It is a Parasitic Jaeger

I saw my first Jaeger on Monday, Mar. 26, 2007. That story is published in my blog Long-tailed Jaeger in Texas. In that blog and the next two, Long-tailed Jaeger 2, Long-tailed Jaeger 3, I published all my photos and discussed why our tour group decided that this was a Long-tailed Jaeger and not Parasitic or Pomarine Jaeger. As you see from the title, we were wrong.

I can now tell you the story of the verification process:
The day after the tour, my husband and I went to Aransas NWR and while we were in the office, the volunteer told us that the office staff was abuzz with the news that a Long-tailed Jaeger or other jaeger had been seen in the refuge. Someone had reported this to Aransas. Also one person of our group had promised the captain, he would report this sighting to the Texas Birds Records Committee (TBRC).

So, naturally, I expected to get a request for the use of my pictures soon. But by Thursday, I became impatient and published my first blog with the other two a couple of days later. Still nothing, no one called or emailed me.

I thought that when an unusual bird was sighted, that the birders from all over the world would rush to come to see it. At least, that's what I read in the magazines. I did hear that the jaeger was not seen on later tours. So hot news this was NOT!

Finally in July, No one had yet sent any information to the TBRC. Well, I thought, I know how to get some answers for my self and sent my story and pictures to one of the leading ornithologists, who had helped me with identification in the past, and his reply in less than a week was this:

"I hate to bring your sighting down a notch but I think this is a Parasitic Jaeger. I'm certain it's not a Long-tailed, which should have the wing coverts and back distinctly paler gray-brown, contrasting with darker flight feathers above, no white on the underwing (flying and turning photo) and a shorter bill. I'm less certain that it is not a Pomarine, but I think the bill is too slender and the pale forehead is typical of Parasitic."

This was his opinion with just a quick look and I am not disappointed, because any jaeger is a life bird for me. (Just change the name on my list and website. It doesn't change the bird!)

Then the next day, I get an email from Darrin Welchert, biologist at Aransas NWR, requesting information. (Some one's ears were burning with these emails and pictures flying through the whatever and reminded them that there had been this HOT sighting in March.) I sent all my pictures to Darrin, who in turn sent everything to the TBRC. This was the middle of July.

A couple of times, I received emails from other birders, who read my blog or saw pictures on my website, telling me that this was not a Long-tailed Jaeger but I replied that I would correct everything when it was OFFICIAL.

This week I received an email from the TBRC eliminating it as a Long-tailed Jaeger with the following conclusion:
1) length of gonoys too short compared with length of bill basal to gonydal length
2) dark of forehead continuing down well below lores
3) mantle too dark
4) central retrices too short for a bird of this age
5) bird was overall too large
TBRC consensus was that it is a Parasitic Jaeger.

There you have it. It's official. I don't understand some of the above points but it's a Parasitic Jaeger. !

So what's next? Does this get published in some birding magazines? No, the Parasitic Jaeger is a regularly occurring species in the state of Texas and the TBRC will add it to its database of observations but that's that.

Does this mean, our sighting did not make history? We still did, because the Parasitic Jaeger is a first record for Aransas NWR and raises it's species list from 404 to 405. I still have my life bird. Aransas NWF has another species on its list. This remains an incredible birding experience and story.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

Long-tailed Jaeger 3

(Bird ID is corrected in It is a Parasitic Jaeger on Nov 30, 2007)

Here are the remaining pictures of the Long-tailed Jaeger.

right side,

front breast,

left side,

right side with head turned back,

flying away,

flying and turning,

and flying along side the boat.

This was an incredible birding experience. I sure hope it is not a once in a life-time one but even if it is, I will always remember it.

Long-tailed Jaeger 2

(Bird ID is corrected in It is a Parasitic Jaeger on Nov 30, 2007)

We continued our Whooping Crane Tour with Captain Tom on the Skimmer. It was a great tour and we saw over 50 different species of birds.

The tour was almost ready to leave the waters near Aransas NWR, when on an oyster shell shoal, there sits a Long-tailed Jaeger. Is it the same bird that we had seen 2 hours and 15 minutes earlier?

This photo is from the first sighting.

Now, the sky was darker, it was windier, the seas were rougher and some rain was forecasted soon. It was impossible to take pictures in the rough water. So Captain Tom maneuvered the boat to the other side of the shoal where the water was more quiet and I shot images until the Long-tailed Jaeger flew away.

This photo is from the second sighting.

You can see from the markings on the flanks and neck that it is the same Long-tailed Jaeger that we saw earlier.

More pictures in the next blog.

Long-tailed Jaeger in Texas

(Bird ID is corrected in It is a Parasitic Jaeger on Nov 30, 2007)

I, along with my husband, was one of the passengers (lucky) onboard the Skimmer with Captain Tom Moore for a Whooping Crane Tour on Monday, March 26, 2007. We had just reached the man-made breakwaters of Aransas NWR. The Captain was calling out the various bird species that were there when he yelled "What is THAT bird?" A brown and white bird had just flown over the bow of the boat. No one answered him and he yelled (whooped) it again. He was serious! One passenger suggested a Long-tailed Jaeger and the research (and doubts) with many different field guides began.

First, we needed another look at the bird and, luckily, it had settled on the breakwater perpendicular to ours. The captain maneuvered the boat towards the bird and I started photographing. This is the first photo taken at 8:40AM.

As we got closer to the bird, various details were discuss but I concentrated on taking as many pictures as I could because it was very windy and the boat was rocking. This is the closest photo.

Laughing Gulls soon settled on the breakwater beside the bird disturbing it and it decided to leave.

As the bird flew away, a fellow passenger, Chuck Mills (I think that's his name), noted the dark under wings and that fact confirmed for him that the bird was a Long-tailed Jaeger.

Doubting passengers remained until someone noted that the size of the Laughing Gulls was similar to this brown and white bird. It was a Long-tailed Jaeger, a life bird for many of the passengers. What a lucky find!

Later, one passenger remained unconvinced until he visited me at my campsite and saw my next photo of the Long-tailed Jaeger with a partial Laughing Gull and he could see the similarity in body size. After checking with The SIBLEY Guide to Birds, Sibley states that Laughing Gull's average body weight is 320 grams and that a Long-tailed Jaeger's weight is about 300 grams. The two other jaegers have average weights of 470 and 700 grams, too large for this bird.

This really was our lucky day because the Long-tailed Jaeger (now most of us are convinced, including the Captain) flew only a short distance away to the breakwater that was on our course for the Whooping Crane tour. (and we were all whooping about our good fortunes and had not even seen one whooper!)

I took 59 photos in the wind on a rocking boat and after throwing away all out-of-focus images, I still have about 15. We resumed our tour fifteen minutes later. It felt much longer and the excitement will stay forever, especially when I look at my pictures again.

Stay tuned for more pictures soon.