Bird watcher Lloyd Moon, 76, recently spotted the rare snail kite for the first time in South Carolina, sparking a debate among birders and scientists about what the bird was doing so far north.

The snail kite is an endangered species seldom seen north of central Florida, experts say, and is included on the endangered species list in part because of the shrinking habitat of its main food source, the apple snail.

Moon first spotted the bird last week at a crawfish farm near Rimini, about 35 miles southeast of Columbia.

The bird's taste for crawfish surprised scientists, and it could lead to experiments with crawfish ponds in Florida.

The Associated Press picked up the story Tuesday.

But birders on the ALBIRDS listserv and other online communities have been talking about the rare sighting since last Friday.

The first fuzzy photographs were published on the Carolina Bird Club site here.

That was followed up by better photos from the Cape Romain Bird Observatory.