Northern Wheater

According to an article in “Birders Digest” an ornithologist visiting Louisiana giving a program to the Louisiana Ornithologist Society,   his hosts took him out birding.  This particular birding event was memorable because of  seeing a northern wheateater.   What was unusual was that this migrant is extremely rare in the U.S.  The wheateaters  are small thrushes that live on the ground in open country.  Europe ,  Asia and Africa is where about  two dozen species of these thrushes live in the warmer climates of these  continents.  Moat are non-migratory but the northern wheateater is one of the more remarkable migrants in the world.  The northern wheateater usually ranges further north than is any other of the thrushes.  They will live in the Arctic regions of the new and old world.  While migrating,  most  retrace their paths to through Europe and Asia to winter sub Sahara Africa.  So to find a wheateater in Louisiana is really lost since it is two continents and an ocean away from its normal range for this time of the year.  Written by Jack Kidd.

Northern Wheateater

Northern Wheateater