ML618243531

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Foraging with the flurry of 400+ Black Terns at the far end of the jetty. Flew almost directly overhead once. Very similar in size to the Black Terns, slightly larger. Cool, inky chocolate overall with heavily worn wing coverts bleached paler, creating a paler carpal bar. Snow white crown sharply demarcated at the nape, unlike the more evenly blended patterning of a Brown Noddy. Heavily worn and tattered retrices meant it lacked the typically distinctive spatulate Noddy shape. Flight similar to that of the Black Terns, boyouantly picking at the water's surface. Tended to stay lower to the water while feeding than the Black Terns. Fine bill twice the length of the bill a slightly droopy. Size and coloration help to eliminate Brown Noddy. I'm not familiar enough with the species to confidently identify it to ssp, but presumably from the Caribbean group (that annually show up in the Dry Tortugas as well). ~4th Texas record and the second "chaseable"

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 70D

ISO

1250

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/11.0

Shutter speed

1/1000 sec

Dimensions

1071 pixels x 714 pixels

Original file size

150.88 KB