Albuquerque remains the most important city in the United States. Code Four. Don't worry about the CPB. Do a "rocket run." Just get there.

Thought to have vanished from the 800 block of Pueblo Solano Road Northwest on Feb. 1, the yellow grosbeak has descended on another Albuquerque habitat, 8.23 miles away on the 1400 block of Las Lomas Road Northeast.

From writing about the grosbeak last month, I learned that this native of Central America and South America almost never visits New Mexico. Can light yellow really strike twice?

Ask homeowner Kay Bratton. She felt like someone who "saw the Virgin Mary in a tortilla" when she noticed the bird dining in her feeder Feb. 14. Nobody would believe her.

Today, a notebook on Bratton's outdoor table reads like the guest book at a big wedding, with signatures from Germany, British Columbia, Seattle, Florida and points in between. Help yourself to coffee, Bratton tells visitors in a note posted on her front door. Just please close the gate in the backyard.

That's where I found Dave Wilton on Wednesday. "Could this really be a yellow grosbeak?" I asked. He rolled his eyes and responded: "I don't travel 2,000 miles in a car . . ."

More precisely, 1,750 miles. From Pennsylvania. In a 1995 black Taurus whose transmission went kaput about a week before the birding network nationwide exploded with news that the grosbeak had reappeared in Albuquerque.

Transmission rebuilt, pillows in the back, trunk stocked with Honey Bunches of Oats and other nonperishables, Wilton and birder buddy Kevin Georg headed for New Mexico.

Wilton, 48, and Georg, 50, had already planned a three-week birding venture out West. The yellow grosbeak's reappearance fit nicely into their plans.

They left Pennsylvania on Sunday, arrived here Tuesday morning and snagged their feathered quarry with a telescope, binoculars and camera.

Wednesday, they returned for "seconds."

In a backyard that shows Bratton's sense of humor (a hand-written sign on a plastic yellow bird ornament reads "NOT the yellow grosbeak. Keep Looking"), Wilton gave me a quick lesson on birder culture while we waited.

Code four: Any bird, such as the yellow grosbeak, seen outside its normal range only once or twice in decades.

CPB: Cost per bird. Computed by dividing the cost of gas, food, lodging per bird sighting. Decreases depending on the number in your party and the number of birds tallied.

Rocket run: Gather as many birders as possible to create a juggernaut zooming toward a reported bird sighting. Share the driving to reduce the CPB.

After about an hour, poor Georg had to lie down in the car. A fall 10 years ago broke his back; it still hurts. He insisted the backseat of his Taurus provides a comfortable bed.

We were saying goodbyes at the curb when Wilton burst through the gate. His waving arms sent the message that his voice wouldn't, for fear of frightening the grosbeak.

At 10:15 a.m., I spied what Wilton calls "the best bird in the U.S. right now." Bratton calls it "Woodstock."

The yellow-bellied, black-winged ball of feathers snacked on sunflower seeds.

I jumped up and down in my joy. Stop, Wilton said. You'll scare him. I stopped.

It might have been around this time when Wilton shared another tidbit of birder behavior.

"If I hadn't known what the bird does and how it behaves, I wouldn't have gotten you," he said. "Because I knew it would stay, I went and got you. Some birds, you might only see for a few seconds."

Well, I saw this bird for more than a few seconds. I can tell you, it's a yellow grosbeak. Birding for all of 30 minutes, I can check "one of the best birds in the U.S." off my list.

If you're nice to me, I'll tell you where to find the rare mallard duck.

Birks owned two parakeets when she was young.