Rare Pink Bird Sighting Is Wisconsin's 1st In Nearly 180 Years

GREEN BAY, WI — A birdwatcher in Green Bay recently had the state's first sighting of a rare, pinkish bird in nearly 180 years, according to multiple reports.

Logan Lasee told Fox 11 News he spotted the distinctive-looking roseate spoonbill last week in the Ken Euers Nature Area in Green Bay.

Standing with a flock of geese, the pink bird stood out.

"This is a really large shorebird, that's typically seen in the very southern part of the United States ... So for one to come up here, it's very rare. There's actually only two records now of this bird being in the state, and the last one before this was 1845," he told the station.

According to WISN, the last time one was seen in Wisconsin was in 1845, when a dead roseate spoonbill was found in Rock County.

Once common in the southeast, the flamboyant-looking bird was virtually eliminated from the U.S. by the 1860s, and began to reappear in Texas and Florida by the early 20th Century — but are still a fairly rare sight to see. Audubon.com describes the roseate spoonbill as "gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close."

When he spotted the bird July 26, Lasee told Fox 11, "I started calling people."

The sighting has bird watchers flocking to Green Bay, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

Candy Evans said she and her husband left their home in Door County at 6:30 a.m. to go see the "mega-rarity,"calling it "just a gorgeous bird." She told Wisconsin Public Radio that the last thing bird watchers want to do is flush the bird out of its habitat or stress it out, and "most people have been very respectful of that."

James Andersen, deputy director of the city of Green Bay's parks, recreation and forestry department, told the Associated Press that visitors to the nature area have increased, adding, "The parking lot was full. It's awesome."