, phoebe, flicker and four species of sparrows: Lincoln’s, swamp, song and savannah.

And, last but not least, I was birding along the entrance road into the airport on the evening of Oct. 13, and found a mixed species flock of chickadees, chipping sparrows, robins and eastern bluebirds. This may be the same flock of birds that is present in this area every winter.

There are lots of birds around, so please get out looking for them, and be sure to report your bird sightings to birds@mvgazette.com.

Robert Culbert leads guided birding tours and is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.