Date: 9/23/25 5:39 am From: Paul Dickson via groups.io <paul...> Subject: Re: [labird] Red Phalarope and Sabine's Gulls on Saturday's Venice pelagic trip
Wow! Congratulations.
Your well timed offshore trip reveals these Arctic breeding, continental overfly migrants like sea ducks later in fall, that are passing over our heads. We are currently assisting a USFWS research group based in Alaska with Red Phalarope studies. Their satellite transmitters indicate a wide span of winter range for Red Phalarope in the Pacific from some that go no further south than waters off California to their furthest tracked migrants reaching the Pacific region of the Galapagos. These fall migrants that you found could be bound for either southern ocean after a center NA overflight. Fascinating! We are working on better methods of satellite transmitter attachments as the technology in transmitter development races to smaller, longer lasting and richer in data transmitters. Perhaps phalarope and arctic gulls like these in the Gulf could be tagged and monitored and their further pelagic secrets unlocked. Doing so reveals the critical stopover habitats, in this case sea conditions, diets and energetics so to allow conservation to work for them. Ocean health is still a conservation frontier. We are studying Red Phalarope dietary profiles and pathology at Pinola Aviary. We have already discovered that like eiders, Red Phalarope are susceptible to avian pox. As this virus is ubiquitous and freely transmitted by wild birds inland, this would explain why Red Phalarope, like sea ducks, don’t have a pattern of stopping inland. Those that do are less likely to survive inland pathogens to which they have no immunities thus not get back to breed and pass on inland stopover genetic information.
That must have been a very exciting moment of discovery!
Paul D
From: <labird...> <labird...> On Behalf Of Paul Conover via groups.io
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2025 8:41 PM
To: LABIRD list <labird...>
Subject: [labird] Red Phalarope and Sabine's Gulls on Saturday's Venice pelagic trip
Posted for Van who's having tech issues:Begin forwarded message:
LABIRD: Saturday's Venice pelagic trip produced stunning views of two top-tier rarities that were state birds or lifers for almost everyone on board: Red Phalarope and Sabine's Gulls. Not all photos have been uploaded yet. Here's the full trip report:
Dr. J. V. Remsen
Emeritus Prof. of Natural Science and Curator of Birds
Museum of Natural Science/Dept. Biological Sciences
LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
najames<at>LSU.edu<http://LSU.edu>
