Maine eBird Checklist S25558221

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Main details

Location Ogunquit Beach, Trindade Petrel carcass site

Additional details

People

Owner Maine Historical

Effort

Protocol:  Incidental
  • Observers:  1

Checklist Comments

Notes by Doug Hitchcox on Pterodroma carcass

Observations

  1. Number observed:  1

    Details

    Notes by Doug Hitchcox, who found this bird:

    On 10 June 2014 I was surveying Piping Plovers on Ogunquit Beach for Maine Audubon. While watching a pair on a nest, I noticed a dead seabird in the wrack and will admit to having no idea what it was. From Sooty Shearwater to South Polar Skua I couldn’t make it fit so I took a couple photos and returned to my work. It was unfortunately not until I looked back at the photos that I realized it was a pterodroma petrel.

    Location: Embedded in the photos I took was the lat/long of where the bird was: 43.255417, -70.59175. Later in the day, Robby Lambert and I returned to recover the bird but could not find it. A combination of poor coverage from our flashlights and evidence that there was selective beach cleaning were not in our favor.

    Description: These are the notes I wrote and shared via the Maine-birds Listserv after the discovery:

    “It is definitely a pterodroma petrel looking at that heavy bill, much heavier than we would see on any shearwaters. Then it is obviously a 'dark-bellied' petrel, which I believe in the northern Atlantic Ocean we can narrow down to Trindade Petrel or the yet to be documented Kermadec Petrel. This bird appears to have white through the base of the primaries and secondaries and not just restricted to the base of the primaries, as appears to be the case in Kermadec. Also, I unfortunately do not have a photo of a dorsal view but I do not remember the bird having the obvious white primary shafts on the upperwing, as in Kermadec - a fieldmark that I hope would have been memorable. This is perhaps using a false assumption that I have not ruled out other pacific 'dark-bellied' gadfly petrels so I hope to hear from folks who have experience with those birds.”

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