Incredibly Rare Bird Turns Up on Long Island

Bird-watchers across the country are flocking to Long Island after a common cuckoo—so rare in the US that it's been seen in the lower 48 just four times—turned up in Riverhead, New York. The bird's unexpected appearance has turned farms and golf courses into makeshift wildlife sanctuaries, with hundreds arriving by plane, ferry, and car for a chance at a "lifer" sighting, reports CBS New York. (See a video here.)

The odd thing is that the frenzy was set off not by a birder but by a golfer, notes the Riverhead News-Review. While playing at the Vineyards Golf Club, Roy William Gardner says he noticed an "unusual bird going post to post." He snapped a few photos and texted them to his nephew, Christopher Sayers, an ornithologist at UCLA. Within minutes, the cuckoo was identified, and word spread quickly through the birding world.

The cuckoo, normally residing in Europe and wintering in Africa, is believed to have perhaps been blown off course by a recent nor'easter. Though too young to sing the species' distinctive call, the bird's striking gray-and-white plumage and long tail have made it easy for visitors to spot. Locals seem fine with the influx of birders, with the News-Review counting 225 sightings in just two days last week. As Gardner put it: "If you want to go see it, you've gotta go find it."