NJ State Bird List Reaches 503 Species

     Four new birds visited New Jersey last year to bring the state list to 503 species.  Two of the new birds are newly recognized species, having been split from other species last year.  The four new birds to visit the Garden State last year were common swift, Vega gull, Fea’s petrel and Scopoli’s shearwater.  Here is a summary of the new birds visited.

On March, 9, 2024, a Vega gull was found at Gateway National National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, Monmouth County.   Vega gull became a new species in 2024.  It and three other new species were split from herring gull.  The other three species are American herring gull, European herring gull and Mongolian gull.  Vega gull is an Asian species.  It is very similar to American herring gull and its identification needs to be carefully scrutinized.

On May 17, 2024, a swift larger than the expected chimney swifts was noticed in Cape May.  The original spotter photographed the bird and it was soon identified as a common swift.  Common swift is an Eurasian species. Luckily for many birders, not including me, the bird stuck around and was reported throughout the day.   I became aware of the bird in the afternoon and chose not to drive the 80+ miles to look for it.  I promised myself to go for the bird if it was reported the following day.  It wasn’t.

On June 3, 2024, birders on a pelagic trip discovered not only the state’s first Fea’s petrel, but two Fea’s petrels.  The trip originated out of Brooklyn, NY but was off of Ocean County, NJ when the birds were seen.  Fea’s petrel is an eastern Atlantic breeder, but is known to show up around the Carolinas.  Now that they have been documented off New Jersey, more eyes will be looking for others that may just have gone unnoticed in the past.
Two Fea’s petrels, like this bird seen off Cape Hatteras, NC, were seen off Ocean County, NJ on June 8, 2024.  © S. Weiss
 
In July and August 2024, a couple of pelagic trips recorded the state’s first official Scopoli’s shearwaters.  Scopoli’s, until 2024, had been a subspecies of Cory’s shearwater.  The former is a distinct population that breeds in the Mediterranean.  The birds are not new to the eastern Atlantic, but are now a full, separate species.
Scopoli’s shearwater.  © S. Weiss
Scopoli’s shearwater, prior to 2024, was a subspecies of Cory’s shearwater.  The white of the underwings extending into the primaries helps separate a Scopoli’s from a Cory’s.

Fea’s petrel was not the only new bird for Ocean County in 2024.  A brown-headed nuthatch found its way to the county.  On June 8, 2024, a few birders doing a grassland breeding birds survey at the Navy Lakehurst section of the Joint Base Maguire-Dix-Lakehurst came across the tiny newcomer.  Prior to this sighting, these diminutive nuthatches had crossed the Delaware River traveling only as far as Cape May County.  A check of eBird species maps shows this to be the farthest north one of these birds has been seen along the east coast.
Brown-headed nuthatch (Florida).  © S. Weiss
Since this species first crossed over into NJ in 2005, (except for one see over the ocean off Atlantic County) none have ever wandered north of Cape May County until early last summer.  

There is plenty of appropriate habitat in the county for this little tree scaler, so hopefully there will be more sightings to come in the near future.

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