Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater - Jeremy Bryan

ML370128031

Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater Ardenna grisea/tenuirostris

Report

Contributor

Date

Location

Off coast of Helliwell PP in boat
Comox-Strathcona, British Columbia, Canada
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 49.5065109, -124.5770958
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Observation details

Extremely difficult to distinguish between Sooty and Short-tailed, even with excellent. Observed at close range (sometimes less than 20 ft) from boat both on the water and in flight for some time feeding with other seabirds at a bait fish school in open water. Dark shearwater with lighter wing linings. Lighter throat on some individuals initially suggested Short-tailed for several individuals, but slope of forehead, bill length and degree of white in wing linings inconclusive and appeared better for Sooty with others. Attached photos are of several different birds. Recorded as Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater for now, but would welcome expert views of attached photos with a view to narrowing down IDs. This is likely a conservative estimate of the number of individuals present.

Technical information

Model
ILCE-6000
Lens
E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS
ISO
200
Focal length
210 mm
Flash
Flash did not fire, auto
f-stop
f/6.3
Shutter speed
1/400 sec
Dimensions
6000 pixels x 4000 pixels
Original file size
8.13 MB