Dear Inland NW Birders and Tweeters,

I thought you might be interested in the following account of an
apparent Parasitic Jaeger which has been present for about a week at
Salmon Arm, B.C. (east of Kamloops and north of Vernon), feeding on a
dead Great Blue Heron (!) on the Shuswap Lake beach.
Not all the field marks were consistent with Parasitic Jaeger. If
any of you reading the description come to a different conclusion
about the bird's identity, Chris Charlesworth would appreciate hearing
from you. Please send your comments directly to Chris at
c_charlesworth at hotmail.com.


Wayne Weber
Kamloops, B.C.
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: chris charlesworth <c_charlesworth at hotmail.com>
To: bcintbird at egroups.com <bcintbird at egroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, November 24, 1999 3:06 PM
Subject: [bcintbird] Jaeger in Salmon Arm


>Hello Birders
>
>Don Wilson (Kelowna), Phil Gehlen (Vernon) and I went up to Salmon
Arm today
>to check out the jaeger which has been frequenting the Salmon Arm
foreshore
>for the past week. It was initially thought to be a sub-adult
Parasitic
>Jaeger, and we would agree that it is most likely a Parasitic,
however, we
>question that is a sub-adult. It has been feeding on the carcass of
a heron
>for the last week and we were able to get very close to the bird. At
one
>time we figured that we were no more than 4-5 meters from the bird!!
This
>gave us an excellent opportunity to study the jaeger at close range.
>
>The overall size of the bird was about that of a Mew Gull. Contrary
to what
>Kenn Kaufmann says in Advanced Birding, this bird had a bicolored
bill. The
>tip of the bill was dark, while the other 2/3 of the bill was a pale
grayish
>colour. The nostril were located somewhat far down on the bill,
located
>right at the dark tip. The bird had an inconspicuous gonadyial angle
and a
>noticeable hook to the tip.
>
>The bird's head colour was very reminiscent of an adult Golden Eagle,
being
>warm brown on the auricular area, with "frosted" nape feathers and a
dark
>face.
>
>The upper back was lightly streaked. The feather pattern, from a
close
>range, was dark brown with golden spots. Asides from a couple of
lightly
>fringed feathers on the auxillars, the birds wings were uniformly
brown. The
>primaries lacked the pale tips, which is a little disturbing, since
this is
>a good field mark for Parasitic Jaeger. The underside of the wing had
>prominent white flashes in the primaries, however, they didn't look
quite
>vivid enough to suggest Pomarine. Also noted while at close range,
when the
>bird raised it's wings was the smaller white crescent below the
strong white
>flash on the underwing. In a Pomarine Jaeger, this secondary white
crescent
>would be much more visible than on this bird. You really had to look
>intensely at the underwings to make out the "diffuse" second white
crescent.
>
>It's central tail feathers were slightly longer than the other tail
feathers
>and were not pointed, but rather flat. The undertail coverts were
barred
>with brown and white. The bars were about equal in width and were
fairly
>wavey. This again, is another field mark which leans towards a
Parasitic
>Jaeger. Pomarine Jaegers tend to have more straight bars on the
undertail
>coverts. Also noted when the bird was in flight was the contrasting
waved
>pattern on the uppertail coverts.
>
>The underparts of this bird were brown, with very minimal barring.
Along the
>leading edge of the wing the brown gave way to a nearly white area,
barred
>with some brown. On the side of the neck a few feathers were edged
with rusty colouring. The bird's feet and legs were very light gray,
almost blue colour.
>
>The three of us all had the same "jizz" on this bird. Although it
either
>lacked or represented a couple good marks for each species, however,
we are
>somewhat confident of our decision. It wasn't a Long-tailed Jaeger
because
>of its larger size, larger bill and its stronger flight. We
eliminated
>Pomarine Jaeger, because this bird wasn't that large and "chesty"
looking.
>It exhibited the typical flight of a Parasitic, not the strong heavy
flight
>of a Pom. Other field marks, like the "frosted" looking nape, wavy
barred
>undertail coverts, and the slightly subdued white flashes on the
underwings
>all point towards Parasitic Jaeger. I have a feeling that the
argument on >this bird hasn't died quite yet. This could just be one
of those birds whose
>identity keeps on changing.
>
>Anybody who is a jaeger expert -- please respond!
>
>Chris Charlesworth
>725 Richards Road
>Kelowna BC
>V1X 2X5
>
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