Long-tailed Duck and Chasing Rarities

The winter months in the California Bay Area are definitely Weird Duck Time.

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It's a great season to go out and see all the seasonal migrators. We even have our share of unusual visitors. Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland is well known for the occasional Tufted Duck (which I was lucky enough to see without knowing what a big deal it was). This winter I heard about a different unusual duck, a Long-tailed Duck who had somehow ended up at Point Reyes. These hearty and striking ducks breed in the high arctic and winter along the cold northern coasts. Usually on the west coast they don't make it down past Seattle.

There's only been a handful of times I've made an effort to see an uncommon or rare bird in an area, and most of the time this has been a local species that isn't particularly hard to see, just rare overall. Our Berkeley shoreline Burrowing Owls come to mind, or the Island Scrub Jay. They're just... there. And not many other places. But this was different. The bird clearly ended up somewhere it wasn't meant to be, and had become a target of at least some minor local birding interest. 

So obviously I went to see it. I mean, this was before the Snowy Owl in Central Park turned the birding world's attention towards the ethics of chasing rare or misplaced birds. I did feel a little strange about it, in ways that would predict the debate to come. For one, it was in the peak coronavirus month of December, and for two, I was concerned that increased attention from birders could be bad for the bird, or bad for the park. But I love Point Reyes, and I resolved that if things looked crowded, I just wouldn't bother when I got there. As you can see, the expedition was somewhat of a success. I say somewhat because the duck wasn't as cool looking as maybe you would hope when you look up pictures of Long-tailed Ducks, and because even with the substantial zoom on my camera, this was as close as I could reasonably get.

I was a little concerned about what others might do to get a better shot, and my view of the steep, sandy dunes that ringed this lagoon indicated that quite a few people had slid down the banks. Perhaps to look for the duck, but maybe it's just a popular park anyway. I would say that foot traffic was increased, and I would guess that perhaps a third of the hikers I saw gave me "birder vibes" or were openly just scouting around for the duck with their giant cameras. I didn't see any bad behavior, except, maybe, for some dubious mask usage. There was plenty of space, and no one seemed to be crowding the animals while I was there. 

But it did make me consider, you know, the implications. If this duck weren't at the end of a few miles of trail, in a park that's popular, but requires the commitment of a day trip to get to, perhaps the situation would've been different. As it is, I do think it's worth some personal reflection on the part of the birder when a rarity is nearby with potential to be hunted. Have I ever seen this bird before? Could I theoretically see it closer to it's normal range? Can the bird be observed without disturbing it, or the nature surrounding it? Basically, Is it worth it? I'm not sure the answer is going to be yes for me very often. After all, there are still plenty of birds that I could try to find without feeling dubiously unethical about it. I'm coming for you Pileated Woodpecker.

Long-tailed Duck aka, Olds**** (you can read up here about why this bird's name is not a slur anymore. Seems like maybe there's a lot of birds whose names we should change, perhaps)
Abbotts Lagoon, Point Reyes National Seashore, Inverness, California, USA
December 2020
Member of the Ducks, Geese, and Swans Family
§A Flush of Ducks§

~True Bird Fact~ An extraordinarily hearty and skilled diver- not only do they mostly dive in icy waters, but they are the only species of duck to use their wings to 'fly' underwater. This enables them to dive to extraordinary depths of 200-480 feet. They also stay underwater longer than any other diving duck, spending 3-4 times the amount of time below water as above when feeding.

Post-script: The duck appears to have moved on from Point Reyes- the last sighting recorded was on February 6th, after a long stretch of being pretty easy to see there. So just in case this blog made you feel like going to look for the duck, don't. There have been reports lately of a Tufted Duck in Point Reyes, but I will not be going after it.

Ring-necked Duck

Ring-necked Duck aka. Ringbill

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, USA
December 2020
Member of the Ducks, Geese, and Swans Family
§A Brace of Ducks§

{Etymology Corner} This duck's name is universally reviled. Every resource that I usually check for bird facts mention that the name is not very accurate, and that the ring around the ducks neck is very hard to see on a living animal. Here are some quotes, because why not:

• This species might better be called the "Ring-billed Duck," for its chestnut neck ring is usually seen only at close range, while the white ring on the bill can be a prominent field mark.
• his bird’s common name (and its scientific name "collaris," too) refer to the Ring-necked Duck's hard-to-see chestnut collar on its black neck. It’s not a good field mark to use for identifying the bird, but it jumped out to the nineteenth century biologists that described the species using dead specimens.
• Despite the name, the ring on its neck is almost never visible.
• The cinnamon neck ring is usually difficult to observe, which is why the bird is sometimes referred to as a "ringbill"
• The "ringneck" name is derived from a faint brownish ring around the base of the neck, which is visible only upon close inspection.

That was 5 different websites (in order: Whatbird, All About Birds, Audubon, Wikipedia, and Ducks Unlimited) finding their own coping strategy for how badly named this bird is. My favorite is wikipedia, which goes so far as to point out that a better alternate name already exists. The only website that resists opining is good old businesslike ebird.org. There aren't really any other interesting facts about this bird. It's just a very sharp looking duck with a bad name.

Gets excited when talking about obscure scientific topics

Bigger in person than you'd expect

Perpetual sinus infections

Red Crossbill

Red Crossbill aka. Common Crossbill
Skylawn Memorial Park, San Mateo, California, USA
August 2020
Member of the Finch Family
§A Warp of Crossbills§

~True Bird Fact~ Let's talk about that remarkable bill for a second! It may look a little bit like a cartoon bird that has been hit in the face, but that bill is actually a specialized tool for getting at the type of food this bird most likes to eat- seeds. Specifically, the seeds of coniferous plants, but they do go for other seeds as well. You see the pounds of pressure exerted by a bite down is much greater than pressure you can exert with a mouth opening. This is why it's relatively easy to hold a gator's mouth closed with your hands, but you've got very little chance of getting their grip off of you (was this example too "Florida Man"?). So anyway, this bird needs to be able to pry apart while biting down.

This evolutionary adaptation leads to a lot of very specific behavior- unlike most baby birds, crossbill young eat seeds as well, instead of bugs. Furthermore, different crossbill subspecies have beaks that are slightly specialized for different kinds of seed cones. How much do these birds depend on seeds? So much so that their breeding cycle is not seasonal, but is instead tied to availability of a major source of seeds. This leads to occasional 'irruptions', which is how I was able to see this relatively rare bird locally. When conifer populations don't produce enough seeds, these birds travel south, well outside of their usual range in great number. 

Something else I wanted to note about the crossbill is that whole subspecies thing- there are quite a few of them, and already one (the Cassia Crossbill) has been elevated to it's own species. It seems likely, based on differences in appearance, call, and breeding, that several of these subspecies will be declared their own distinct bird at some point, despite being nearly impossible to tell apart. This information, reader, hangs over me like a Sword of Damocles, taunting me with the information that in the near to distant future I will almost certainly no longer be able to tell what type of bird this is. I will enjoy the Red Crossbill while it lasts.

left-male, right-females

Some additional shots of the beautiful Buddha statue that these birds seem to be congregating around. I think given this information you would be safe in assuming these birds are either 1) Buddhists or 2) Of a divine nature.

It appears to be associated with San Francisco's True Buddha School Veil Parasol Temple, although I'm not totally sure in what capacity. The whole cemetery is very beautiful, so check it out if you get a chance.

Pigeon Guillemot

Pigeon Guillemot
Soberanes Point, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, USA
August 2020
Member of the Auks, Murres, and Puffins Family
§A Bazaar of Guillemots§

{Etymology Corner} First, Guillemot is pronounced guil·le·mot, which was not at all how I thought it was pronounced. I was saying it like it was, like, a French word, but I don't speak French, so probably wrong twice. Turns out my guess is not completely baseless, because this is a word of French origin. It's a diminutive of the French name William, Guillaume. Why are these birds called 'Little Willams'? No information available. Apparently the 'pigeon' part comes because other Guillemots  were colloquially known as Greenland Doves. I guess the shape and size is sort of pigeon-like? 

~True Bird Fact~ Quite socially advanced for a little sea bird. Guillemots hunt cooperatively. You may know them from cool scenes from Planet Earth where they're coordinating with dolphins or seagulls to corral a bunch of bait-fish using bubbles trapped in their feathers. This is one example, but I know I've seen others. They also pair bond, and engage in romantic behavior with their partners, like singing together, or playfully chasing one another under water. I am sad to report that Guillemots CAN divorce.

Lots of PDA, makes you uncomfortable, but you're kind of impressed
Surprising athleticism
Always does a little bit more than necessary

PS- I got partially took these Guillemot pictures while kayaking off the coast of Monterrey, so here, as a bonus, is a cute picture of an otter. Hang in there baby!