LOUISIANA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE

REPORT FORM

1. English and Scientific names:

young Red-footed Booby

2. Number of individuals, sexes, ages, general plumage (e.g., 2 in alternate plumage):

one, and I didn’t ask or lift his tail :/

3. Locality: Parish:

Specific Locality: Gulf of Mexico, Green Canyon 640. 

The lat/lon is 27° 18' 59" N  090° 45' 13" W ____________________________________________

4. Date(s) when observed:

15 July 2002

5. Time(s) of day when observed:

approx. 1010 - 1056

6. Reporting observer and address:

Brian Boone

7. Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):

none at the time.

8. Other observers who independently identified the bird(s):

The following replied to my ID request through email:

a) Kevin J. McGowan, Living Bird Magazine

b) Steve McConnell, http://www.naturetravelspecialists.com/gulfpelagic/index.htm

c) Catarina Fagundes, Madeira Wind Birds - Observing Madeira's Nature

d) Anne Hobbs, Public Information Specialist, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

e) And Steve (b) forwarded our email conversation with date and lat/lon to Donna Dittmann for conformation of species ID and verification of date & location considering picture’s electronic information and background evidence of oil rig’s presence.

9. Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):

Full sun, clear day. The only shadow in a couple pics is that of me standing right next to him at a mere foot away for a few seconds before he moved to a distance of three feet away along the handrail.

10. Optical equipment (type, power, condition):

Sony camcorder, DCR-TRV830 (check properties of any picture)

11. Distance to bird(s):

Twelve feet at first, walked very very slowly and stood at one foot for a little bit, then the Booby scooted along the handrail to a distance of three feet and remained there for several more minutes.

12. Duration of observation:

Nearly one hour. The pictures span 26 minutes.

13. Habitat:

Gulf Of Mexico

14. Behavior of bird / circumstances of observation (flying, feeding, resting; include and stress habits used in identification; relate events surrounding observation):

Initially, I did not see the Booby on the handrail. I saw Dolphin coming toward us. Only after approaching the forward Bridge, could I see the Booby sitting on the handrail. I thought he was startled, so I stayed inside for a few minutes. Then realized that he was too pooped to fly, or a dunce (haha, isn’t Google great! I was not about to eat him, however.), so I grabbed my camera (camcorder, but I often took snapshots with it). As for stress, I think the only stress was me. He wasn’t too bother by my approach until I was standing one foot away from him. I stood in the corner of the handrail right next to him, before he game me ‘the look’ and scooted about three feet away. He remained for several more minutes just looking around as before. Then he dropped off and with only a few flaps of his wings, just glided away only a few feet off the water.

15. Description (include only what was actually seen, not what "should" have been seen; include if possible: total length/relative size compared to other familiar species, body bulk, shape, proportions, bill, eye, leg, and plumage characteristics. Stress features that separate it from similar species):

The handrail that he is standing on is 1 ¾ inch outside diameter. So your guess of the total length, considering your experience, is surely better than mine. I do know that he was very big for a ‘big ugly seagull’ as I have been calling it for ten years! And with a huge beak!

16. Voice:

he/she did not speak.

17. Similar species (include how they were eliminated by your observation):

none

18. Photographs or tape recordings obtained? (by whom? attached?):

yep, 49 pics. I’ve forwarded about 20 (a couple are duplicates to show the slight modification made to some. The originals have a little ‘haze’ to them, maybe it’s the white balance or iso? Don’t really know. Usually use auto setting, remember, this was a camcorder that did not have many advance camera settings. I’m not a camera-ologist anyway.

19. Previous experience with this species:

Lots, I see them all the time! …not really, just kidding J

20. Identification aids: (list books, illustrations, other birders, etc. used in identification):

a. at time of observation:

none

b. after observation:

TEN YEARS later… Google search last week for someone to contact for ID. Sent an email out to six people and heard back from four with positive ID. Also, as stated before, one email contact forwarded the conversation to Ms. Donna Dittmann

21. This description is written from: _____ notes made during the observation (_____notes attached?);_____notes made after the observation (date:_____); _XX_memory.

Clearly, having these pictures in my screensaver has preserved my account of the experience. I’ve told it many times.

22. Are you positive of your identification if not, explain:

yep, because everyone else said so, and it sounds good to me!

23. Date:__________Time:_______