Monday 20 July 2009

BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS offshore/'At Sea'

Lee, not sure if you are aware of this, or of its relevance, but I thought I'd relate it anyway. I used to do a lot of pelagic trips off the coast of California. In autumn, juvenile BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS were not infrequently seen out at sea, probably more often than any other non-pelagic species. They were the most likely species to come aboard the boat, sometimes staying on board for hours. They were often very tame. Different ocean, time of year, and age group, but at least shows a propensity for this species to fly out to sea and to land on boats. I was never more than a few tens of miles offshore, by the way (Chris Corben, corben@hoarybat.com, www.hoarybat.com)