Red-necked Phalarope

Surprise Visit From Red-necked Phalaropes

Red-necked Phalarope

 I was excited to recently find two phalaropes in a marsh off route 313 on Lameque Island just opposite to where the bay comes close to the road and where Pointe Alexandre meets Petite Lameque. They were actively feeding along with a mixed flock of about a dozen Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.  I suspected these were rather rare birds so called local birders to come and share the sighting.  At first I was not sure whether they were Red-necked Phalaropes or Red Phalaropes.  After studying them in the scope and comparing the photos with field guides, the other birders and I confirmed they were Red-necked Phalaropes.  Being in alternate plumage can make it difficult.

Getting good photographs was a challenge.  The birds were very active, a normal behaviour for this species.  The road we were parked on was very busy and the wind was strong.  The birds were about 100 metres away.

Red-necked Phalaropes

There appeared to be a male and a female.  In this species the female has the most colourful breeding plumage.  In the photo above the female is on the left.

According to "Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List" the Red-necked Phalarope is uncommon in spring and common in the fall.  It is mostly seen around the Fundy Isles and Head Harbour Passage.  It is seen uncommonly off the Acadian Peninsula.  So, this was an uncommon find and indeed a life bird for one of the birders.

The Red-necked Phalarope breeds on tundra in the high Arctic islands, northern Canada, Greenland and Iceland.  It winters at sea in the Southern Hemisphere, off Peru.  It also winters off the southern Arabian Peninsula and Indonesia.  The only chance of seeing it here is during migration.

The phalarope is a small shorebird-looking bird (22 cm or 8.5 in long) that usually swims often in circles to stir up insects and other food.  In breeding plumage it shows gray, white, rufous red, black and beige.  In late summer and fall we see it in alternate plumage which is very different.  As you can see in the photos above it is white below with mottled gray and brown above.  The black line through the eye and the black cap which extends down the back of the neck are distinctive.  We could see remnants of the red and gray on the sides of the neck from the breeding plumage.  The back showed dark beige lines running parallel to the body length.  The bill was black and fine in diameter.

How did we decide these were Red-necked Phalaropes and not Red Phalaropes?  We ruled out Red Phalarope by the thin bill and the beige lines of colour on the back.  We could also see the remnants of colour on the neck of one of the birds.  We would have had trouble identifying these birds without a scope and, of course, it certainly helped to have 3 people making the determination.

An interesting fact about the phalaropes is that the female has the brighter plumage and the male incubates the eggs and cares for the young.  Another fact concerning population numbers is disturbing.  Up until the 1980s they were found in very large numbers (500,000) in August in Head Harbour Passage between Deer and Campobello Islands (Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List).  They have since abandoned the area (or the population is so low they no longer come here).  A species that in recent times was very numerous here is no longer seen except in very low numbers.  See the video below for the swimming behaviour of this species.

Common Nighthawk

Common Nighthawk, Our Goatsucker

Common Nighthawk Adult Male [J Pierce Photo]

The Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles  minor) is a member of the Goatsucker family, Caprimulgidae.  This is a family of night-hunting birds who have large mouths for catching insects.  It contains nighthawks, whip-poor-wills and nightjars.  They all look much alike and can be identified by their calls.  They are called Goatsuckers because of an old myth in which people believed they suckled goats because of their large mouths.

In New Brunswick we have Common Nighthawks and occasionally a Whip-poor-will.  The population of nighthawks has declined in the east but they can still be seen.  They are most evident during migration when they are seen in loose groups.  For example, a group of about 50 was seen over the Little Southwest Miramichi River one recent evening.  We have seen groups of 10 or 20 over the St. John River on August or September evenings.  They usually are flying erratically hawking insects.  Nighthawks always glide on raised wings.

Common Nighthawk Female [J Pierce Photo]

Common Nighthawk Male  [J Pierce Photo]

Common Nighthawk Male [J Pierce Photo]

Nighthawks are dark in colour, dark gray, black or brown, striped or speckled nearly all over.  The colours are in patches on the head and back and striped on the breast.  Their wings are long and pointed and they have a distinctive white bar about half way out on each wing.  They have a very large dark eye and long whiskers.  The males have a white throat patch and a white tail band.  The throat is beige on the female and she lacks the tail band.  The tail is slightly forked.  They are 24 cm long (9.5 in).

Nighthawks prefer open areas like clearings, fields, and ponds.  They also inhabit towns and cities.  They nest on bare ground and gravel rooftops.  They are mainly nocturnal and roost during the day on the ground or perched lengthwise on wires or branches.  They are so well camouflaged they would not be easily seen when perched!  They, however, are more active during the day than other members of their family.  

Nighthawks utter a ‘peent’ call.  During courtship the male makes a unique hollow booming sound with its wings.  Many years ago (perhaps 40) I remember hearing the ‘peent’ call of these birds and their booming sound as they flew around the houses and buildings of Fredericton.  I remember seeing them roosting on roof tops.  That would be an uncommon sight now!  

The breeding range of the Common Nighthawk covers most of North America.  It winters in South America.  It lays two white or pale olive buff eggs spotted with gray or brown.  Incubation is done by the female for 19 days.  They feed on all forms of insects captured while in flight sometimes flying up to 600 feet high.  They are attracted to lights where insects gather.  They even drink while in flight by skimming water surfaces.  

The erratic flight at dusk of the nighthawk causes it to be sometimes mistaken for a bat.  In fact, in the south it is sometimes called ‘boom bat’.  Analyses of stomach contents of nighthawks show that they consume up to 500 mosquitos in one day.  We need to do what we can to rebuild our population of nighthawks!

Upland Sandpiper

Have You Seen an Upland Sandpiper?

Upland Sandpiper [J Pierce Photo]

The Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) (family Scolopacidae) is a rare local resident in New Brunswick.  It was first reported in 1969 and 1970 from large fields at Salisbury.  Since then it has been seen in many places throughout the province:  Pennfield, Maugerville, Tantramar, Rexton, Pointe-Sapin, Sainte-Marie-de-Kent, and Saint-Isidore.  It prefers large fields, sod farms, pastures, and air fields.  It is our only sandpiper that does not need to be near water.  

The Upland Sandpiper breeds from Maine and New Brunswick westward across southern Canada to Alaska, southeast to Oklahoma and eastward to New England.  It winters in South America from southern Brazil to southern Argentina.  

The Upland Sandpiper is a unique species because of its shape, plumage and behaviour.  It is not easy to see this bird in the huge fields it inhabits.  Sometimes you can see its head above the vegetation.  Other times you can hear its unique descending call or its wolf whistle.  It sometimes perches on posts and shows a tail-bobbing behaviour.  

The Upland Sandpiper is related to the curlews.  It has an elongated neck, long legs, and long tail and wings.  It has a short, straight bill which is yellow with a black tip.  It is generally brown streaked on the back and head.  The neck and breast are streaked with brown and there are chevrons on the sides.  The belly is white.  The legs are yellow.  In flight they show black primaries.  

These sandpipers feed on insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, earthworms and snails.  They also eat seeds and grains.  This species nests on the ground where they make a depression and line it with grass.  The eggs are pale pinky buff.  Both adults incubate the eggs for 21 to 27 days.  The young fledge in 30 to 31 days.  

The Upland Sandpiper population has undergone steady declines since the mid-nineteenth century due to hunting and habitat loss due to agricultural practices.  They arrive in our area in early May and begin their fall movement south from August to mid-September.   If you want to see them this year, you need to go looking now.

Razorbill

Razorbills in the Bay of Fundy

Razorbills at a Nesting Colony

The Razorbill (Alca torda) shares the Alcidae family with murres, guillemots, dovekies, murrelets, auklets and puffins.  Murrelets and auklets live only on the west coast but we have murres, guillemots, dovekies and puffins here.  All are pelagic species.

Razorbills are similar to murres in size and appearance.  They are black on the head, throat, back and tail and white below in breeding plumage.  In non-breeding plumage they show white behind the eye but not as much as the murre.  Their bill is distinctive; large, deep, flattened laterally with a white vertical line.  This can often be seen at a distance and helps identify the species.  Both genders look alike.  

 The Razorbill is 43 cm (17 in) long.  It has a bulky head and swims with its head and tail up, making the silhouette distinctive.  This bulky shape also is distinctive in flight.  It is common in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, around Newfoundland and Labrador and in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine where it breeds in summer.  It nests in rocky crevices and cliff edges on coastal islands.  The nest is built of pebbles and grass placed directly on the rocky ledge.  One or two tan or white eggs marked with black or brown are incubated for 35 to 37 days by both the male and female.  

Razorbills

It is common to see Razorbills from the Grand Manan ferry or from boats sailing off Grand Manan.  We saw many from a recent birding trip out of Seal Cove, as seen in the photo above.  Razorbills winter on the Grand Banks and in the Gulf of Maine south to Long Island.  There is also a population living in waters off northern Europe.

Razorbills eat fish, crustaceans, and marine worms.  They catch their prey by swimming below the surface using their wings for propulsion.  According to studies, Razorbills, guillemots and puffins do not compete with each other for food.  Each species catches different sizes of fish. Razorbill chicks cannot fly when they fledge.  For this reason their breeding colonies must have immediate access to the sea so the chicks can just slide into the ocean or jump a short distance.  The Razorbill is very vocal at the breeding colony uttering a deep croak, 'urrr' or 'arrc' sound.  Razorbills stand upright on land much like a penguin.

So far the Razorbill population is stable.  They are managing to find enough food resources to feed their young and stay healthy.  

Northern Fulmar

Northern Fulmars Fully Out to Sea

Northern Fulmar Light Morph

The Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) is a pelagic species found in our waters.  It is found in the northern hemisphere in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and around the Arctic islands.  It spends its whole life at sea except when it comes to sea islands and cliffs to breed.  It is a member of the Procellariidae family (shearwaters and petrels).  Its tubenose is a distinctive feature of this family.  Notice in the photo above how the nostril is tubular and sits on the dorsal aspect of the beak.  It has salt glands embedded in the flesh above its eyes which excrete excessive salt from its system through these tubular nostrils.  Because of its diet of fish, squid, offal, carrion, marine worms, and crustaceans it needs to excrete salt to maintain a balanced system.  

Northern Fulmars look like stalky gulls.  They are gray above and white below, as seen in the photo above.  The gray is found on the wings, back and tail.  The head and underside are white.  They often show a dark smudge along the eye line.  Their bill is yellow and the feet and legs are gray.  The wings are long and narrow enabling them them to fly in interesting manoeuvres in unpredictable winds.  This species occurs in three morphs; light, intermediate and dark.  The photo above shows a light morph.  See below for a dark morph.  The percentage of dark morphs in a light population depends on the geographical location.  The dark morph is wholly gray with a dark smudge around the eye.  Dark morphs can also be dark brown or brownish gray.  The intermediate morph can be any shade between dark brown and white.  The Northern Fulmar is 48 cm (19 in) long with a wingspan of 107 cm (42 in).

Northern Fulmar Dark Morph

 While on a pelagic trip off Grand Manan we saw about 8 Northern Fulmars with more than one dark morph.  They were quite tame and came up close to the boat.  They have an interesting 'pigeon look' about their heads.  They move south in winter to our waters and those off New England; also off the west coast of Canada south to Mexico.  Their population is stable and possibly increasing in the Atlantic area.  The many birds we saw were probably non-breeders.  

Northern Fulmar Light Morph

Northern Fulmars are monogamous and rejoin their mates each year at the same nesting site for breeding.  Their nest is a slight depression on the ground into which the female lays a single white egg marked with red blotches.  Incubation lasts 52 -53 days and the young one fledges in 49-58 days.  That is a long nesting season!  This species is mostly silent but they do make a variety of croaks and groans on the nesting grounds.  

Northern Fulmar with Herring Gull

Fulmars do not breed until they are 8 to 10 years old.  They are one of the longest-lived birds.  Several birds were banded in Scotland in 1951 and were still breeding in 1990!  They were probably at least 50 years old!  

Our Atlantic population appears to be stable but it could be threatened by oil spills, the plastic refuse floating on/in the ocean, predators and pollution.  Just imaging these individuals living for over 50 years migrating along our coasts from the far north to our waters and southward for all those years.  What a knowledge of oceans currents, feeding areas, climate, geography etc. they must have.