Birds of the Sea: Common Goldeneye

Smaller flocks as well as gathering in numbers, the Common Goldeneye winters on bays, open lakes, and rivers.  Another cavity nester, the species dives for fish, insects, crustaceans, and mollusks.  They have also been known to use the same nest cavity over the years.

The species has a tall, peaked head, a round cheek patch, and the plumage patterns for the males show its coloration to be mostly white while it visits in the winter.  The female will have a mostly black bill.

A Boreal breeder, this duck can be seen wintering over the better part of the US.  A medium sized sea duck, its Latin name means "bull head," having a similar head shape to the Bufflehead.

Where nest boxes have been offered, there are population increases.  Far more prolific than Barrow's Goldeneye, the Common Goldeneye is a speedy flier known as "whistler," as its wings sound off.  They fly in small compact clusters when they are on the wing.

                                                                Common Goldeneyes
                                                             Boomer Lake Park, 2017

These diving ducks forage solely under water and first breed at the age of two.  However, first year females are on the hunt for nest sites in early summer.  Pair formation usually occurs in later winter, and several males will court the same female, much like the more common Bufflehead.  They perform many of the same rituals, including head pumps, exaggerated takeoffs and landings, etc.

It is suspected that climate change will take its toll upon breeding ranges, making them shrink as well as expanding winter ranges even more.  This cold-hardy migratory bird is aggressive and territorial, and will be highly competitive with food and nest sites.  Their breeding postures indicate the same type of behavior.

Birds of the Sea: White-winged Scoter

A large and dark sea duck, this bird has a thick neck and a more wedge-shaped head than the other species of scoters.  Seen both on the east and west coasts of the United States in winter, this uncommon duck nests on large lakes of the boreal forest as well as in Alaska.

The most recent observation in Oklahoma was in January of 2018 at Ponca City Lakes, Lake Murray in Love, and several times at Lake Waurika. It turns up in Oklahoma during many winters, which is much warmer that the northern breeding grounds at that time of year.  The only instance it was observed in Stillwater, was at Meridian Technology Ponds in November of 2017.   Ducks had also been found at Sooner Lake by this writer in 2015 and had also been seen there in 2010.

                                                     
                                                            Female White-winged Scoter
                                                                 Sooner Lake, OK 2015

At one time, breeding was common in North Dakota at Devils Lake and Stump Lake in Nelson County (possibly in the 1950s), but now has only been occasionally seen in the winter, last sighting in 2017.  Since it is now a Boreal breeder, it is logical that they would be in the area occasionally.

In fresh water, they feed upon insects and crustaceans, and in salt water, they enjoy crustaceans and mollusks, especially mussels and clams.

Birds of the Sea: Long-tailed Duck

This small, stocky sea duck is common on Eastern Atlantic and western Pacific shallow and open ocean and along sandy shorelines.  It dives for crustaceans and is found in small groups, rarely in the company of other species.

Found on Payne County's Lake Carl Blackwell and most commonly at Jefferson County's Waurika Lake in 2018, as well as Tulsa's Oxley in 2017 and prior, this duck is very common during Oklahoma's winters.

The oldsquaw has thin tail feathers, a small bill, black wings, and brown back.  It is fairly easy to tell its age and sex, even through its assorted plumages.  These migratory birds form fairly large flocks during the winter and times of migration on the Great Lakes, both coasts, and in Eurasia, especially on the Baltic Sea.  They use their wings to dive and can go considerably further in a dive than other ducks, about 480 feet deep.





         Long-tailed Duck, Winter Plumage
          Brian Marra, Lake Waurika, 2018

Their somewhat shocked laugh is one of its trademarks, which is a highly unusual sound and will call your attention to it.  It is classified as a vulnerable bird.

Birds of the Sea: Brown Booby

The Brown Booby is a sexually dimorphic seabird usually observed near the Dry Tortugas of Florida, where it perches on navigational markers or in trees.

It is suspected that it once nested in the Florida Keys, but only nests in Hawaii presently in the US.  It will sometimes wander into inland areas of the southwest from western Mexico, namely around the Colorado River or the Salton Sea.

Similar to the Northern Gannet, it will plunge headfirst into the water while diving at an angle.  It practices kleptoparasitism and will pursue flying fish from the air.

The thick cone-shaped bill is to be reckoned with if one is in the opportunity to rehabilitate this bird, as it can deliver a vicious bite that will assuredly draw blood.  It will also do the same with other birds that have the audacity to be near it while fishing, for it will peck at them until they release their quarry.

A juvenile Brown Booby visited Oklahoma on August 16, 2018 on the property of the Dolese Sandpit in Dover.  This photo was obtained by workers at that location.  A second report of most likely the same bird was seen a day later in Bristow, OK.  It is believed to have arrived in the area under storm conditions as a reverse migrant, which will happen to single, usually inexperienced migrants.




                   Juvenile Brown Booby
                 Dolese Sand Pit, Dover OK

Another strong flier like the Magnificent Frigatebird, it is also silent, unless on the breeding grounds, and the only time they are on dry land is for purposes of reproduction.

These birds are extremely graceful fliers, but they are the most clumsy when it comes to takeoffs and landings.  They must use strong winds and high perches as an assist.

Also See Today's Report on the Magnificent Frigatebird:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/09/birds-of-sea-magnificent-frigatebird.html

Birds of the Sea: Magnificent Frigatebird

Recently a visitor in Oklahoma over the past of couple of days, the Magnificent Frigatebird is a seabird that can stray or be a part of skip or possibly drift migration.  Drift occurs due to storms which just occurred over the past week or thereabouts due to hurricanes and other tropical storms, however, that usually involves several birds, not singles, such as this sighting.

Another related factor regarding migratory events is called reverse migration, which usually happens with young birds.  This occurs with individuals in isolated sightings, such as the frigatebird, which had seen twice and could very remotely be the same individual that was at Lake Carl Blackwell in June. Since so much time had elapsed between the sightings, the probability that this was the same bird is doubtful.

Obviously, these are remarkable observations when it comes to seabirds, yet they would be most common, even though a rare occurrence.  Not only have we seen Magnificent Frigatebirds twice over tropical weather systems, there has also been a Brown Booby that ventured here right around the same period of another weather event.

The Magnificent Frigatebird will occur between northern Mexico and Ecuador on the Pacific coast, as well as between Florida and southern Brazil on Atlantic coastal waters.

           

           

Being the species that it is, the Magnificent Frigatebird usually takes flying fish which are easy to obtain when in flight, and indulges in kleptoparasitism with other birds.  It will force other species to physically regurgitate a meal by throwing them off balance with a spinning motion or pecking at their heads, and thus forcing them to throw up the contents of their stomach through gravity.  They will them grab the meal before it hits water.
                                                                                                       

                                                                                                  Magnificent Frigatebird Juvenile

                                                                                                      copyright, Cody L. Barnes

                                                                                           

Breeding colonially in mangroves in both the Caribbean and Florida, as well as on the Pacific coast side of the Americas between Mexico and Ecuador, these seabirds have also been noted as vagrants in British Columbia and Europe.

As some seabirds do, the frigatebird will rely on updrafts to migrate, spending day and night on the wing, and it is silent while in flight.

When it is time for Pacific Ocean weather systems, it will be the best to also watch those events.  Since we are in the central part of the country, there's no telling what else could turn up in Oklahoma, like perhaps, the Laysan Albatross.

Also See Story On Brown Booby Seen Recently in Oklahoma:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/09/birds-of-sea-brown-booby.html