5 days ago
Rare bird — with ‘serious punk rock energy' — makes shocking visit off CA coast
'Among the usual crowd' of birds off the California coast, one caught the eye of conservationists.
The bird, spotted on Farallon Islands in July, had a 'bright orange bill and distinctive forehead crest' and brought a 'serious punk rock energy to the usual seabird scene,' Point Blue Conservation Science said in an Aug. 8 Facebook post.
Conservationists said the 'rare Crested Auklet (was) roosting on the water off Shubrick Point.'
Turns out, the sighting marks 'the first-ever record of this species' on the islands, the group said.
Crested auklets typically 'breed in colonies on remote islands and coastlines around the Bering Sea in Alaska and winters in flocks on nearby waters,' according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
For most of the year, the birds live at sea, 'only coming to land to breed,' the Aquarium of the Pacific said.
'Crested Auklets are highly social, staying in large groups at sea, and nesting in large colonies,' the aquarium said. 'They fly close to the surface of the water with continuous whirling wing beats.'
Conservationists said the auklet spotted on Farallon Islands dove often, making it 'tricky to track.'
Even still, the group said its crew 'managed to get a good look–until a passing pod of orcas showed up and stole the show about 20 minutes in.'
After the interruption, conservationists said they were not able to find the bird, though 'it's very possible it's still hanging around somewhere nearby.'
While it's a first for the island, the sighting is 'the third in California,' according to conservationists.
The group said its Palomarin Field Station team made the first crested auklet sighting in the state 'nearly 46 years ago to the day, on July 16, 1979.'
'Truly a full-circle moment in Point Blue history,' the group said.
Created in 1909, the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge aims to 'protect seabirds and marine mammals,' according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
'These rocky islands, located 30 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge in California, contain the largest seabird nesting colony south of Alaska and home to different species of animals on, above, and beneath the surface of the Islands,' wildlife officials said.
