March 5, 2026
Nature Done Wright
Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs
Monday Morning Mystery 012422
I must be living under a rock, but I never heard of a Code 5 Rare Bird Alert.
Do you know what it is? What about a Code 6?
("Rare Bird Alert" is also a great song by Steve Martin.)
3 comments
-
Excellent observation! Had not thought of that. :- )
-
Therefore, the Turducken is classified as ABA Code 5.5.
-
they are American Birding Association (ABA) codes
code 5 is five or fewer records in the ABA area. (or fewer than 3 records in the past 30 years).
code 6 is like a 404 error. can’t be found. possibly/actually extinct, extirpated from the area, or all of the birds of that species are in captivity.
so if someone found a northern kiwi at the celery farm and it was confirmed to have gotten there under its own power, that would be a code 5. a dodo would be a code 6.





3 comments
Jim Wright
Excellent observation! Had not thought of that. :- )
Diane L.
Therefore, the Turducken is classified as ABA Code 5.5.
julie
they are American Birding Association (ABA) codes
code 5 is five or fewer records in the ABA area. (or fewer than 3 records in the past 30 years).
code 6 is like a 404 error. can’t be found. possibly/actually extinct, extirpated from the area, or all of the birds of that species are in captivity.
so if someone found a northern kiwi at the celery farm and it was confirmed to have gotten there under its own power, that would be a code 5. a dodo would be a code 6.