ML26009471

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

This Manx Shearwater was photographed in flight by Curtis A. Marantz on 20 March 2016 on offshore waters at 33° 03' 06" N, 117° 21' 02” W, and thus about 4½ kilometers southwest of Batiquitos Lagoon, San Diego County, California.

Observation details

When this bird took flight, it appeared similar in size and overall proportions to the Black-vented Shearwaters with which it was associated. The bill was held straight forward and the neck extended a moderate distance in front of the plump body on the flying bird. The relatively slim wings had broadly pointed tips and they were held straight out from the body with the leading and trailing edges almost parallel to one another. Much like the other birds in the flock, this bird flew with rapid, shallow wingbeats that alternated with short glides. Given a lack of wind in the area, and the fact that these birds spent most of their time on the water, it was probably not surprising that these birds made only short flights before alighting on the water a short distance away. The tail appeared to be relatively short, but enough of the body extended beyond the trailing edges of the wings to approximately equal the extension of the head and neck in front of the wings. I also noted that the rump and tail tapered relatively little from the trailing edge of the wings to the tip of the tail, which was weakly rounded or wedge-shaped. It was only when this bird took flight that I was able to see that the legs were relatively short and that the feet were webbed, but I had a hard time seeing much more detail than this. I initially spotted this bird on the water as a result of the more strongly contrasting plumage-patterns, which combined a more strongly capped appearance, upperparts that were blacker overall, and flanks that were more clearly white. Closer inspection revealed that the forehead and crown were quite blackish down approximately to the level of the eye and the auriculars, yet with the white of the throat seemingly curving upward onto the side of the neck behind the auriculars. The back of the neck was blackish, but the throat and foreneck were white, and the demarcation between the two on the sides of the neck appeared to be better-defined than it was on the Black-vented Shearwaters. My impression when this bird sat on the water was that the back, wings, and whatever I could see of the rump and tail were uniformly blackish (as opposed to the distinctly brownish cast to these regions on the other birds). Probably even more obvious than the face pattern was the fact that the flanks were really quite white along the entire waterline on this bird. Moreover, when these birds were swimming away, the broadly wedge-shaped undertail-coverts stood out as being entirely white, and thus contrasting with the black underside of the tail. Given that I was trying to get photos of this bird each time it took flight, my views of the bird at this time were primarily through my camera lens. Clearly evident on the flying bird was the more uniformly blackish color of the upperparts, wings, rump, and tail relative to the brownish shades typical of the Black-vented Shearwaters. I was again able to make out at least some indication of the face pattern and the fact that the dark coloration on the neck did not extend onto the sides of the breast. I noted a small, white notch extending up onto the flanks just behind the wings, but the white flank-patches were not as conspicuous as they often are in this species. Also clearly evident on the flying bird was that the throat, foreneck, breast, belly, sides, flanks, and undertail-coverts were gleaming-white in their entirety. The extensively white underwings were narrowly framed with black along at least the trailing edges of the wings. As far as I could determine, the entire underside of the tail, or at least the part that was visible around the undertail coverts, was blackish if not truly black. The bill appeared to be uniformly medium to dark gray, the eyes were dark, and my impression was that the legs and feet were dark, but I failed completely to determine their coloration.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

400

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/1600 sec

Dimensions

2725 pixels x 1747 pixels

Original file size

1.89 MB