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Posted by Rock Jetty on 15:04:01 09/14/08
In Reply to: Re: Pelagics off Miami - and a surprise, 9/13 posted by Trey Mitchell
Trey, great job on the photos given the 15-20 knots. A couple of your identifications are troubling me though (you can almost see my troubled brow through your computer screen).
First: Your two photos showing a "Forster's Tern" are actually of a Common Tern. Notice the blackish nape on these birds. A Forster's Tern will have a much paler nape and a more distinct "mask" that will actually extend below the eyeline. The birds in your photographs are definitely Common Terns, most likely adults already in winter plumage (it's probably two shots of the same bird but just in case).
Second: I'm voting Pomarine for your Jaeger. Notice the visible whitish crescent on the base of the primary coverts (underwing, first photo). Notice the white on the shaft of six of the primaries - in my opinion more conspicuous than it should be for a Parasitic Jaeger. I know Sibley's mentions the white on the shafts and states "normally shows three to five" for Parasitic and "normally shows four to six" for Pomarine. This overlap in number does not make a good field ID mark if you ask me, but the amount of white visible on these shafts does. Overall, your bird has more white on the underwing than I would expect a Parasitic to show. If you go by the body shape, well, I guess you could say this bird does look pretty bulky but that is hard to determine in this case. The Complete Guide to the Birds of Europe is a good reference for these birds since it gives more stages of plumage than Sibley's does.
Again, the tern - I'm sure of, the jaeger - I'd like to hear what more experienced "Jaegermeisters" have to say.
Cheers and Bird On!
El Jetty
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