BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="O. hemionus" data-source="post: 3276252" data-attributes="member: 127774"><p>Well I was primarily leaning towards a Cassin's auklet. It does appear somewhat large, but size is pretty difficult to tell on the water. It appears to be 2-3 times the length of the head of the bull kelp (3" maybe?) that is slightly closer in the foreground. I spotted a common murre the previous day, and it appeared distinctly larger and distinctly more contrasting in plumage than this bird. I was hesitant to post the location, as I spotted this bird off of the west coast of Whidbey Island (Admiralty Inlet), which is not really considered within the range of the Cassin's auklet. They are usually seen on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula along the open water. The neck in the photos appears shorter and thicker than that of a common murre. A common murre with the neck contracted may give this appearance, but this bird continued to have a short-looking neck while floating, preening, and flapping. The bird in this picture has more of a blended transition from black to white along the neck and body lines, more than I would expect from a common murre. Additionally, when I compare pictures of this bird to a common murre, the common murre appears to have a substantially longer beak. I've cropped and zoomed in on some of my higher resolution images that might show better what I am referring to. I don't disagree that it could be a common murre, but it seems to resemble a Cassin's auklet more. I've also attached a internet photo of some common murre for comparison. What do you think?</p></blockquote><p></p>

Verification