Bird watchers live for unusual sightings—defined as a bird species that is not often seen in that place at any time or year, or if it is seen at an unusual time of year, or if it is a species at risk.

On Pelee Island, spring birders gather along the swamp edge north of Fish Point, hoping for a glimpse of a Protonotary warbler, and wander the woods at the northwest tip of the island, listening for the elusive and rare Yellow-breasted chat.

Sometimes the sightings are so unusual they draw crowds of twitchers from the mainland. A female Blue grosbeak appeared on a side road one spring, hundreds of kilometres north of its usual northern limit near the border of Ohio and Kentucky. Another year, a Great tit, a resident of the British Isles and Europe, was seen at feeders on Pelee Island, possibly blown drastically off-course during a powerful easterly, or perhaps an escapee from a bird-fancier.

Below is a list of unusual sightings on the Island. Report your own unusuals to Sumiko Onishi at the PIBO banding station, or to Suzanne Friemann at PIBO (see contact page). If possible, take a photograph or record the birdsong to confirm the sighting. One person spotting an unusual bird might be questionable; five people reporting it is hard to deny.