PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) — A rare hawk from Peru was spotted far from home and appears to have taken up residence in Maine.
According to the Maine Audubon Society and the city of Portland, a great black hawk was spotted in Deering Oaks Park in Portland on Thursday. The Maine Audubon Society says it is the same bird that was seen in Biddeford on August 9, and later in Portland on October 29.
According to the Audubon, the reemergence of the bird after more than 80 days "is simply amazing."
While they say they have no way of knowing where the bird has been or where it might be heading, they are alerting Mainers in the southern part of the state to be on the lookout.
Doug Hitchcox is the naturalist for the Audubon Society and says they got dozens of calls after the first sighting this summer, but most were false. Hitchcox said birdwatchers should look for very long legs that the hawk has.
In early 2018, a great black hawk was photographed in Texas and was potentially the first record of the bird being in the U.S. which could make the Maine sightings only the species' second appearance in the nation.
Birdwatchers descended on Deering Oaks Park on Thursday in an effort to catch a rare glimpse of the hawk. The bird usually ranges from Mexico through Central America to Peru and as far south as northern Argentina. The hawk apparently resembles the common black hawk but is larger and has a different call and tail pattern.