Posted by Gary W. Potter (198.81.16.163) on February 27, 2002 at 21:47:55:
In Reply to: seabird posted by Phil Pickering on February 20, 2002 at 21:04:41:
For most of the same reasons that Phil has stated, I agree that this is either a Manx or Black-vented Shearwater. Having said that, I must admit that the only experience with Manx was on my first pelagic trip in 1978, before the split, and after the split those Manx suddenly turned into Black-vented :) So my opinion may not be worth much! But I think that the very white under tail area is much too extensive for even a light end Black-vented, and there does appear to be a light crescent curling up behind the eye as there is supposed to be on a Manx. Also, the angle of the shot does not reveal much about the light an dark areas as seen in profile. The lightness of the head and neck looks out of the range of Manx, but I think this may be due to an overexposed photograph, or an artifact of the scan. In MHO this is a Manx Shearwater. Cheers, Gary