GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
tags: Black Skimmer, Rynchops niger, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Black Skimmer, Rynchops niger, photographed at Quintana and Bryan Beaches, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 September 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Another immature gull: abandon hope, abandon this quiz, and let's go do something useful! Persist, though, and we'll find some odd things about this bird that make it easy to identify -- while those of us who just come back to read the answer will have one of those forehead-slapping, eye-rolling, "Duh" moments that fill my day.
Since this bird's head is tucked safely into its back feathers, it makes even better sense than usual for us to start at the other end of the bird, where we're immediately impressed by just how long-winged this creature is. I can't pick out any of the tail, but I do see the distal border of the undertail coverts, and the folded wing stretches way, way, way back beyond them. Is there any gull with wings this long? I can't think of one.
Then look at how long those legs are. This is starting to be a very strange-looking bird, incredibly long in the horizontal, precariously balanced on toothpicks set far front of center. We may as well see if there are any head markings to help us. There aren't, really, but look at the size of that head! What weird cobbled-together beast are we looking at here?
Well, what's the weirdest, most cobbled-together beast in the North American avifauna? If it doesn't occur to you right away, have a look at the left edge of the photo, where this bird's family is gathered. This is a Black Skimmer, an outlandishly long-winged, horizontal, block-headed beachbird. Elegantly black and white in adult plumage, the juveniles have extremely intricate patterns above, recalling the ornate juvenile plumages of some of the terns, their closest relatives.
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Comments
Juvenile Black Skimmer
Posted by: Laurie Foss | October 3, 2008 2:36 PM
What Laurie said. Although the bird in the background was a good hint.
Posted by: JohnB | October 3, 2008 10:17 PM