Birders aflutter over rare blue rock thrush spotted in Oregon: Was there another?

Michael Sanchez's photos of what appears to be a rare blue rock thrush recently has made him the envy of the birding world.

It's the kind of discovery most avid birders wait their whole lives to find: Visual evidence of a species of bird never before recorded in the United States. And yet, Sanchez – who is far from an avian enthusiast – snapped the photographs entirely by happenstance while visiting an Oregon state park.

When Sanchez returned home to Vancouver, Washington and processed the images, the 41-year-old middle school band director realized it was no mere black bird that he had photographed.

Now, if Sanchez’s images are verified by local and national birding organizations, he could be credited as the first person to successfully record a blue rock thrush not only in Oregon, but anywhere in the United States.

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Why are blue rock thrush birds rare to the U.S.?

Defined by their blue and chestnut plumage, the blue rock thrush is most common throughout southern Europe, northwest Africa, Central Asia, northern China and Malaysia.

Just one possible sighting of the species has ever been reported in North America, a report of one in 1997 in British Columbia, but was ultimately rejected by the American Birding Association.

Sanchez, an amateur photographer, was photographing waterfalls at Hug Point along the coast of the North Pacific Ocean when he snapped some images of the bird on April 21.

He later posted his photos on Facebook to seek clarification on what species he had encountered, sending the birding world aflutter.

Birds such as this possible blue rock thrush that are spotted that far from their habitat are known as vagrants. Sightings of birds outside their natural wintering and breeding areas tend to attract the attention of birders, who are known to drop everything to travel to such spots to spot the birds for themselves.

"For some people, it turns into a lifestyle,” Nolan Clements, a member of the Oregon Birding Association, told the Register-Guard, a USA TODAY Network publication.

Scientists offer a range of explanations for why vagrant birds may drift so far away from their typical habitats.

In the case of Sanchez's possible thrush, the bird could accidentally have migrated in the fall down the west coast of North American instead of the east coast of Asia if it was blown off course by a storm, Brodie Cass Talbott, a senior educator at the Bird Alliance of Oregon, previously told USA TODAY. Another option is that the bird got lost at sea and then hitched a ride on a boat headed for the west coast.

What is the process to verify the bird sighting?

Sanchez told USA TODAY on Thursday that he recently wrote a report for the Oregon Bird Records Committee detailing where and when he spotted the bird.

"It was pretty thorough," Sanchez said. "I don't really know what's next, but they know I'm open to helping however I can."

If the organization confirms the sighting, the case could soon be taken up by a national birding group, such as the American Birding Association's committee, Greg Neise, a spokesman with the association, told USA TODAY.

The Oregon group's committee was organized in 1978 to "collect, review, and maintain records on rare birds found in Oregon," according to its website. The organization host regular meetings where they take up all recent reports, rather than accepting each one as they come in.

While the sighting has not yet been officially accepted, Cass Talbott previously said "all of the details have been carefully vetted by the community."

"None of us really have any doubt it will be accepted," he said.

What do we know about the sighting a few days later?

Sanchez may have just been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time when he noticed the bird on a beach within the 43-acre park on Oregon’s coast.

No other birders have been able to spot the bird since Sanchez photographed it.

But coincidentally, another blue rock thrush sighting was reported four days later, at the Farallon Islands off the San Francisco coast.

That means that Sanchez's thrush either traveled roughly 500 miles south in a matter of days, or another incredibly rare bird made a historic trip to the United States at the same time. Whether it is the same bird or a second one may never be known.

"Both are so extremely unlikely that it seems hard to know which is more likely," Cass Talbott previously said.

Sanchez has never been one for birding, but the stunning discovery and the uproar it's caused has left him delighted.

"I'm loving the chance to interact with people and talk with them about my story," Sanchez said. "This is bringing people just a little bright spot in their day and I think that's a wonderful thing."

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com