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White-tailed Tropicbird
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: White-tailed Tropicbird
- From: Susan Dale Arrington <sarrington@coastalnet.com>
- Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2003 19:33:12 -0500
- Delivered-to: pardo@metalab.unc.edu
- Organization: home
- Reply-to: sarrington@coastalnet.com
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
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Carolinabirders,
Today Ken Wilkins and I and a party of beginning birders went to
Cape Lookout and surrounding area. We saw four Razorbills: one on the
beach on the east end of Shackleford Banks. This bird was either
thoroughly exhausted or sick because he did not move when approached.
Good close-up view. We saw two others swimming and fishing, one in the
Cape Lookout bight and the other near the jetty on the seaward side of
the hook. The fourth bird flew past us as we traveled back toward
Beaufort Inlet on the outside of Shackleford. Good, close-up looks at
all four.
The prize for the day was a White-tailed Tropicbird which flew over
us while we were in the bight. The bird flew directly over our heads
and crossed the hook and flew out to sea. The dead give-away, of
course, was the tail streamer. The bird did not have black on the top
of its head and I noticed a touch of black around the eye. The bill was
yellow. We did not observe the black on the upper wing coverts.
Tropicbirds are a bit front heavy as they fly and this bird was
definitely that. What with the fierce storms we had over the last
couple of days, it may not be so unusual for this bird to appear here at
this time.
On Shackleford we did see one Whimbrel and one Wilson's Plover.
There were literally hundreds of Bonaparte's Gulls up and down the
coast. Did not see any Little Gulls.
Rich Boyd
Beaufort, NC