FITCHBURG, MASS. (WHDH) - Hundreds of bird watchers have flocked to Fitchburg to get a glimpse of a Chestnut-collared Longspur after a man spotted the rare bird on December 4, 2025.
Jon Skinner said he went to the Fitchburg Municipal Airport to look for birds, expecting to see the usual species when he spotted a small, chubby bird he had never seen before.
“I went out after it had snowed with my scope, and I was scanning the runways and I saw a bird that I didn’t recognize,” Skinner said.
The Leominster-native eventually identified the bird as the Chestnut-collared Longspur, which is common in central-western states but rare to New England.
“That’s a pretty exciting moment when that happens,” said Skinner. “You go out birding and you have an idea of what you’re expecting to see. When something like that shows up that you don’t immediatley recognize it’s like, ‘okay what is this? Now it’s game time and I have to figure out what this is.’ It’s probably something rare or you really hope it’s something rare.”
Skinner’s sighting marked the first in Worcester County. The last confirmed sighting in Massachusetts was in Eastham in 2020, and it has only been seen four other times before in the state.
Since his discovery, hundreds of people have come to the airport to try and get a glimpse of the bird, since experts say it’s easy to find.
“All it takes is driving into the parking lot, waiting for a little bit and you get to see this bird,” he said. “I’ve seen reports of people from New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, have also come to see this bird.”
Skinner believes the Longspur could have been blown off course, but said he likes to think it just decided to explore the area. He said the bird can survive in New England’s blizzard conditions.
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