ML74660861

Age and sex

Unknown age, Male - X

Observation details

Continuing Corn Crake found earlier in the day by Ken and Sue Fuestel. Amazing rarity and spectacular find. Managed to follow up on their report just in time for an afternoon visit in the fading the light and imminent rain storms. At least a couple dozen observers were already on site and the bird was continuing to move in and out of the brush line along the Ocean Parkway. Excellent camouflage, especially when it moved within the taller bluestem grasses. Watched the bird feeding and nabbing earthworms. Having never seen a Corn Crake before, the bulk of this bird surprised me and reminded more of an upland game bird than a Rallidae, the latter being the family in which I expected more resemblance. The bird was slowly and methodically moving along the edge of the shrubs. At one point, I watched it briefly burst to speed in which it extended its neck forward and horizontally, more rail-like in posture, before resuming its slow edge feeding. Uncertain of the bird's age but many have suggested it might be a juvenile. The bird was beautifully patterned above; overall uniform beige/sand colored with dark centers to feathers. Chestnut-toned flanks and lower portion of underparts were obvious. Pale, pinkish, bill color. Some mediocre photos attached. Addendum-**Unfortunately the Corn Crake apparently suffered an injury due to a vehicle collision and was found deceased on the morning of 11/9/17. The specimen was said to have been recovered and taken to the American Museum of Natural History. And here is a post to NY Bird List from AMNH’s Paul Sweet: Several people have asked about cause of death. The bird was clearly hit by a car with a fractures in both hind limbs and the pelvis. Jonas Lai has skinned the bird and we have obtained the following data. The bird was a male with testes 5 x 2.5 mm It weighed 100g which is rather light for this species. Published weights range from 135-210 g ((Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa). There was no fat but the pectoral muscles did not appear atrophied. Stomach contained tiny insect parts which have been persevered but not identified. A moderate parasite load of Acanthocephalans was identified by AMNH parasitologists Mark Siddall and Michael Tessler

Technical information

Model

NIKON D500

Lens

300.0 mm f/4.0

ISO

4000

Focal length

420 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/320 sec

Dimensions

1280 pixels x 853 pixels

Original file size

524.53 KB