Cape Cod Bird Sightings — Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Cape Cod Weekly Wildlife Sightings is sponsored by the Bird Watchers General Store in Orleans and Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The following sightings were reported between January 14 and January 20, 2026.

A male King Eider continues among thousands of Common Eiders in North Chatham.

Birds at Mill Pond in Marstons Mills include an American Bittern, a Wilson’s Snipe, 2 Northern Pintail, 9 Green-winged Teal, a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Gray Catbird, and a Rusty Blackbird.

A Short-eared Owl and a Northern Shrike continue at Crane WMA in Falmouth.

A few winter finches were reported this week including at least 8 Red Crossbills in Brewster; single Evening Grosbeaks in Harwich, Orleans, and Truro; and 6 Redpolls in Provincetown.

Birds at Race Point in Provincetown included 2 Pacific Loons, 569 Razorbills, 12 Common Murres, 363 Black-legged Kittiwakes, a Glaucous Gull, and 52 Iceland Gulls.

Reports from Cold Brook Preserve in Harwich included at least 2 continuing Northern Shovelers, 37 Gadwall, 4 Green-winged Teal, and 2 late Tree Swallows, and 4 Field Sparrows.

Birds in Chatham included 4 Western Willets 4 Red Knots, and a Dickcissel.

Other sightings around the Cape included an Eastern Phoebe, an Orange-crowned Warbler, and a Baltimore Oriole in Mashpee; 4 Rusty Blackbirds in Sandwich; a continuing Eurasian Wigeon in Yarmouth Port and two more in Sandwich; 8 Tree Swallows at Sandy Neck in Barnstable; up to 3 Barrow’s Goldeneyes at Loop Beach in Cotuit and up to 3 more in Wellfleet Harbor; a Clapper Rail in Cotuit and another in Hyannisport; a Black-headed Gull in Hyannis; a Semipalmated Plover in Barnstable Harbor; a continuing Ovenbird in a yard in Yarmouth; single Chipping Sparrows in Cummaquid,  Harwich, and Brewster; a Baltimore Oriole in South Harwich; an Orange-crowned Warbler and 3 Saltmarsh Sparrows in Orleans; and a Thick-billed Murre and 3 Harlequin Ducks in Provincetown Harbor.

If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to [email protected].