Birds to learn prior to the Princess Cruise from LA to Vancouver
Petrels:
Mottled and Murphy’s are the two petrels we have the best chance at seeing. All the petrels should have a relatively high arcing flight compared to shearwaters which should zip just over the waves.
Here is a link to a brief video I found of a Mottled Petrel in flight at sea.
Mottled Petrel is a dark above, strongly marked dark and light below petrel, with a dark gray belly that contrasts with white vent and lots of extensive white in underwings, but with a strong black bar on underwing coverts. M pattern above of black and gray may be noticeable (Cook’s has this too)
Links to Mottled Petrel Photos: Underside View Ryan Merrill Photo Underside another top side photo another
Murphy’s Petrel: An all dark petrel, look for flight pattern to distinguish from shearwaters and Jaegers, pale flash on underside of primaries, short bill, very faint M pattern above. Pale chin might be visible.
Murphy’s Underside photo another Ryan Merrill photo view from above another
Two very unlikely petrels to at least know about are:
Hawaiian Petrel: very unlikely, sharply marked, dark above, light and strongly marked with primary covert black line below, dark hood, long wings and tail.
Hawaiian Petrel Underside photo Upperside photo
Cook’s Petrel: Overall a small and dainty petrel, Gray back and blacker on wings, almost all white below. Thin bill. White tail edges would be tough to see.
Cook’s petrel underside photo Upperside photo
Shearwaters:
These are mostly the same ones we see in WA, with the exception of Black-vented likely seen near shore in SoCal and very unlikely Manx.
Black-vented shearwater is a small dark above, light below shearwater, looks buoyant and quick overall, will have the “black vent” of it’s name. Dark bill. Indistinct border between dark above and light below.
Manx Shearwater would be rare, look fairly similar but have a white vent, a cleaner cutoff from dark above and light below areas.
Pink-footed shearwater will be more common in the southern part of our trip, is a big, broad-winged heavy flying shearwater, dark above and light below.
As we come north we will likely see more of our common Sooty shearwaters. These are overall gray with the whitish under-wing linings we are used to here. Smaller than the Pink-footed, slightly heavier appearing than the Black-vented.
All three Jaegers are possible. We all should be fairly familiar with them, but Pomerine is the big guy, barrel chested. May show the long twisted tail feathers. Parasitic the medium sized one, pointy tail feathers might be seen, and Long-tailed the smaller, more buoyant one possibly with very long tail feathers.
Pomerine Adult Pomerine Dark Morph Jeff Polken has a great gallery of Jaeger and Skua photos to peruse
South Polar Skua is big, dark, and heavy with strong wing-beats, wide wings, and strong white wing flashes. See photos above on Jeff Polken’s gallery.
The alcids will be tough on our pelagic cruise likely due to distance, size and being on the water. Still we might be able to ID some.
Craveri’s Murrelet 10” aucklet, grayish underwing, more extensive black on face, extends to chin, brownish tinge on dark oppressed
depictions on water and in flight photos on water photos in flight
Scripp’s murrelet: Similar to Craveri’s, more grayish than brown on dark upperside, all white below gape, small white wedge in front of eye, bright white underwings. I saw many of these on a recent not-too-deep water trip out of San Diego. Overall they are longer-necked and cleaner black and white then Cassin’s but at distance seem like they would be tough on the water to ID.
Guadalupe Murrelet: Split with Scripp’s from Xantus, more extensive white above and in front of eye,
Cassin’s aucklet: very small alcid, overall grayish, should look less black and white than the ones above.
Cassin’s on water
These are Bruce’s comments on what we might see on Pelagic Cruise.
POSSIBLE BIRD SIGHTINGS ON OUR PRINCESS CRUISE
MAY 3-7, 2016
Waterfowl are sometimes encountered far out at sea during migration. Large flocks of geese could include; Brant, Greater-white fronted, Cackling and Canada. The same goes for ducks with the possible flocks of Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal and others. Inshore and as we motor out, expect to see Surf and White-winged Scoters. Anything else would be a good sighting, such as, Long-tailed Duck or Black Scoter.
Loons should also be in migration, especially Pacific Loons further out. Closer to shore we should see Common and Red-throated. Grebes will be also seen closer to shore with the possible Western further out.
Deep water specialties are what we are really looking for. These are the true pelagic birds that include the tubenoses, a shorebird, a couple of gulls, jaegers, skuas, terns and alcids. These following species are the ones to really study.
Laysan Albatross, Black-footed Albatross and why not throw in Short-tailed Albatross (which would be a very rare sighting, but possible).
Northern Fulmar, Black-vented Shearwater (California waters), Pink-footed Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater. Any other shearwaters would be rare this time of year, but you never know.
The toughies to study and the ones most want to see, are the true Petrels. This includes: Murphy’s, Mottled, Hawaiian and Cook’s Petrels. Each has very diagnostic features but because they soar and usually don’t stick around the boat, they can be frustrating.
Next are the storm-petrels. Black and Ashy should be encountered as we leave California. After that the more northern Fork-tailed and Leach’s should be seen.
Cormorants and Pelicans will be seen close to shore.
Red Phalaropes migrate far out at sea. We should see many. Red-necked will be closer to shore.
The true pelagic gull and tern that we should see are Sabine’s Gull and Arctic Terns. They migrate usually far off the coast. Other gulls and terns should be closer to shore such as California, Western, Glaucous-winged Gulls and Caspian and Common Terns.
The jaeger family include; Pomarine, Parasitic and Long-tailed. All should be seen during their migration north to breed. Long-tails are usually seen further out. South Polar Skuas could be around as they start to leave from the Southern Hemisphere and venture north.
The next hardest group to study is the alcids. We will be cruising at a good speed and we will not be able to stop the boat to see where that little guy dove! There are some really good possibilities such as Parakeet Auklet, Scripps’s and Guadalupe Murrelets and maybe even a Horned Puffin. The more regular alcids are Common Murre, Rhinoceros Auklet, Pigeon Guillemot, Ancient Murrelet and maybe a Tufted Puffin.
Because it will be spring and land migration is in full swing, expect an occasional passerine to land on the boat. Many unusual sightings have occurred at sea from hummingbirds to warblers!
Hope this list helps and am getting really excited for our voyage!
Bruce LaBar
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