Connecticut Audubon Society names Birds of the Year for 2018

1. The Roseate Spoonbill The native of the sub-tropics, first appeared in Stratford on September 15. Word spread and soon people from around the region were gathering to see and photograph it. Source: Connecticut Audubon Society

less 1. The Roseate Spoonbill The native of the sub-tropics, first appeared in Stratford on September 15. Word spread and soon people from around the region were gathering to see and photograph it. Source: ... more Photo: Lesley Roy Photo: Lesley Roy Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Connecticut Audubon Society names Birds of the Year for 2018 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

The Connecticut Audubon Society has named the rare Roseate Spoonbill in Connecticut in September the 2018 Bird of the Year.

>>Click through the slideshow to see all 8 Birds of the Year. Visit Connecticut Audubon's site for more information.

The pink bird (that gets its hue from eating small crustaceans like shrimp) is usually found in the marshes of South America, along the coast of Central America and in the southern United States–not in the northeast.

But this summer one was spotted living in Maine for a couple weeks, and one birder claimed it was the same one seen this week near the mouth of the Housatonic River in Stratford on Sept. 14 and then in the marsh at Connecticut Audubon's Milford Point Coastal Center on Sept. 19.

Word spread and soon people from around the region were gathering to see and photograph it. "For three weeks the spoonbill shuttled between several locations in Stratford and Connecticut Audubon's Coastal Center at Milford Point, where it fed on the lip of the beach with other wading birds," according to a release.

"Because of its amazing color, its habit of roosting and feeding in the open for all to see, and its undeniable appeal – in addition to drawing big crowds, it caught the attention of NatGeo and Audubon Magazine – the Roseate Spoonbill is Connecticut's 2018 Bird of the Year."

The bird was first identified by Paul Raccuia, who spotted it in Stratford and notified the Connecticut Audubon Society.

"[They] will occasionally travel up the Atlantic Coast as far as southern New Jersey, but seeing a Spoonbill in Connecticut and Maine (where it was also recently recorded as a state record) was unheard of before this summer," according to a release from the Connecticut Audubon Society.

"This year for some unknown reason there seems to be more of them moving north than usual–although I don't know how many. It might be related to some poor feeding conditions in their normal range," Andersen said.

The number two birds on the sist are actually "more significant ornithologically," according to the Connecticuut Audubon. The Sedge Wrens that nested in a field at Connecticut Audubon's Bafflin Sanctuary in Pomfret successfully nested in July and were raising young, in a field near a marsh along Day Road. And as with the Spoonbill, the crowds soon arrived.