Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2023

My significant other at the time- Deb (not a birder, who is now my wife) was with me and she also spotted it.

I cannot recall the weather conditions but I do remember that it wasn't raining.

Zeiss Victory 8x42 FL T*

I had never seen this species before that day.

It was in Dead Creek and the only other species that I can recall was an Osprey. Shallow water and riparian woods all around.

In flight it flapped with a lot of effort to become airborne. I remember being amazed at how big the bird was. I also remember watching it until it flew out of sight.

I did not hear vocalizations.

I/we saw the bird come off the water (probably spooked by us) and then fly quartering away from me/us. It was a very large bird with a huge wing span. The hindwing was black (I now know that the primaries and secondaries were all black). It also showed a neck that was set in an ess curve. I remember Deb asking me, "What kind of bird do you think it is?". I replied, "Well the neck has an ess shape like a Great Blue Heron but it's not one of those". Then I said, "I think it's a pelican". It had a large and long yellowish/orangish bill & orangish/yellowish feet & legs. I then pulled out my Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (which I carried in my front right pocket of my jeans during my entire first year of birding (2007)). I flipped to the pelican page and saw that this bird was indeed a pelican- an American White Pelican. I had no idea at the time that it was considered a rare bird in VT.

Large, heavy body, long bill, short white tail. It must have had short legs because I don't remember seeing them sticking out on the tail end of the bird while in flight. Huge wing span.

Head was good sized and white.

Feet seemed short and were orangish/yellowish colored.

Upper back was white.

Lower back and rump were also white.

Wings were long- forewing white, hindwing black.

The breast, belly, flanks & undertail coverts (I didn't know what each of these was then but I do now) were all white.

The tail was very short and white.

At the time I wouldn't have known other species to compare it to. Now, I would say that a Wood Stork would be the one closest to this species to rule out. The wing colors are similar but a Wood Stork has long, thin and dark legs that stick out well beyond the tail tip. The bill, head and neck are dark gray/blackish and the tail is also black. It's also not nearly as stocky as an American White Pelican.

It was definitely an adult bird because of its' mostly all white overall coloration.