Channel Isl Cali US (1 Viewer)

[Nickk]

When I was taking the pics I saw some white on the wings and Skua came to mind but after I uploaded and processed them I am thinking perhaps a Sooty Shearwater? Bird flew by what seem to be Northern Fulmars? feeding on a carcass which would also something a Skua would not do

 

[connorco]

Looks fine for Fulmar. A good amount summer along the California coast well offshore, though I doubt it's less common for them to do that as far south as the Channel Islands (though there was just a STAL down there).

 

[Butty]

STAL

What's that?

 

[MJB]

What's that?

The position a pilot recognises just before a stall...?
MJB

 

[MJB]

Northern Fulmars? feeding on a carcass which would also be something a Skua would not do.

Ummmmm...
I've seen Great Skua feed on a seal carcass...

There's quite an extensive literature of the subject, for example, see (re Brown Skua Stercorarius antarcticus):
Steffen Hahn, Hans-Ulrich Peter and Silke Bauer. 2005. Skuas at penguin carcass: patch use and state-dependent leaving decisions in a top-predator. Proc. R. Soc. B 272: 1449–1454. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3106
MJB

 

[rkj]

What's that?

STAL = Short-tailed Albatross

 

[Nickk]

Ummmmm...
I've seen Great Skua feed on a seal carcass...

There's quite an extensive literature of the subject, for example, see (re Brown Skua Stercorarius antarcticus):
Steffen Hahn, Hans-Ulrich Peter and Silke Bauer. 2005. Skuas at penguin carcass: patch use and state-dependent leaving decisions in a top-predator. Proc. R. Soc. B 272: 1449–1454. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3106
MJB

I meant flying by and landing 20-30 ft away vs diving right in to feed

 

[Butty]

STAL = Short-tailed Albatross

Thank you for helping me out by explaining on behalf of the other user.
My purely personal opinion is that it would be nicer, and more inclusive, if people didn't use such abbreviations unless the context makes their meaning obvious.