I got quite a few responses to my post with my alcid photos, with some very helpful ID tips. Several people mentioned that they also had some questions about alcid identification in this scenario, so I thought I would share the results with the group (no photos, sorry about the large attachment before).
The overwhelming majority identified my bird as a Thick-billed Murre. The community gave me the following tips for identification:
- Size - obviously there is no scale to the photos, but it was stressed that there is a large size difference between TBMU and DOVE with a dovekie being a noticeably little bird. I must admit that I had dovekies on the brain before I even got to the Nubble, and I pushed down a lingering feeling of my bird being too big because I had decided on DOVE before I even saw it... Lesson learned, don't jump to conclusions.
- Bill - a DOVE would have a proportionally smaller bill than the TBMU in my pictures.
- Gape - TBMUs will have a faint white stripe on the side of the bill, even in non-breeding plumage. Some responses suggested they could see the faint stripe in my photos, while others noted that a first winter bird would lack the stripe.
- Head - the TBMU's head is smaller relative to its body, since its body is larger. The DOVE's head looks proportionately larger.
- Color - it was pointed out to me that a DOVE will always appear black above, while a TBMU's dark plumage can go slightly toward brownish. The implication was that my bird did not appear dark enough above to be a DOVE, although that can e hard to tell in the photos.
- Scapular mark - I was told that a DOVE has white scapular markings that can be difficult to see, but are usually there if you look closely, while a TBMU does not.
- Cheek mark - the TBMU has a white throat, but it stops below the eye, where the white on a DOVE continues up behind the eye toward the back of the neck.
Thanks again for all your useful tips, and hopefully a few of you will benefit from these as much as I did!
Jeff
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