Bird Call

Pomarine Jaeger

The Pomarine Jaeger [Pah-mah-reen YAY-ger] may not be Earl Flynn, but you have to admit he’s pretty handsome. In a bird sort of way.

Imagine him starring in a Pixar film. Tom Hanks as the voice plays Captain Blood. Opposite a bird-Olivia De Havilland. He'd cut quite a figure don't you think? :)

 

Brown wings. White pinstripes. Black pirate hood. Bright white bib. And that long tail feather.  It even has a twist. The tail I mean. 90 degrees. The broad end turns vertical like a rudder.

That would be his trademark. Streaming gracefully behind.  An adornment.  A mark of prestige.  A feather in his cap….

Except not in his cap. :)

Pirate Bird

This may look like a bird. But it’s really an attitude. With feathers.

A thief. A thug. A bully. That's all to say: a pirate.

He courses the high seas for booty . If he wants something he takes it. He could find fish. But he'd just as soon plunder. So he chases smaller birds to make them drop their fish. They usually do. He can play rough. He’s not someone to mess with. As I said, he’s a pirate.

You may think that’s silly. After all it's just a bird. Right?

But even the way he flies and his bearing suggest pirate. Of those who've seen one I'm not alone to think so. He’s fast. Dangerous. Aggressive. Powerful.

Yes. He may be just a bird. But I'll tell you this:

he’s not some harmless little sparrow. Jack. :)

 

  What is it? Hover to find out.

Distinguishing Marks: Cool white pinstripes on the top of wings. White "flash" below. Dark hood. Long streaming central tail feather. Plumages range from all dark, to mottled, to a brown top with white belly and yellow neck band.

Boring Fact: These birds that live at sea and eat fish most of the year shift gears during breeding season. They nest on tundra and mend their pirate ways by hunting lemmings to feed their families. (Lemmings are small rodents. They are consumed, not squeezed on fish. A common misconception.)

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Pink-footed Shearwater

My kids sent me on a Pelagic tour for my birthday. I’m not sure they knew what that was, but I enjoyed it.

 If you want to test your pelagic knowledge try these nerdy bird questions. Answers below.

Pink-footed Shearwaters are _______ birds.

A) Angry

B) Pelagic

C) Smelly

D) Larry

 

Answer: B)  Pelagic. They live at sea most of the year.  Land is strictly for nesting.

 

“Pelagic tour” refers to:

A) A boat ride for seniors

B) Whale watching gone rogue

C) Cagelpi  ruot unscrambled

D) All of the above

 

D, All of the above. At least 80% were over 60. (Except me of course.) : ) Everyone says they love whales and all nature.  But believe me, they’d throw a fin whale overboard in a heartbeat to get a shot of a Red-billed Tropicbird.

 

Important item(s) on a pelagic tour [Circle any that apply.]

A) Super Telephoto lens

B) Popcorn

C) Fish guts

D) Ham sandwich

 

Again, all of them. A) The bigger the lens, the more the swagger. B) They throw popcorn off the back one piece at a time. Not that anyone gives a hoot about the gulls that fight over it. But other birds may come to see what all the excitement ‘s about. C) Shearwaters don’t care for popcorn. But they will follow the boat if there is a bag of fish parts behind it. D) And the ham sandwich? For lunch of course. :)

 

Boring Fact #1: Shearwaters nest in burrows they dig.  They alternate feeding the chicks entering at night so they don’t give away the location.  Nice birds—taking  turns  getting up with the babies. :)

 

Boring Fact #2: Shearwaters, like most pelagic birds drink saltwater. The reason it doesn’t kill them is they have two glands near their eyes that extract salt from their blood. Then they dump it in their beak. Apparently not knowing what else it’s good for they sneeze it out through their tube noses.

Too bad they don’t like popcorn. :)

 

 

Distinguishing Marks: Pink feet, pink bill. Otherwise pretty much gray and white.