The three Pokemon below are “Legendary,” meaning only one of each exists in the game. Therefore, these three are the original rare bird sightings, and I needed to accord them appropriate matches.

Hedwig’s stunt double, the Snowy Owl ,is an occasional winter visitor to the United States. Sightings of this beautiful owl are a common subject of “bird alerts,” whereby a rare bird sighting is tweeted out to gather all nearby birdwatchers to the area, lest they miss the chance to see such a rarity. The Gyrfalcon is the largest falcon in the world and spends most of its time too far north for most of us to see. That’s one of the reasons it made Birdwatching Daily’s list of Top Ten Most-Wanted Birds in North America. Lastly the Whooping Crane is the tallest bird in North America. The species has rebounded from a low of only 20 birds in the 1940’s to nearly 600 today, which still leaves it as one of the rarest birds in the world.

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Large birds of prey are the birder’s modern day version of dragons, and these three raptors fill the role here. The White-Tailed Kite gets its name from its unique hovering flight pattern, which resembles a wind-blown kite held by a string. The Northern Harrier is a unique hawk with an owl-like face that allows it to use sound as well as vision when hunting prey. Of course the Bald Eagle needs no introduction. Our national bird since 1782, the Bald Eagle was one of the inspirations for the Endangered Species Act. Thankfully the population has rebounded, and “lost” its status as endangered in 2007.

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Mewtwo was the strongest Pokemon in the game, and the Golden Eagle is indisputably the king of North American skies. The national emblem of five countries, Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan, this raptor inspires awe all over the world.

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The 151st Pokemon, Mew technically wasn’t in the actual game. In order to “catch” one, a player needed to attend special Nintendo events where the Pokemon would be transferred via game link cable to the player’s gameboy. This made it the rarest of Pokemon. Sadly, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is just as rare, since it’s most likely extinct. This giant woodpecker used to be found in the swamps of the Southeast but there hasn’t been a confirmed U.S. sighting since 1944. Some still hold out hope, given unconfirmed sightings of the bird in Arkansas in the 21st century.

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Thank you for taking the time to read through this list, or at least for scrolling through to the end! It was a lot of fun to put together, and I hope it’s taught you some of the names of our common feathered friends. If you’re inspired to give birding a shot, just grab a pair of binoculars and head outside. There’s a whole world of birds just waiting for you, now go catch them all!

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