'It should be in California, Arizona, or Nevada': Unique bird makes its way to Saskatoon

With many birds choosing to fly south and get out of the cold for the winter there’s one visitor that may have taken a wrong turn and he’s currently bunking in at Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation in Saskatoon.

When inside the bird rehabilitation room, you can hear the unique sound of the Costa’s hummingbird flapping its wings. That’s the bird that was discovered by a Saskatoon man when it was feeding at a bird feeder in his yard.

According to Jan Shadick, the director at Living Sky, the male bird is shrouded behind a curtain limiting stress for the tiny creature. It’s not from anywhere around here, in fact, it’s from a totally different part of the continent. It hails from a much warmer climate near the U.S.-Mexican border.

“It should be in California, Arizona, or Nevada. It should not be in Saskatchewan,” Shadick told CTV News.

The bird, which measures less than 10 centimetres was a thrilling but perplexing acquisition, according to the staff at the centre.

The creature was discovered in October, which is very late for any type of Hummingbird to stick around here, according to Shadick who says, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is common here, but not the Costa’s.

Shadick speculates that the bird, which will eventually have a prominent purple colour on its head, ventured north instead of south during the annual migration.

They expect to have the bird in their care until spring and he will be carefully guarded.

“No one gets to see him, only the couple of staff members who work here get to. We want to minimize contact with humans for all the birds in our care especially this one,” Katie Castellarin, Assistant Director at Living Sky Wildlife told CTV News.

Once the weather warms up, Castellarin expects the bird, which they are calling Costas for now, will be transported to a warmer climate.