Information from the North
Had a lovely Thanksgiving in Monterey with my family- hope you all had enjoyable experiences! The next day we took a walk on the beach, and I encounted this bedraggled looking mystery bird.
Poor thing was just sitting on the beach, letting the surf wash around it. It let me get very close, so I guessed it was hurt, exhausted, or maybe poisoned (the water was unusally thick with a swarm of Medusa Jellyfish.) Bird didn't look too happy, so I got the Harbor Master to bring out the SPCA Bird Rescue. At first I thought it was a regular old Western Gull with a broken beak- but curiousity and research have given me some interesting answers- DIAGNOSIS- bird was a dark-phase Northern_Fulmar! What I originally thought was damage to the bill was "nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns" What do you think? Here's a picture of one- note the similarity of beak:
These incredible birds usually live in the arctic circle, but often migrate south. In this case, the little guy had probably traveled quite far over the sea, and was probably very tired. I'm glad I didn't try to pick it up because:
"They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights."
Also (via an animal rescue site)
"Because of their waterproofing, Fulmars are extremely difficult birds to rehabilitate. Any amount of oil-even the small amount on human hands-can break their waterproofing and the birds are pretty much condemned.”
So don't go around touching pathetic birds. They'll barf and die.
Poor thing was just sitting on the beach, letting the surf wash around it. It let me get very close, so I guessed it was hurt, exhausted, or maybe poisoned (the water was unusally thick with a swarm of Medusa Jellyfish.) Bird didn't look too happy, so I got the Harbor Master to bring out the SPCA Bird Rescue. At first I thought it was a regular old Western Gull with a broken beak- but curiousity and research have given me some interesting answers- DIAGNOSIS- bird was a dark-phase Northern_Fulmar! What I originally thought was damage to the bill was "nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns" What do you think? Here's a picture of one- note the similarity of beak:
These incredible birds usually live in the arctic circle, but often migrate south. In this case, the little guy had probably traveled quite far over the sea, and was probably very tired. I'm glad I didn't try to pick it up because:
"They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights."
Also (via an animal rescue site)
"Because of their waterproofing, Fulmars are extremely difficult birds to rehabilitate. Any amount of oil-even the small amount on human hands-can break their waterproofing and the birds are pretty much condemned.”
So don't go around touching pathetic birds. They'll barf and die.