Hi all,
Louis is right, it is indeed fine for a Peregrine. One of the key issues that led to my mistake was that the photos were only viewed on my phone...and I still cannot see any yellow in the eye ring or cere there. When one of my friends, who also viewed the bird only on his phone, later took a look at it on a real computer (as I too now have), that hint of yellow was readily apparent. Furthermore, the lack of any contrast within the facial hood is clearer on the big screen.
So yeah, I was wrong, Angela was right, and unlike Chris Mortenson (Pats fans know what I am talking about!), I will readily admit to the mistake!
Regardless, it's a cool bird, a good discussion, and very different from the migratory tundrius Peregrines most often seen on Monhegan. And these "anatums" in the East can be very, very tricky indeed.
-Derek
Sent from my iPhone
Hello Maine birders,One can see characters that identify this bird as Peregrine Falcon, and the top photo on the Monhegan Trucking facebook page shows most of what one needs to see. Here is a link to that photo: http://tinyurl.com/hnaqgbm--This is a heavily marked 1st-year Peregrine, but they are not uncommon to see. Here is a similar bird from March in Quebec: http://ebird.org/ebird/qc/view/checklist?subID=S27918689The key thing in all of Angela's photos is the yellowish orbital ring and faint yellow in the cere (skin around nostrils at base of beak). Peregrines acquire this color in their first year, some faster than others. By contrast, Gyrfalcon has a decidedly bluish skin color around the eye and over the cere. Gyrfalcons do become yellow with age, but much later than Peregrines. Some Gyrfalcons retain the bluish skin into their second winter, and a first-year bird in April should still be bluish (grayish blue) around the eye and on the cere.The other feature that is typical of Peregrine and not Gyrfalcon is the broad, wide, and rounded dark facial bar shown on the Monhegan bird. This broad dark bar is bordered to the rear by a pale, rounded indentation with a few distinct spots. This pattern is typical of Peregrine, most paler birds having the rounded pale area much more noticeable and the dark facial bar more distinctly set-off. By contrast, first year Gyrfalcons have just a thin dark streak in the face (a "tear"). This thin vertical streak is often veiled and blended with a coarsely streaked cheek. The key is that the whole cheek is streak and does not show the pale, rounded indented patch of Peregrine. Some dark Gyrfalcons may show an entirely dark face (again, no pale indentation), but most show at least a veiled *thin* vertical tear.If we could see the bottom third of this bird, then one of the quickest hints would be the undertail coverts, which are barred on Peregrine (see link above) and streaked on Gyrfalcon. The wing tips on a Gyrfalcon would also fall short of the tail tip, whereas the wing tips on a Peregrine fall at the tail tip. Such proportions can be deceptive in photos, however; so the undertail coverts provide firmer clues.Falcons can be tough, so Derek's error is understandable. While looking for last year's Gyrfalcon in the Wells area, we encountered a falconer with a Peregrine x Gyrfalcon hybrid. This dark, juvenile male was allowed to fly, and on the wing would have been a tempting call as a Gyrfalcon, showing features that most of us would use to ID a bird in flight as a Gyrfalcon. Photos of the bird were even identified as Gyrfalcon by some very experienced birders. I know such birds have been flown in central Maine too. So a word of caution is in order and why the Maine Bird Records Committee decided to review reports of Gyrfalcon from 2014 onward.LouisFairfield, MaineOn Apr 26, 2016, at 8:55 AM, 'Derek Lovitch' via Maine birds <maine-birds@googlegroups.com> wrote:Hi again,While catching up on Facebook at lunch yesterday, I was at one point arguing about how the media blew the early reporting on "Deflategate" while at the same time possibly rushing to judgement on my own. To stick with the football analogy, the "call is under review" again.So, luckily, there are no daily ferries for people to race out and chase this falcon! Because, I may have been wrong in my excitement. One of my friends who adamantly agreed with Gyr brought up a good point and we're revisiting the ID. Three of us involved in the discussion may have all rushed to judgement.The problem is that we have three photos, all essentially showing only the upper 2/3rds of the bird, when some of the important characteristics (wing projection, tail pattern, leg feathering) is just not known. Furthermore, the re-introduced eastern Peregrine (subspecies "Anatum") can look very, very dark, perhaps due to expression of genes from some of the possible hybrid stock or Peale's (Pacific NW) used in the breeding stock.Anyway, don't charter a boat to Monhegan just yet. ;) More soon.-Derek
Sent from my iPhoneHi all,Angela Iannicelli photographed a dark morph GYRFALCON at White Head on Monhegan Island back on April 14th.It was shared to her Monhegan Trucking Facebook page, just in case this link doesn't work:-Derek
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