On last week’s Dead Bird Quiz, we ended up with more responses than I had anticipated! Edward and Wouter engaged in a bit of back and forth in the comments, and both concur that this specimen, pathetic as it is, is too small for an oystercatcher. Their verdict ended up being some sort of plover–most likely semi-palmated or Wilson’s (and they can be hard to distinguish even when there’s a lot more left than some wrung out old wing pieces). The reported wing chord on our mystery bird was 11cm, which would place it in the range for plover and sandpiper types to be sure. Oystercatcher is not in either of our Field Guides, so I had to go searching for the wing chord data, but the fabulous American Oystercatcher Working Group has those data readily accessible, and there I find just what Edward and Wouter both pointed out–wing chords for AMOY would be more than twice the length of the little wings we have here. So, we will leave it in the database as “Unknown plover” and go off feeling pretty good about ourselves.
Now, the light reading. Though the preceding wasn’t exactly hard hitting either…
Over the weekend, the Boston Globe did a (very) short piece on the Common Eider die-offs and our own Dr. Julie Ellis’ work to get the Northeast Wildlife Disease Cooperative up and running. Check out the article, which also mentions SEANET!
Julie Ellis amidst and ecletic collection. (Photo A. Boghosian/Boston Globe)
I also wanted to share with you this article in National Geographic on whales and dolphins and the potentially fatal results of ingesting ocean plastics. In late February, I will be participating in a panel addressing the issue of trash in the environment generally. For those of you on Cape Cod who might like to attend, details shall be forthcoming.
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