Forgive me for not also agreeing with your observation of the left wing.
The tertials and secondaries (12 through 9 or 8, and maybe even 7) are
either missing or damaged.
But the bird flies and dives for food very well - we watched it evade
aggressive encounters with gulls while it made several (unsuccessful)
plunges into the bay for prey.
I hope that I am coming off in this string has helpful and not combative.
Jack Williamson
West Linn, Oregon
On Sun, Oct 25, 2015 at 6:16 PM, Jack Williamson <
jack.williamson.jr@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Wayne,
This bird clearly demonstrates the characteristics of a male as described
in the online version of Birds of North America . . .* "male typically
has gray-blue to steely-blue skin around eyes (and in some, this color
extends across proximal upper edge of bill), and yellow to bright yellow
skin at base of lower mandible. . *."
Please let me know if you disagree.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25540436
Very best
Jack Williamson
West Linn, Oregon
On Sun, Oct 25, 2015 at 5:34 PM, <whoffman@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi -
I have examined my photos from today (taken under challenging conditions)
and have a few comments on the bird:
1. The face pattern indicates it is a female. As far as I know no males
have been confirmed north of California (does anyone know of any).
2. It appears to be a full adult, with fully white belly.
3. It is in tail molt, with new outer tail feathers, and old, faded
central feathers.
4. Its left wing frequently droops. Clearly it flies well, but it may
have some sort of wing injury.
Wayne
