The hurricanes that have ravaged parts of the United States may be responsible for the arrival in this region of some rare species of birds not often found here, a report says. A roseate spoonbill, usually at home in warmer cliomates, was spotted in the wetlands of Cumberland County recently, Philly.com reported. The bird is described as light pink with a bill shaped like a wooden spoon.
Some experts believe the spoonbill and wood storks sighted near Cape May and a white-winged tern that turned up in Pennsylvania not long ago may be only the first of several species of wildlife that may make their way to this region.
Why are these rare birds now here? They may have been driven north by weather patterns produced by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma over the past three weeks, according to the report.
The last sightings of a roseate spoonbill in New Jersey was in 2009 at the Forsythe Wildlife Refuge in Galloway Township and near the beach in Sandy Hook.
Brett Ewald, program director at the New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory, told Philly.com he began receiving reports of sightings of the roseate spoonbill last week. He said he expects seeing more birds generally found in Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and the deep South that have been displaced by the storms in this region in the coming weeks.
From NEW JERSEY REAL-TIME NEWS