Never-Before-Seen Hawk Makes Chatham Debut For New Year

It was a first ever bird sighting on Cape Cod for the new year and local bird watchers couldn't have been more excited.

Several Chatham beach parking lots were as packed as a summer day in the first week of 2025 as birders gathered for a glimpse of a never-before-seen hawk on the shores of Massachusetts.

The recent cold weather snap and heavy winds from Canada probably helped bring this rare hawk to our area and folks aren't missing their photo opportunities.

Morris Island in Chatham was buzzing with bird activity as the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge got it's first ever visit from a Ferruginous hawk.

It was literally the first confirmed sighting of the species in Massachusetts and only the fifth recorded sighting in all of New England ever. Talk about rare.

Of course the SouthCoast had it's share of rare summer birds in 2024's warmer months, but now it's the cold snap bringing this large raptor native to the prairies of western US states and southern Canada our way.

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Birders and scientists in the area were in awe of this huge bird of prey and its over five foot wingspan.

Photographers flocked to the shoreline to try and get a good picture of what could be a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.

The sighting was a huge surprise to local experts who used the word "improbable" to describe it. Seems hawks are not long distance flyers and for a Ferruginous hawk to make it to New England is a pretty long flight.

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Though the hawk is not in any danger on the East Coast, it may have a difficult time heading back home to its usual stomping grounds.

No word on how long this rare hawk will stick around or how many more opportunities there will be to see it for yourself.