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Identify skua,Iran (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter king2122
- Start date
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Agree, barred upper tail is a feature I believe.
MJB
Well-known member
If it's a Long-tailed Skua, that would be the second record for Iran. I suggest you send your photos to the Iranian Rare Bird Committee. See http://iranbirdrecords.ir/
MJB
MJB
Well-known member
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
king2122
Active member
any chance for Arctic or Pomarine skua?
KenM
Well-known member
No visible pale tips to primaries, and cosmetically quite grey, with no warmth to the plumage...is rather suggestive of Long-tailed Skua.
Cheers
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
No :t:
Why not?
I’m a bit confused. It is a Long-tailed Skua but are you saying “no chance” that the others don’t occur?
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
I'm confused by your question.......the answer is that it's not a Pom or Arctic, whether they can occur is irrelevant.
I've been found out, so I had better explain here....
This is not the first skua on here to generate a good deal of discussion, but surprisingly, there appears to be no dissension over the identification of the bird as a Long-tailed. But is it really a Long-tailed? I don't think so. Perhaps some commentators are under the impression that it is a juvenile/first-year, which might explain the reliance being placed on its greyness/coldness. The plain dark underwing revealed in the flight-shot confirms that it is in fact an adult, and in non-breeding plumage all three of the species in the frame acquire a much more barred look than they have in adult breeding plumage. We don't see many looking like this in Europe, so it is not surprising that there is some confusion when they pop up here!
I think the best clues to the bird's identity can be seen in the head-pattern: if you look, with half-closed eyes, at the shot of the bird swimming in profile you will be able to see that the extent of the cap, in particular the somewhat irregular lower border, 'ghosts' the head-pattern of breeding adult Arctic Skua rather than Long-tailed. Long-tailed has a rather straight and clean-cut divide between its dark cap and light cheek, whereas Arctic usually has ill-defined dark tones below the eye and just below the gape, often with a slightly paler area immediately below the eye. Further confirmation of the bird's identity can be seen in the structure of the bill; the distal portion of the bill, the nail, is proportionately longer in Long-tailed than in Arctic. On the bird in question the nail is clearly less than half the overall bill-length. Finally, I would expect a non-breeding plumaged adult Long-tailed to have somewhat lighter, more greyish-brown upperparts than this bird.
Anyone interested in following up on this subject and looking at more images of adult skuas in non-breeding plumage is directed to the excellent library of photos hosted by the Oriental Bird Club, for example:
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=937
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_Image_ID=97964&Bird_ID=937&Bird_Family_ID=&Location=
but beware that even here there is some confusion, with this bird being identified as a probably a Long-tailed, when I think it is actually another confusing Arctic:
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_Image_ID=66424&Bird_ID=939&Bird_Family_ID=&Location=
Finally, there is an amazing montage here of winter head patterns of adult Long-tailed Skuas at exactly this time of year:
https://longicaudus.wordpress.com/long-tailed-skuas/winter-plumage-long-tailed-skua/
I attach one of the photos of the Iranian skua with annotations, illustrating some of the points discussed.
Regards,
Killian
This is not the first skua on here to generate a good deal of discussion, but surprisingly, there appears to be no dissension over the identification of the bird as a Long-tailed. But is it really a Long-tailed? I don't think so. Perhaps some commentators are under the impression that it is a juvenile/first-year, which might explain the reliance being placed on its greyness/coldness. The plain dark underwing revealed in the flight-shot confirms that it is in fact an adult, and in non-breeding plumage all three of the species in the frame acquire a much more barred look than they have in adult breeding plumage. We don't see many looking like this in Europe, so it is not surprising that there is some confusion when they pop up here!
I think the best clues to the bird's identity can be seen in the head-pattern: if you look, with half-closed eyes, at the shot of the bird swimming in profile you will be able to see that the extent of the cap, in particular the somewhat irregular lower border, 'ghosts' the head-pattern of breeding adult Arctic Skua rather than Long-tailed. Long-tailed has a rather straight and clean-cut divide between its dark cap and light cheek, whereas Arctic usually has ill-defined dark tones below the eye and just below the gape, often with a slightly paler area immediately below the eye. Further confirmation of the bird's identity can be seen in the structure of the bill; the distal portion of the bill, the nail, is proportionately longer in Long-tailed than in Arctic. On the bird in question the nail is clearly less than half the overall bill-length. Finally, I would expect a non-breeding plumaged adult Long-tailed to have somewhat lighter, more greyish-brown upperparts than this bird.
Anyone interested in following up on this subject and looking at more images of adult skuas in non-breeding plumage is directed to the excellent library of photos hosted by the Oriental Bird Club, for example:
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=937
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_Image_ID=97964&Bird_ID=937&Bird_Family_ID=&Location=
but beware that even here there is some confusion, with this bird being identified as a probably a Long-tailed, when I think it is actually another confusing Arctic:
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_Image_ID=66424&Bird_ID=939&Bird_Family_ID=&Location=
Finally, there is an amazing montage here of winter head patterns of adult Long-tailed Skuas at exactly this time of year:
https://longicaudus.wordpress.com/long-tailed-skuas/winter-plumage-long-tailed-skua/
I attach one of the photos of the Iranian skua with annotations, illustrating some of the points discussed.
Regards,
Killian
Attachments
Last edited:
sicklebill
well-known Cretaceous relic
Thank you Killian, very informative and I learned a lot about how to identify these skuas
