Rare Long Island sighting of lazuli bunting brings hundreds of birders flocking to Flanders home

The tube bird feeder hanging in front of Meigan Rocco’s kitchen window attracts the usual suspects to her wooded Flanders neighborhood: sparrows, finches, territorial cardinals and pesky blue jays.

But one late April morning, Rocco spotted a vibrant cerulean bird perched on the feeder. Bewildered, she snapped a photo on her cellphone and sent it to a friend, Andria McMaugh, a wildlife biologist, who identified the visitor as a lazuli bunting. The small, stocky songbird is named for the lapis lazuli gemstone and typically found on the West Coast. 

On April 21, McMaugh logged the sighting on eBird, an app that sends alerts about rare bird sightings. Within hours, hundreds of birders descended on Rocco's front yard hoping to catching a glimpse of a “once in a lifetime” species not seen in New York for 25 years. A storm is likely to blame for the bird's wayward journey, and led to the first recorded sighting on Long Island, according to Peggy Lauber, president of the North Fork Audubon Society.

“It was binoculars and camera lenses. Just a wall of people, like the paparazzi,” Rocco, 55, said. “But I didn’t mind it at all. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and my husband and I were very happy to provide that to people.” 

At first glance, McMaugh, a Tampa, Florida, resident who used to work for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as a wildlife officer, thought the lazuli was an eastern bluebird. But she homed in on its distinctive white shoulder patch and rust-colored chest.

“My old boss used to tell us, ‘If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras,’ ” McMaugh, 35, recalled. “Meaning even if you think it’s something really crazy, don’t jump to conclusions. Take a look and do your research.”

Lazuli buntings are widespread across western North America, from southern British Columbia down to Mexico, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They can be found in thickets and woodlands, foraging for seeds, fruits and insects or frequenting feeders with millet.

Experts believe the lazuli bunting veered off course during migration and stopped at Rocco’s feeder to refuel before heading home. 

“The bird probably got blown off course by a storm,” Lauber said.

She said spring is a prime time to observe songbirds. “We call it ‘May-gration.' Millions of birds are flying up because things are starting to grow and flower and bud, and the birds are in search of food.”

The last time a lazuli bunting was observed in New York was in 1998, according to the eBird sighting map. Those sightings were concentrated upstate near Genesee. Their spring migration typically lasts through May and resumes for the fall by mid-August, according to Cornell. 

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates there are about 45 million birders nationwide, and Long Island is a haven for the hobby.

According to Audubon New York, there are 27 important bird areas on Long Island. Data from eBird shows 441 species have been spotted in Suffolk County.

Rocco estimates that the lazuli, nicknamed Raul, attracted nearly 500 visitors from as far away as Buffalo, Connecticut and New Jersey between April 20 and 22.

She said it was “heartwarming” to see their reactions as Raul made frequent appearances, feeding at least once an hour from dawn to dusk. Rocco stocks her feeder with a "run of the mill" mix of sunflower seeds, millet, peanuts and corn from Agway.

“People were crying, high-fiving; they were fist-bumping, hugging,” Rocco said.

Mack Chitilescu, 30, a lawyer from Queens, said it was “an incredible sight” to tick the species off his “life list,” a form of record keeping for birders, without traveling out west.

“This one was particularly fantastic because it’s in the breeding plume, so it was really bright,” he said. “For us nerds, it’s really cool.”

The bird hasn’t returned since April 22, and McMaugh said calm, favorable wind conditions that evening probably prompted it to start its journey home.

McMaugh said the bird could have survived locally but wouldn’t have been able to breed.

“I think that instinct in most animals motivates them,” she said.

Rocco said the birders were respectful, many offering to buy her birdseed. But all she wanted in return was photos to be shared with her and donations made to the Southampton Animal Shelter.

"With the way the world is," she said, "it was really nice to see people just be kind and enjoy a moment in nature."