We have been debating exactly what this is.


We have been debating exactly what this is. Wedgetailed Shearwater? Hutton's Shearwater? A Booby? Gannet?? This was taken at City Beach in Perth, so the Booby option is rather out of range...

Behaviours included frequent plunging dives into the water on bent wings, followed by bobbing on the surface (apparently consuming prey there). At least two were sighted. They were fishing about 50m offshore, and sometimes closer, but never near the break-line.

Please share around - we're quite mystified.

Comments

  1. Hmm, nope. It was one of our first thoughts, but also quickly discarded. Likewise, the tail is wrong for a tern.

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  2. No, not a cormorant, either. Sorry.

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  3. Found a site with a similar looking bird. Author claims it to be a Gannet, but I am having trouble finding a validating second opinion.

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  4. http://www.blogthebeach.com/2009/space-coast-birding-festival/birding-at-sea-pelagic-birding-aboard-the-pastime-princess

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  5. Another http://exit63.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/yesterday-was-perfect-lets-do-it-again/

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  6. That would be seriously out-of-range! They're North Atlantic!

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  7. Indeed. That thought had also crossed my mind, but there are distinct similarities.

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  8. That is one of the birds on our short-list!

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  9. In the original post, really.  A young Australasian Gannet perhaps.

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