ML354921761

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

I've wanted to say this on a checklist for a very long time: MEEEEEGAAAAAAA!!!!!! Or as Kurt put it, THIS is exactly what birders mean when they say MEGA. Discovered here yesterday by Nick Kalodimos, but reported even earlier on from Waikiki and offshore Hawaii Kai. Roughly the same size as the nearby pigeons, perhaps slightly larger. Entire body is simply a dark, dark blackish-gray, which can appear somewhat pale depending on the lighting. Wings and wing tips are black, subtly darker than the body. All-red bill is slightly thick and has some small dark smudges. Most distinctive feature, a literal white mustache, extends from upper mandible and curves downwards. As noted by Eric Vanderwerf, the mustache is short for this species, perhaps a sign of an immature bird. Short, yellow patches of skin below mustache extend from gape, about as far as the eyes. Red legs. Thin white edge along secondaries, which is formed by white secondary tips. Tail is slightly shorter than primaries, and appears forked, but not deeply, in flight. Overall, a very handsome bird. I'd normally eliminate similar species here but, between the mustache and the red bill, this really is a distinctive bird. The real challenge comes in discussing this bird's provenance. I personally suspect that this is a vagrant bird on the grounds that no Inca Terns are known to be captive from Oahu (or anywhere in Hawaii, for that matter), and that it's shorter mustache indicates it to be an immature, and possibly more vagrancy-prone bird. Ship-assistance is possible, although I'm not sure how often ships from the tern's native range reach Hawaii. About a minute after we had arrived at the spot, a dark bird approached us from the east, seemingly following the coast. It was lit from behind, giving it a very surreal appearance in the sea mist. Oh my god. It then spent time flying around us, often hovering just feet overhead and soon landed. This is a very tame bird, and it is highly interested in people. In fact, if we hadn't been there, I doubt it would have landed at all. Michael and others have seen fishermen feeding it, and while we were present, it took pieces of squid left behind by fisherman. My first mega rarity. Quite an experience, felt like it would be a scene from a birding movie. Praise Inca Tern! Bring it your finest fish and squid.

Technical information

Model

COOLPIX P1000

ISO

200

Focal length

167 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/640 sec

Dimensions

3264 pixels x 2448 pixels

Original file size

1.89 MB