| General Comments |
Accidental. This globally uncommon and range-restricted species breeds in the Northern Great Plains and winters in the south-central states, mainly in TX and into Mexico. There are only three records accepted by the NC BRC, though there are perhaps double that many reported in the literature. Of the accepted records, one was seen at Round Bald, Roan Mountain (Mitchell) on 27 Oct 1991 [Chat 56:53 link], [Chat 56:90 link]. Another was found at Cape Hatteras Point (Dare) on 28 Oct 2001, and was photographed and seen by many birders until 18 Nov [Chat 66:4 link], [Chat 66:75 link]. Lastly, and remarkably, one was photographed on a ship about 40 miles off the coast of Currituck on the late date of 2 Jun 2009 [Chat 73:163 link], [Chat 74:1 link]. Great care should be taken in identifying (and documenting any report of) this species, considering how similar it is to other pipits (and not just the American Pipit) and even to some sparrows and female longspurs. |
