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CarolinaBirds for Monday, August 7, 2006
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Subject: songbirds and mercury
From: "R. O. Bierregaard, Jr." <rbierreg(AT)email.uncc.edu>
Date: 7 Aug 2006 9:21am
While preparing the toxicology section of the Osprey account for the
Birds of North America project I discovered an interesting fact about
birds and mercury. Birds put about 80-90% of the mercury in their
bodies into their feathers each year as they molt. This means that
mercury doesn't accumulate in their bodies and hence doesn't pose a
serious threat unless they're exposed to really high levels. It's
nothing like the danger of DDT and DDE which accumulate in fatty
tissues.
Lead is also not a problem with raptors because it is deposited in
bones, which are not digested, and thus it doesn't "bioaccumulate" up
the food chain. Ospreys have very high reproductive success on the
Coeur d'Alene River in Idaho, where there are very high levels of
lead in the aquatic ecosystem. In the same system, waterfowl, on the
other hand, do very poorly as they ingest large amounts of lead while
grazing on aquatic vegetation.
--
Rob Bierregaard
Biology Dept.
UNC-Charlotte
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte NC 28223
704 333 2405
http://www.bioweb.uncc.edu/bierregaard
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Subject: game bird ID
From: Amalie Tuffin <amaliet(AT)ix.netcom.com>
Date: 7 Aug 2006 7:54pm
I have a bird that in shape and size looks very much like a female
common peafowl (including the little crest feathers) wandering around
in the vicinity of my yard. However, it is almost all white, with a
few black flecks and some black at the tip of its tail. Any ideas what
this bird could be? I am also at a loss to figure out from whence it
came, but it has been around all day.
Amalie Tuffin
Hillsborough, NC
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Subject: Charleston, SC offshore 8/5 - BROWN NODDY + other goodies
From: Nate Dias <offshorebirder(AT)yahoo.com>
Date: 7 Aug 2006 8:28pm
I ventured offshore out of Charleston, SC this past
Saturday (August 5) - I was a guest aboard a
sportfishing expedition.
The avian highlight was an adult BROWN NODDY. I
managed to shoot 3 segments of videotape of the Noddy;
one of them turned out (barely) well enough for ID
purposes. I captured the video into an MPEG file and
extracted a couple of frame grab images from the video
into JPEG still images. They are posted on the
following web page:
http://www.crbo.net/August06Noddy.html
We also saw very healthy numbers of BLACK-CAPPED
PETRELS and Audubon's Shearwaters, as well as a
Leatherback Sea Turtle!
The Gulf Stream has been located pretty far off SC
recently and it had shifted offshore for the second
day in a row on Saturday. So we made a long-distance
gamble and headed straight out to an area known for
deepwater upwellings under those conditions. This area
is a 10-mile long seavalley extending southeast from
an underwater depression known as the "380 Hole" - so
named for its depth in fathoms.
The first portion of our ride was in darkness, but it
was light enough by the 50-fathom curve that I could
see Audubon's and Cory's Shearwaters, as well as some
Bridled Terns. We also passed the occasional Wilson's
Storm-Petrel. Just before the 100-fathom curve, we
came upon big flock of Cory's Shearwaters sitting on
the water - I estimated 140 individuals.
After a 65 mile run from the outer Charleston Jetties,
we slowed and began trolling to our ultimate
destination. We were in ~ 2100 feet of water and
roughly 2 miles southeast of the 380 Hole. We saw
more of the usual suspects, plus a pair of Sooty
Terns. After we had been trolling for about 45
minutes, I was scanning the forward horizon and
spotted some birds. It was not a full-fledged
"beehive", but it turned out to be nice group of
Cory's and Audubon's Shearwaters.
As we had enjoyed only one bite so far, we picked up
and ran over to the birds. As we did so, the water
temperature readout dipped noticibly - an indication
of an upwelling. We could see a couple of weed lines
not far in the distance - we appeared to be over an
upwelling near the edge of the Gulf Stream. The birds
were following a school of baitfish that kept
surfacing to avoid predators.
We trolled by a sparkling patch of baitfish and blam -
two of the rods bent. One fish got off, the other
ended up being a Blackfin Tuna. By the time we boated
the Blackfin, the bait ball party had pretty much
broken up. The shearwaters began milling about and
sitting on the water - a few flew away with purpose.
We trolled over to one of the weed lines and found it
had some plywood and other flotsam at one end. 6
Bridled Terns were sitting on the flotsam. As we
approached the weed line, all heck broke loose.
We had two rods go off with Bull Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)
on them. Then, a BLACK-CAPPED PETREL caught my
attention as it flew by. As I was looking at the
Petrel, the sea erupted behind it and half a dozen
smallish Mahi Mahi shot out of the water. Right
behind them was a medium-sized BLUE MARLIN, whose head
came out of the water while its bill swept back and
forth at the Dolphin like a windshield wiper in
overdrive.
I will never forget the view of a Black-capped Petrel
in the foreground with airborne Mahi Mahi and a Blue
Marlin behind it. What a photograph that would have
made!
As the Bull Mahi were reeled in, smaller ones began to
school around the boat. We began motoring again and
we put out a big teaser to attract the Marlin. As we
came about and began approaching the sargassum weed
line again, another big Mahi hit one of the lines and
the captain yelled that something was coming up to
take the little bait on the port side of the spread.
It was an Atlantic Sailfish.
Since we were on our second double-hookup in a short
time, I decided the time was right to dump some fish
oil overboard. Even if we went back to trolling, I
guessed we would stick to the general area for some
time. Almost immediately, a few Wilson's
Storm-Petrels began working the oil slick.
After fighting and releasing the Sailfish, we went
back to trolling the big weed line - making a figure-8
pattern through a gap in the middle. As we did so, I
hung a jug of Menhaden Oil over the stern to drip out
a slick (through a couple of small holes in the jug).
One by one, 4 Black-capped Petrels filtered in and a
while later, a BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL came to
investigate. After a couple of "knockdowns" and after
a small Wahoo was landed, we headed over to the
narrower weed line.
It was there I spotted the BROWN NODDY, flying low and
patrolling the sargassum weed line. I got a good
close look as it passed about 30 yards from the port
side. We traveled to the end of the weed line, turned
and blam - something big took one of the deep lines.
The Noddy was still flying around and I got my best
video clip about 50-60 yards off the starboard bow.
After boating what turned out to be a big Wahoo, the
Captain came up top and saw something on radar he said
might be a big flock of birds. We trolled in that
direction and 2 miles to the northeast we found an
extended flock of Black-capped Petrels. My count was
45 - the actual number might have been higher. I
looked hard for a Gadly Petrel that was not a
Black-capped, but to no avail.
This is turning into a longer account than
anticipated, so let me close with totals for the day:
Black-capped Petrel - 56
Cory's Shearwater - 184
Audubon's Shearwater - 138
Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 23
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel - 2
Bridled Tern - 19
Sooty Tern - 13
BROWN NODDY - 1 adult
Red-necked Phalarope - 11
Non-avian highlights: Blue Marlin, Atlantic Sailfish,
Tiger Shark, Mako Shark, Leatherback Sea Turtle,
Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Pilot Whales, At. Bottlenose
Dolphin, At. Spotted Dolphin.
Nathan Dias - Charleston, SC
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Subject: re: Gamebird ID
From: Clyde Sorenson <clyde_sorenson(AT)ncsu.edu>
Date: 7 Aug 2006 8:42pm
Amalie- white peafowl are not at all uncommon in the gamebird trade.
Your bird is probably someone's pet trying to find its way back to India.
They may really want it back- peafowl actually make pretty personable
pets sometimes.
Take care,
Clyde Sorenson
Clayton and Raleigh, NC
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Subject: Re: game bird ID
From: "Tim Allison" <tjallison(AT)canada.com>
Date: 7 Aug 2006 8:53pm
Albinism and leucism are common effects of inbreeding in
birds.
This frequently occurs with domesticated species, so is not
surprising for a bird like a peafowl. The semi-feral
Guineafowl around here frequently have white or partly-white
plumage. Your peahen could have escaped from a local
zoo/petting zoo, or private collector in your area.
Interesting observation.
Tim
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