A wayward visitor thousands of kilometres from home has the Nova Scotia birding community all aflutter.
A crested caracara — the official bird of Mexico — was spotted Saturday feasting on a deer carcass across the road from Lawrencetown Beach outside Halifax.
Birdwatchers have flocked to the community ever since, hoping to catch a rare sight of the red-faced raptor.
The bird is slightly smaller than an osprey, with a huge hooked bill and wingspan of more than a metre and is normally found in the southern part of American states that border Mexico.
Bird enthusiasts say it is the first time this member of the falcon family has been spotted in Nova Scotia.
And it is only the second sighting confirmed in Atlantic Canada — the first being a young bird spotted in New Brunswick about 15 years ago.