Tropical bird got lost in Maine

‘Hey Bird Brain Can't You Read A Map?’ Tropical Gallinules Blown Off Course Into Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts

A flock of birds that usually live in South America ended up farther north than they wanted - in chilly New England.

One of the purple gallinules, which are warm-weather birds native to tropical wetlands, was found in Houlton, Maine.

The lost bird was given to Maine wildlife rehabilitationists to warm it up and help keep it out of the cold weather.

A New Bedford, Massachusetts resident, meanwhile, found a purple gallinule in her backyard, exhausted after battling high winds.

She called the New England Wildlife Center, and the organization took the bird in.

The Wildlife Center attributes the bird’s presence in frigid northern New England to a recent strong storm, saying that shifting pressure systems and accompanying storms can push purple gallinules off course.

The little bird that got blown as far as Houlton - a mile from the Canadian border - was found freezing, almost hypothermic.

Maine Wildlife Rehabilitation staffers, who took in the tired little Houlton refugee on a referral from the Houlton Humane Society, was initially concerned about the possibility of severe frostbite.

But they only discovered a minor injury to the bird’s foot and “mild corneal ulceration,” the organization said in a Facebook post.

Houlton’s unexpected visitor is now rehabbing at Avian Haven in Freedom, Maine.

Wildlife rescuers are planning to transport that bird down to Florida alongside another purple gallinule that was found in Vermont recently, according to the Maine rehab group.

“We may be seeing increased numbers of individuals far outside of what we previously believed their range to be,” the organization said. “Though they dispersed this far north naturally, this species is not at all well adapted for the cold and would not survive long in Maine’s winter conditions.”

Purple gallinules have been found far outside their normal habitats, in places like Iceland, Switzerland, and the Galápagos, according to Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology.

Their year-round range covers most of South America, the Caribbean islands, and a large portion of Florida.