ML619119828

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Cont. bird of unknown origin, reported to the birding world yesterday (5/14) via a Reddit "What's this bird?" request. Bird has apparently been present since at least 4/24 according to photo taken by neighbors. Smallish falcon, perhaps Cooper's Hawk sized. Pale golden head, underparts, and base of tail, with highlights in tail and near base of primaries. Wings and tail otherwise dark brown. Pale blue bill with golden-orange cere. Dark hazel eyes. Black horizontal line runs from top of eye back towards back of skull but doesn't reach neck. This was probably one of the strangest chases I've participated in. When I arrived, the bird was in an exotic tree near Cypress St x PCH, being photographed by many. The bird eventually flew up and perched on a sign for several minutes, looking around. It walked around the top of the sign and seemed curious about cracks or maybe spiders up there. This all seemed fairly normal for a vagrant wild bird. The Caracara then flew east towards Popeye's Chicken, which seems to be its favorite spot (if the Popeye's marketing team is listening, they should probably capitalize on this while they can). We caught up with the bird, which was perched first on the median dividing the Popeye's lot from the Target lot, then moved up on top of the dumpster structure. It posed for several minutes, seemingly unbothered by cars in the lot or us birders. A local worker came out of the halal market and was amused that we were here to see the famous bird, then knocked on the back door at Popeye's and told their staff it was back. He went in and returned with a basket of fries and then a handful of chicken nuggets, which he tossed on the ground under the Caracara. Apparently he's been doing this every day for several weeks, although it's unclear how this arrangement started. The bird was unfazed by his presence, and at first seemed uninterested in the food. It took its time preening and stretching its wings. Eventually though, it hopped down and grabbed a chicken nugget to eat on top of the dumpster. Several minutes later, it flew up to the top of the Popeye's and called once, then moved to a light post, and finally back in the direction of Cypress St. I caught up with the bird on top of Lomita Trailer Supply, where it was digging through the roof gutters. It shortly flew into the neighboring trees, where I left it. Yellow-headed Caracara isn't exactly on anyone's short-list for expected vagrancy to California, with their current range still mostly topping out south of Mexico (with one seen in Chiapas this year). While prone to wander a bit, this is not a highly migratory species. Hence, this bird's sudden appearance near the Port of LA has led to speculation of ship assistance. However, it's worth noting that there have been increasing reports of "vagrant" Yellow-headed Caracaras in recent years, from Florida, Texas, and Mexico. We're talking single-digits still, and even these reports (minus Mexico) are coming under similar scrutiny. There is one previous report of the species from California, a bird that wintered in Humboldt in 2007 - 2008. This was not accepted by the CBRC. It may also be worth noting that the past 2.5 weeks have seen both a Swallow-tailed Kite and a Tropical Parula grace LA County, both South American species (albeit much more migratory and regularly seen at similar latitudes further east). Maybe there's something weird going on in Central America, like drought, flood, fire, or other food source crashes that could be prompting birds to move unusually northwest. To me, the biggest red flag is how comfortable this bird seems with people. I have zero prior experience with this species, and I hear that they fill a crow-like niche in their native range. So perhaps its comfort levels in an urban setting are perfectly normal. Even so, I would expect a wild bird of prey, even if not displaced thousands of miles from it's natural range, to be slightly more wary of cars, sirens, loud car washes, and especially large groups of people. This Caracara allowed folks to get within maybe 10 feet of it without really flinching, and felt secure enough on its low and exposed perch in the parking lot to preen and eat in front of all of us. Was it wary when it first arrived? Have the past three weeks of bonding with the Popeye's and halal marked staff over food made it trust all people? The nature of its first few days at the strip mall are still unknown. I would expect that it independently figured out there was food in the dumpster before anyone tried feeding it, but who knows. It seems the only thing that bothers this bird are crows, on occasion. I'm not entirely sure what to make of this bird, and I fully expect it will not be accepted by the CBRC. But it was still cool to see, and fairly funny in its own way. A MEGA eating chicken nuggets in front of Target is simply not a sight to be missed. Attaching the maximum number of photos to this report to attempt to document the feather conditions for reviewers. The wing feathers appear to be somewhat evenly worn, as if this bird is in molt. The tail looks a little more patchy. The legs both seem fine, with no traces of scarring or bruising from captivity. Needless to say, the bird didn't have any falconing gear on. Presumably, if this is someone's pet (from the US), they should hear about its residency at Popeye's soon enough. If the bird ditched home in Central America and hopped on a boat, maybe not. I wonder if the local news will cover this one like the Snowy Owl...

Technical information

Model

ILCE-7RM4A

Lens

FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS

ISO

160

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/1600 sec

Dimensions

3079 pixels x 2053 pixels

Original file size

3.22 MB