Members of the Grover Homestead Restoration Committee were enthused to see that the property has apparently been found inhabitable after all — by a rare species of bird that was spotted on Saturday, September 8, and several times in the days that followed.
The Crested Caracara, a bird of prey called a “tropical version of a vulture” was discovered at Grover Farm. Sightings of the bird, also known as the Mexican Eagle, are extremely rare in this part of the U.S. as its native range is in Florida, Texas, Mexico, and South America. The species has previously been spotted in western states such as South Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Colorado, and California, but on the east coast the only confirmed sightings have been in Massachusetts.
West Windsor residents including Ted Grover, who grew up at the property, observed the bird over several days. John Church of Princeton Place said the CaraCara perched on a utility pole each evening to “stoop” for prey.
Amy Davis of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and her husband were among 60 people who came from out of town to see the rare bird. She is the sightings department editor of “Birding and Winging It” at the American Birding Association. Davis says according to records, the species could have appeared only twice before in New Jersey.
“One bird was thought to be a tame bird escaped from a zoo, aviary, or falconer [in Middlesex County in 1976]. The other was seen only briefly in flight and was unaccepted as a sighting,” Davis said.
Vincent Nichnadowicz of Princeton Junction, a project manager for the state DOT, found the bird on the morning of Saturday, September 8. He alerted several birdwatching groups in the Northeast, including one that Davis belongs to. From there word of the species in West Windsor spread via the Internet and social media, and people made day trips to the Grover Farm to catch a glimpse of the Crested CaraCara.
“From what I am told, the township and former owner of the property are aware of the bird’s presence there. The man who discovered the Crested Caracara there on Saturday let them know, and I am told that there was a representative from the township on the property on Saturday allowing birdwatchers onto the property to view the bird,” Davis said.
According to the website “Jerseybirder,” the prevailing logic about why the CaraCara came to New Jersey is that it fled from its normal habitat in the South as Hurricane Isaac hit Florida and the Gulf Coast at the start of September.
Nichnadowicz, Davis, and others also observed another bird, the American Kestrel, at the farm on Saturday and Sunday, September 8 and 9. The American Kestrel is a small falcon that is found in open country and agricultural areas. It is listed as a species of special concern in New Jersey as its population has declined dramatically, likely due to habitat loss.
For more information about the Crested CaraCara species, visit: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Crested_Caracara/id
More about the kestrel’s status in New Jersey can be found at: https://www.conservewildlifenj.org/species/spotlight/kestrel/
