Birders have welcomed the sighting of a distinctive finch species on the island for the first time in 13 years.

A post on the Bermuda Audubon Society Facebook page said five white-winged crossbills were spotted near Morgan’s Point in Southampton on Remembrance Day.

Paul Watson, a committee member for the society, said the bird was also seen at West Whale Bay and in St George’s during the holiday.

The white-winged crossbill, a type of boreal finch, typically stays in Canada, Alaska and other parts of the United States year-round, but sometimes migrates south for food.

Mr Watson explained: “Because they forage over huge distances, they could stay [in Bermuda] the whole winter or some could have already gone.

“When they arrive, they are starving and they forage close to the ground, whereas they usually forage high in trees.

“The likelihood is that they will stay at a similar latitude through the winter.

“We certainly have not had them here more than eight times during the last 40 years.”

The birds, which were also spotted on the island in 1969, 1974, 1997, 2001 and 2011, feed on casuarina trees.

Adult males have rosy-red bodies with black-and-white wings and females are greenish-grey.

Both genders have crossed bills, adapted for feeding on conifer cones, and can be identified by the “twinkle” calls they release when flying.