Three western vagrants winter at the Pontotoc Ridge Preserve, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma

Abstract

We observed three western vagrant species during a winter
bird count at The Oklahoma Nature Conservancy’s Pontotoc Ridge
Preserve on 28 January 2012. Participants observed a βlock of Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides), a single Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi), and at least one Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus). All three species are rare and at the limits of their distribution in south-central Oklahoma. We speculate that these species overwintered at the Preserve.