By Dan Casey
Rare and Notables – January/February 2026
See also: https://ebird.org/region/US-MT-029?yr=all
An interesting mix of out-of-season birds characterized this continuing warm, dry winter. These included scattered Spotted Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, and Western Bluebirds, as well as the continuing Anna’s Hummingbird near Creston. Reports of Williamson’s Sapsucker, Vesper Sparrow, Harlequin Duck, and Long-tailed Ducks were even more unusual. Purple Finch continued to be seen in Columbia Falls and Whitefish, but other “winter finches,” like Redpolls, White-winged Crossbills, and Pine and Evening Grosbeaks, were sparsely reported. Gull diversity increased at the beginning of February, with at least seven species reported from the Flathead County landfill, and the first Varied Thrushes were heard singing.
01/12 – Ferruginous Hawk (1) Near Polson (N. Miller) (also 01/16, 01/18)
01/14 – Western Screech-Owl (1) Lincoln Co. (Stacey K.)
01/16 – Western Bluebird (3) South of Columbia Falls (Jake B.)
01/16 – Greater White-fronted Goose (1) Charlo (Anon.)
01/17 – White-winged Crossbill (17) Lakeside (Raylene W.) (highest of 9 reports)
01/23 – Short-billed Gull (1) Somers Bay (Dan C.)
01/23 – Ferruginous Hawk (1 dark morph) Lower Valley (Paul R.) (02/01, Dan C.)
01/25 – White-crowned Sparrow (2 locations) St Ignatius (Shawn R., Raylene W.)
01/26 – Long-tailed Duck (1) Libby Dam (Elaina G.) (02/01, Eva W.)
01/28 – White-crowned Sparrow (3) Pablo NWR (Raylene W.)
01/28 – Harlequin Duck (1 female) Wayfarer’s SP (Roy M.) (still present 01/29)
01/31 – Snow Goose (1) Lake Co. (Josh C.) (02/08, Braydon L.)
01/31 – Cackling Goose (minima) (2) Polson (Dan C.)
01/31 – Long-tailed Duck (1) Polson (Josh C.) (present through 02/08)
01/31 – Ferruginous Hawk (1) Creston (Craig H.)
02/02 – Glaucous Gull (1) Flathead Co. landfill (Dan C.) (2 present 02/05 – 02/09)
02/02 – Short-billed Gull (2) Flathead Co. landfill (Dan C.) (still present 02/06)
02/02 – Lesser Black-backed Gull (1) Flathead Co. landfill (Dan C.) (through 02/11)
02/04 – Spotted Towhee (3) Wayfarer’s SP (N. Miller) (2 on 02/11, Derrick R.)
02/05 – Williamson’s Sapsucker (1) Boulder Cr. Rd (Raylene W.)
02/07 – Vesper Sparrow (1, extreme date) Mission Valley (Luis RCH)
02/08 – Yellow-headed Blackbird (1) Egan Slough (Jake B.)
What to Expect – March 2026
Barring a large shift in weather patterns, we should expect waterfowl migration to be well underway by the end of February. Time to start looking for flocks of Northern Pintails and American Wigeons, as well as the first Eurasian Wigeons. Both Tundra and Trumpeter Swans should be more widespread, as well as Redheads and Greater Scaup. The first Mountain Bluebirds, Western Meadowlarks, and both Tree and Violet-green Swallows are also likely before the next report.