One of the rarest songbirds in North America is currently gracing Central Park, sending devoted birders into paroxysms of excitement. A Kirtland's warbler, one of 5,000 in the United States, was spotted on Friday afternoon by Kevin Topping. That sent birders into high alert, converging near West Drive and West 90th Street to document the endangered bird.

KIRTLAND’S WARBLER on the west side of the Central Park Reservoir in New York county, NEW YORK#ABArare pic.twitter.com/fLAQJn9CZl — ABA Rare Bird Alert (@ABABirdAlert) May 11, 2018

Ed Gaillard wrote on his blog, "I got there at 6:25 [p.m.], and there were 80+ people already there watching it. The warbler was in an oak between the West Drive and the bridal path, and cyclists and runners stopped and asked what the heck we were looking at, so we told them about Kirtland's, the migration, the whole saga of the conservation of this extremely endangered little bird."

Sharing my favorite 4 photos of the Kirtland’s warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii) in @CentralParkNYC 05/12/2018. In spite of being a super mega rarity in New York, it was one of the most cooperative warblers I’ve ever photographed, dropping down to eye level several times. #birdcp pic.twitter.com/ZEBwWDYiYq — Bruno Boni Oliveira (@brunoboni) May 14, 2018

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the Kirtland's warbler is usually found in northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada before migrating to the Bahamas. This NYC sighting of the Kirtland's warbler is apparently only the fourth time it's been seen in New York State.

Almost inconceivably rare KIRTLAND'S WARBLER in @CentralParkNYC yesterday and this morning -- hundreds of birders attending #WorldMigratoryBirdDay pic.twitter.com/xEwvVeG3ao — David J. Ringer 🦆🦃🕊️🐧🦅🦉🐦 (@RealDJRinger) May 12, 2018

Birder Phil Jeffrey told A Walk In The Park, "It’s an extremely rare bird for NYC although just short of a national rarity, as the breeding population has rebounded after conservation efforts... It’s in the once-per-Century level for the park and I would suspect few records in NY State, That’s what generates the attention. Many other park 'rare' warblers have much larger populations, are more-or-less annual but in very low numbers. Kirkland’s is off the scale by comparison."

The Audubon published this look at the Kirtland's Warbler's migration, "The information that the tagged Kirtland’s Warblers should provide comes just in time, as the species, despite its robust recovery, could be reaching a climatological tipping point. Climate models suggest the Caribbean region, one of the most important songbird wintering areas on Earth, will continue to dry out as the planet warms."



Photograph the Kirtland's warbler, taken around 6:30 p.m. on May 11, by Ursula Mitra

And the Kirtland's warbler is still here:

KIRTLAND'S WARBLER continues, being seen by many near 91st and West Drive on the bridle path in Central Park #abarare #birdcp @ABABirdAlert — David Barrett (@FastMiler) May 13, 2018

If you want to follow the bird action in Central Park, the #birdcp hashtag is popping!

