When Melissa Whitmire got an e-mail from Carolina Bird Club saying that a rare Scott’s Oriole was frequenting a bird feeder in a Conover backyard, she had to see it.  She plugged the address into Google Maps and drove the one and a half hours to Becky Duggan’s home to see the bird that is supposed to be spending its winter in Mexico or Central America.

As luck would have it, she got out of the car and looked into the back yard and there it was.

“It was like instant gratification,” she said.  “You drive an hour and a half and five minutes later you see the bird.”

More than 50 other bird enthusiasts have flocked to the Duggan residence at 4095 Principal Circle in Conover from Johnson City, Tenn., to Sunset Beach and everywhere in between.  They all agreed it’s an immature male Scott’s Oriole that has been coming to the same feeder regularly every half hour to an hour and a half.

Scott’s Orioles are typically seen from west Texas to southern California during the summer months, however they are most common in Arizona and New Mexico.

“This is the first state record (of sighting one),” said Catawba County Park Ranger Dwayne Martin, an amateur bird watcher.  “There are only five records of this bird east of the Mississippi (River).”

At this time of year, he said it would be rare to see it even in Arizona.

Duggan, who owns Wild Birds Unlimited in Hickory, first noticed the bird on Monday and contacted Martin when she realized it wasn’t a species of bird she had seen before.  From the way she described it with a black head, Martin suspected it might be a Scott’s Oriole and came to the house to make a positive identification.

“It’s odd that this bird is in the United States, period,” Martin said.

In fact, he said it’s rare to see any type of oriole in North Carolina.  Martin said the only kind of oriole that comes to the state is usually the Orchard Oriole that has been seen during the summer months.

Martin said experts believe the bird is a second year bird likely hatched in the summer of 2006. As a young bird, its head has not turned completely black and it retains a lot of gray.  The dull yellow stripe on its wings is also not a vibrant yellow like an adult male.

Younger birds are more likely to fly off course, Martin said. “I guess it took a wrong turn in Albuquerque,” Martin joked.

In Duggan’s backyard, the bird has found many of its favorite treats in the winter mix birdseed she put in her feeders with cranberries and seeds.  Martin said orioles tend to eat a lot of fruit and bugs.  The family has since added oranges to the feeder to attract the bird.

Martin said he and the bird watchers agree, the Scott’s Oriole will likely be around for awhile, though he said it’s unlikely the bird will return again in the future as it gets older and becomes a better navigator.

Ironically, another oriole was spotted in Union Square in New York City this week, which Martin said was an equally rare sighting.

For Whitmire, the trip was well worth it.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “I got to see a bird that I’ve never seen before and may never see again.”

More pictures of the bird are available at www.carolinabirdclub.org in the photo gallery section.