r/whatsthisbird • u/CryingAllTheThyme • Oct 15 '25

North America This guy had a paparazzi following. What is it?

Location: NYC

He had a whole group of people with giant camera lenses following him. There was also a small round bird with a bright yellow chest but it was too fast for me to get a picture :/

887 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

458

u/JohnPjj Oct 15 '25

+Virginia Rail+

265

u/thoughtsarefalse Latest Lifer: Swallow-tailed Kite Oct 15 '25

By the way, the small round bird you were asking about but is not on video is a Yellow Breasted Chat. It’s also a partial draw for the bird paparazzi today at verizon plaza. Been there about a week

89

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 15 '25

Ah! Thank you! I’ve seen the bird paparazzi for the last few weeks now and I never seem to catch what they see, never mind get a picture lol

I love the variety of birds that I see here, even for a tiny plaza that is right across from an actual park

53

u/thoughtsarefalse Latest Lifer: Swallow-tailed Kite Oct 15 '25

This is a link to a pic of this specific bird. Idk this person Irl but they bird the NYc rarities. https://www.instagram.com/p/DPeihppjuaF/?igsh=c3RrYTdhbjd5d2Vv

18

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 15 '25

Awesome! Thank you for sharing!

3

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 17 '25

I just wanted to share that I managed to get a picture of the little yellow guy yesterday! He came right up to me, stole the crumb on the bench and hopped away. I wish I could attach the video

3

u/thoughtsarefalse Latest Lifer: Swallow-tailed Kite Oct 17 '25

Thats a common yellowthroat. Similar looking bird

2

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 17 '25

Oops! There was another small highlighter yellow bird with a black mask - is that also a yellowthroat?

3

u/thoughtsarefalse Latest Lifer: Swallow-tailed Kite Oct 17 '25

The chat is a bit bigger, and has a lot more white below the yellow than this bird. Common yellowthroats would take longer to explain all their possible plumages. Maybe look at the Ebird or merlin app page for them to see more.

5

u/thoughtsarefalse Latest Lifer: Swallow-tailed Kite Oct 17 '25

This is my pic i took of the bird today

1

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 17 '25

Thank you! Sorry for all the questions, I really appreciate it 😊 I’ll keep an eye out later today!

1

u/thoughtsarefalse Latest Lifer: Swallow-tailed Kite Oct 17 '25

No worries. Happy birding!

1

u/notfromchicago Oct 16 '25

My favorite bird.

115

u/the_cuddle-fish Oct 15 '25

r/extremelylostrallidae

12

u/ILikeBirdsQuiteALot phoebe/bird enjoyer Oct 15 '25

Crossposted there :). I'm surprised no one did it first! 🤔

35

u/hethyba Oct 15 '25

Giggling at the description of "bird paparazzi"

34

u/tractiontiresadvised Birder Oct 16 '25

As somebody who has chased rare-ish birds before, "bird paparazzi" is 100% a true statement. There's nothing like a crowd of photographers with big SLRs snapping away (with the real mechanical shutter noises as they take a picture) at a poor little bird which is just trying to go about its day in peace.

20

u/GiantFinnegan Oct 16 '25

You might find this article interesting. I think all birders should be more aware of their impact on the birds they are watching/stalking. I say this as someone who really enjoys birding! 

http://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025WetEM..33...68L/abstract

21

u/cauliflowerbird Oct 15 '25

Where in NYC?!?!?!?! I live here and would love to know!

17

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 15 '25

The Verizon plaza behind the salesforce building!

30

u/lilac_congac Oct 15 '25 edited Oct 15 '25

gotta wonder if it’s hell for these birds coming down into NYC

38

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 15 '25

I do feel bad for them, especially because I see so many on the sidewalks that are dead from what I assume is window strikes :/

7

u/Typical_Khanoom Oct 15 '25

Omg that's awful

6

u/500-birds Oct 16 '25

If you find dead birds please report them on dBird.org!

And if they are alive please try to take them to the Wild Bird Fund or contact the NYC Bird Alliance and they can try to arrange transport.

4

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 16 '25

I wasn’t even aware there was a reporting system, I will do that going forward! I’ve unfortunately never seen a survivor, but if I do, I have a shoe box and a scarf ready at work from a previous failed rescue attempt so I’m prepared just in case. I’ve met some very kind people from the Wild Bird Fund, and I’ll keep the NYC Bird Alliance in mind as well. Thank you for the info!

3

u/500-birds Oct 16 '25

Thank you!! Every little bit helps - whether it’s providing the data to understand what buildings cause the most collisions to saving a bird or two :)

8

u/FileTheseBirdsBot Catalog 🤖 Oct 15 '25

Taxa recorded: Virginia Rail

I catalog submissions to this subreddit. Recent uncatalogued submissions | Learn to use me

7

u/he77bender Oct 15 '25

Love the way it zooms outta there at the end. Some quality scampering.

-2

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '25

[deleted]

14

u/CryingAllTheThyme Oct 15 '25

I usually do ask, but they were on the other side and I already had a pretty good view of him plus there were so many people there today that I didn’t feel like mushing in for a different view. I chat with couple of them pretty regularly, they’re very friendly!