A stray dovekie was found in the Westmann Islands south of Iceland yesterday. The bird, which is no longer found in Iceland, is thought to have blown over from Greenland during last weekend’s storm.
A resident of the Westmann Islands, off the southwest coast of Iceland, found the exhausted bird outside her house, put it in a cardboard box and took it to Kristján Egilsson of the local Natural Historic Museum.
Egilsson told Fréttabladid that it is not uncommon to find stray dovekies on the Islands, especially after bad weather. The birds are usually weak after being caught up in a storm and Egilsson was not hopeful this dovekie would make it.
Dovekies breed in Northern territories but are no longer native in Iceland, except for in Grímsey, a small island north of Iceland. They are common in Greenland.
Click here to read about more stray birds in Iceland.
