Little bird lost? New Jersey

[Donna]

 PALMYRA - A little bird is causing quite a stir at the Palmyra Nature Cove.

Maybe it's the fact that the last spotted towhee was seen in New Jersey about 25 years ago.

Or maybe it's the mystery of how this normally nonmigratory sparrow, which typically lives out West and is rarely seen this side of the Mississippi River, even got here and what it plans to do next.

"It's exciting for us and for birders," said Clara Ruvola, executive director of the cove, which is owned and operated by the Burlington County Bridge Commission.

While the spotted towhee - there's some debate over whether it's a female or an immature male - is no doubt far from home, it has become something of a celebrity with birders, or bird watchers, who are flocking to the cove to catch a glimpse.

"It's definitely a rare sighting on the East Coast," said Ruvola, who made the bird's presence known to her bosses at the bridge commissioners' recent meeting. "It's outside of its normal range."

Make that way outside.

The spotted towhee is found in the Midwest and Southwest. Think Albuquerque, Phoenix and San Francisco.

Stranger still is that the bird usually doesn't leave its nest, so to speak. While some spotted towhees are nonmigratory, others do travel for the winter, said Kristina Merola, a naturalist at the cove.

"It's usually a north-to-south migration, not usually this far east. We don't usually see them cross the Mississippi River," Merola said.

"She should be staying home," Ruvola said with a laugh.

Sometimes a girl just needs to spread her wings, right? Maybe, but Merola thinks this spotted towhee is very young and may have gotten caught in one of the large storm systems earlier this year.

"We do get rarities in New Jersey from time to time," she said. "They get blown off track and kind of lose their way."

Even before the spotted towhee landed in Palmyra in late November, the nature cove was a popular place for birders because of its location along the mid-Atlantic migratory flyway.

"Birders can see a lot of different birds in their comings and goings when the birds make their way through here in the spring and fall. Something like this rare sighting brings even more recognition to the park," Ruvola said.

In fact, birders have been chirping about it and sharing their photographs on the Internet since the fall. For many, it's a chance to add to their life-sighting list, which marks the first time a birder sees a species in its habitat, Ruvola said.

Since the towhee's arrival, it has found some feathered friends among the cove's population of eastern towhees, which are resident nonmigratory birds at the 250-acre park on the Delaware River just south of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.

The New Jersey Audubon Society has identified more than 250 species at the park, which is an important feeding site for migratory birds, officials said.

So will the lost little sparrow find its way home?

"It may stay if it doesn't realize it's off course - and we have plenty of food," Merola said. "It has no reason to leave."