Highlights: jaegers
At least 2 jaegers were present yesterday. There were several sightings of a juvenile Parasitic, but another bird is posing some identification issues. Jaeger identification is often extremely difficult, and drives us nuts at times. The bird in question is pictured in the photos below. In the shot where it is profiled it shows several traits which are good for Long-tailed Jaeger. In the shot where it is angling away it seems harder to eliminate Parasitic. I've sent the photos to several people who have more jaeger experience than I do. Hopefully the shots will prove to show enough detail to make a positive ID on this bird.
Songbird sightings have remained consistent the last several days. Some of the regular species these days are Bald Eagle, Merlin, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warbler, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrow, Horned Lark, American Pipit, Lapland Longspur, and Snow Bunting.
4 comments:
Hey Chris,
I think your unID'd jaeger is a Parasitic...Long-tailed don't show that much white in the wings.
David
The white in the wing is a concern, but apparently Long-taileds can rarely show as many as 5 white shafts. The one photo may also be showing sun glare off the feathers themselves, as opposed to the shaft. The one opinion I have received back from my emails last night is that it is a Long-tailed.
I should clarify. The 1st response was that it looked like a Long-tailed to them. They did not state that it definitely was a Long-tailed.
Chris, this is a juv. light Parasitic, we see lots of parasitics down here in NW Indiana, mostly intermediate Parasitics. I am getting a little better at id'ing them. The tail extension is too long for juv. Pomarine, the upper wing white is 4-5 shafts of primaries (def. elminates long-tailed (2 shafts or less) and most likely Pom.), The Underwing coverts are the same darkness as the flanks, and the weak barring on undertail coverts are Parasitic features. There is a nearly identical bird (rare) in Sibley's on pp.198. Nice shots! Still trying to get a great in-flight Jaeger photo!
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