Speculation Alert
I can not find an authoritative source so I’m speculating that Georgia hosts an unusually large number of avian vagrants – birds outside their ‘normal’ ranges – each year and the number is increasing.
Though not fully researched, at least by me, I don’t think this is unfounded speculation. How about y’all? Seeing more avian vagrants in Georgia or your home state, country?
I discussed some of the commonly given reasons why birds become vagrants in this July 29, 2021 post: VAGRANCY IS NOT ALWAYS BAD. One prominent one is birds getting pushed off course by a storm. This previous post is specifically about Scissor-tailed Flycatchers who’s normal range, like Couch’s Kingbirds, is also primarily Texas into Mexico, but are reported in east-central Georgia on an almost annual basis. Coincidence?
Accidents or Trend?
Perhaps, but there is also the fact that most storm producing fronts in the continental U.S. move west to east. This is why Georgia is on the east-end of Tornado Alley. As discussed in VAGRANCY IS NOT ALWAYS BAD, most storm driven birds quickly return home unless they find suitable habitat. If this new habitat is relatively competition low, that is, the natives don’t pose a major competitive threat for food, that’s a bonus. This seems to be the case in Georgia.
Another Impact of Climate Change?
As reported by researchers, this point about changing habitat is becoming increasingly relevant to migratory and resident bird interactions and dispersal : Migratory behavior and winter geography drive differential range shifts of eastern birds in response to recent climate change.
Speculatively on my part, this change in temperature range is, perhaps, relevant to Georgia’s increasing popularity with avian vagrants. Even more speculative, a personal idea that these vagrants may be first on the scene for colonization, as average temperatures increase, especially above Georgia’s Fall Line. Maybe these vagrants, especially the insectivores such as flycatchers and Swallow-tailed Kites (ANNUAL GATHERING OF THE KITES), are finding increasing populations of insects not killed off by long winter cold spells. (By the way, it’s not just insects, snake bites in Georgia are increasing as the number of cold days is decreasing).
Perhaps in the future, more ‘immigrant’ residents will be successfully ‘sallying’ for insects over Georgia skies. And hopefully not at the expense of our residents.
Lucky us! Another spectacular creature coming to visit!