tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609743112656924216.post389610319993316247..comments2024-03-01T06:12:09.565-08:00Comments on Greg in San Diego: Rare Bird: Laysan AlbatrossGreg Gillsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11273178678428421618noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609743112656924216.post-23489495114500546652020-04-20T21:23:02.674-07:002020-04-20T21:23:02.674-07:00Ellejay1066,
I did take a look at your profile pi...Ellejay1066,<br /><br />I did take a look at your profile picture--what a unique way to send a photo!<br /><br />Albatrosses are such large birds that their legs are rather short and back farther on the body. They don't really do well on land. They stay at sea for 6 or more years from hatching until they are ready to lay their first egg. They nest on sand beaches on "islands" that are no more than a sandbank up from the bottom.<br /><br />The shape of the head is very flat, merging into the bill without a forehead bump. The bill is almost twice as long as the rest of the head.<br /><br />Albatrosses cannot take off and fly from land. They need wind and must run a long ways on the water with their wings outstretched in order to fly. They glide with stiff straight-out wings, they don't flap up and down except when taking flight. Otherwise they use dynamic soaring.<br /><br />An albatross would have a hard time waddling around and intersection and could never fly away once it was on land.<br /><br />Laysan Albatrosses don't change plumage. Males, females, and young birds all look the same, thus their scientific name immutabilis ("unchanging").<br /><br />The bird you photographed has longer legs and stands more horizontally than would an albatross. The bill is shorter than the head and the head is very round.<br /><br />The bird appears to be a 2nd year Western Gull, as best I can tell.<br /><br />Albatrosses are long-winged birds, but the Brown Pelican is probably a more massive bird with equal 7 or 8 foot wingspan. Another large bird off San Diego (rare in the bay) is Brown Booby. It is a bit longer than Western Gull. Otherwise the Western Gull is the largest expected seabird except for the pelican.<br /><br />I hope this helps.<br /><br />Keep looking!Greg Gillsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11273178678428421618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609743112656924216.post-87545426411101216992020-04-19T18:41:59.572-07:002020-04-19T18:41:59.572-07:00I think a juvenile albatross has been hanging out ...I think a juvenile albatross has been hanging out in my neighborhood downtown San Diego. First sighting was on 4/10/20. It was waddling around the intersection. It was large and waddled like a duck but it appeared the size of a goose. It was gray and white and feathers looked like a juvenile's, since they appeared kind of haphazard speckled. A seagull glided by it, and that gave me an idea of its size, as this duck or goose type bird appeared to dwarf the seagull. It then came back a week later in same spot and saw it waddling around. I ran to get my phone to take a picture but then it flew off, so although no pictures, I got to see it fly, and it had very large wings. It then came back today, 4/19/20, perching up on a ledge on across the street. This time I got pictures of it, but they're unfortunately very grainy. Since no way to post them, I made my profile picture one of them. But as you can see, it is definitely NOT a goose or a duck. However, it's also NOT a seagull. And after typing in word descriptions, all that came up was the Lysan Albatross and thought that it definitely looks like one, perhaps a sub-adult or juvenile. This little profile picture of it doesn't really show you the size but it is definitely a big-sized bird, and definitely much larger than a seagull. I know seeing an albatross on land is rare, but I've spent hours trying to identify my mystery bird, and the closest bird is an albatross, but it's almost too hard to believe it could actually be one...Ellejay1066https://www.blogger.com/profile/17079454642017993619noreply@blogger.com