ML621228360
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult, Unknown sex - 1
- Behaviors
- Foraging or eating
Observation details
Thoroughly fascinating to watch. At the main rock platform (just back a bit from the cafe - and the jetty under construction) and also on Bare Island, these birds were foraging among sea weeds and other marine life, effectively occupying the niche you'd expect of shorebirds like Red-necked Stints. Waves would sometimes crash over them and they'd fly a few metres off but invariably return to continue feeding. The feeding action was fascinating - they would basically open their bills as wide as possible and jab straight into the marine flora/fauna. The photo with two birds back to back captures this well. It was as if in that position they were testing if they could loosen or move anything, before pulling their head back (and bills back out of the seaweeds) and sometimes they'd have a small morsel they'd toss a few times as they gulped it back. Others walked along seemingly bare rock and pecked at it - possibly picking up the most minute of bugs or perhaps even loose algae. The birds on Bare Island in particular were surprisingly confiding.
Technical information
- Dimensions
- 2400 pixels x 1602 pixels
- Original file size
- 3.57 MB