ML300196921

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

The bird’s overall appearance and frontal shield appear to me inseparable from an adult American Coot, but apparently imm Hawaiian Coot can't be eliminated as yet. —The bill is white, not showing any gray as might be expected of a juvenile coot of either spp; likewise the iris is dark red, not the brown or brownish red of a young bird. —What does not show in the photos is that the primaries are all the same age, the plumage is not altogether fresh, and the wing coverts are slightly worn. The body plumage could be a mix of old and fresh feathers. If it is an AMCO, it’s in definitive plumage, so the primary molt would have already occurred on the mainland, with some body molt possible on wintering grounds. We watched the bird preening for several minutes, but didn’t see any pin feathers or loose feathers, so probably not molting. There were no feathers laying about on the rock wall, its customary hauling out spot. —The bird looked to be smaller than a typical Hawaiian coot, but then there weren’t any other coots around to compare it to. —Our host, Tom English, reports (in lit. 20210103) "The coot showed up about a week ago, and I have seen it every time I have been there. This is the first coot I have seen at Haena in several years." --Post Script: The bird remained at Haena until the middle of February when it disappeared, so it was there essentally 2 months, from mid-Dec through mid-Feb. Alex Wang collected molted feathers and sent them to the DNA lab at Bishop Museum for comparing with HACO and AMCO. Results not in yet.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

250

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/10.0

Shutter speed

1/640 sec

Dimensions

1359 pixels x 1348 pixels

Original file size

468.24 KB