Date: 6/23/26 8:08 am From: Peter Pyle via groups.io <ppyle...> Subject: [SFBirds] Pycroft's
One more nugget on Pycroft's:
The BoW range map showing Pycroft's N of the equator took into account specimens of Pycroft's collected by Larry Spear and further reports by them in Hawaiian waters by Larry Spear and Rich Rowlett:
We chose to treat these Hawaii reports as hypothetical (w/o photos) but Larry was rather convinced of these and others in the tropical north Pacific, and was by far the expert on Pterodroma at the time. All the more reason to keep Pycroft's on the radar among Cook's in summer (and winter off Humboldt!).
Cheers, Peter
On 6/22/2026 6:54 PM, <chucao...> wrote: > Peter et al. > > Timing of breeding on northern Cook's (Little Barrier Island) and Pycroft's are essentially the same. Molt timing then is likely the same. The southern New Zealand population (Codfish Island) breeds about a month later, but all evidence suggests they spend the non-breeding season off South America, and do not cross to the northern hemisphere. > The paper you link to is now pretty old. The most recent Australian field guide has some good info and details for identification. > > On average: Pycroft's / Cook's is like Arctic / Common tern. That is to say Pycroft's is longer tailed, shorter, necked and smaller billed. They are darker at least when fresh, show less of a supercilium, can show more extensive dark of the neck sides extending to the flanks. Pycroft's has on average more dark on the underwing pattern. It is all pretty subtle, but when a bird has all the bits, and you get a good photo it is convincing. > > We all need to be vigilant this year. > Alvaro > > Alvaro Jaramillo > <alvaro...> > www.alvarosadventures.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: <SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> On Behalf Of Peter Pyle via groups.io > Sent: Monday, June 22, 2026 5:20 PM > To: <SFBirds...> > Subject: Re: [SFBirds] [EBB-Sightings] Marine Madness: Bodega Bay Pelagic Trip 6/21 Hundreds of Cook's Petrel's, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, putative TOWNSEND'S STORM-PETREL etc > > Thanks Logan for the great write-up and plugs for more pelagic trips. > And thanks Al for bringing up Pycrofts - I certainly concur this species should be on our radars. > > Here is a paper by Steve, Sophie, and Larry Spear on identifying Pycroft's Petrels: > > https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1813&context=western_birds > > I have thought about it while looking at Cook's here in summer but all birds look the same to me. This includes some 3000 that Abe Borker and I studied over Davidson Seamount in July a decade or more ago. Cook's is molting up here now (and likely the same for Pycroft's) which makes it a bit of a challenge. Perhaps not, however, with the digital imagery that is being taken today. So let's get out there more in summer, and keep at it! > > Cheers, Peter > > > > On 6/22/2026 1:55 PM, Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io wrote: >> Logan et al. >> >> FANTASTIC!!!!!!! Wish I could have been there. Hey, with numbers like >> that you gotta wonder if it is possible that a Pycroft’s Petrel could >> be in there. My experience with Pycroft’s in New Zealand is that they >> are extremely similar to Cook’s and unless you are specifically >> looking for them, live or in photos, you would not realize it. Check >> out eBird, vs Birds of the World. BOW has them spending the >> non-breeding season out in the north Pacific. Yet there NO records on >> eBird north of the equator. As in NONE. Obviously, this bird is not >> looked for away from the breeding areas, it just blends in and is lost >> once it moves north. I mention it, so that folks that have photos >> might want to scour their images and see if any birds are slightly >> darker with slightly different structure etc. >> >> Just wanting to help make your trip a tad more awesome 😊. Check >> the photos for Pycroft’s. Eventually one will show up if the north >> Pacific is indeed their wintering area. It is all quite unclear. >> >> Alvaro >> >> Alvaro Jaramillo >> >> <alvaro...> <mailto:<alvaro...> >> >> www.alvarosadventures.com <http://www.alvarosadventures.com> >> >> *From:*<EBB-Sightings...> <EBB-Sightings...> *On Behalf Of >> *Logan Kahle via groups.io >> *Sent:* Monday, June 22, 2026 4:22 PM >> *To:* <northbaybirds...>; <sfbirds...>; >> <ebb-sightings...> >> *Subject:* [EBB-Sightings] Marine Madness: Bodega Bay Pelagic Trip >> 6/21 Hundreds of Cook's Petrel's, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, putative >> TOWNSEND'S STORM-PETREL etc >> >> Hi all, >> >> Yesterday, 6/21 was a bodega pelagic everyone on board will remember >> for a long time. We embarked on the Surf Scooter, a boat that has >> lived in Bodega Harbor for years in the shadow of it's larger cousin >> the New Sea Angler. We left the harbor at 7am. June has always been a >> neglected time on the water off of Northern California, and a time >> that holds more intrigue and promise than almost any other to me. As >> we departed, we were greeted by flat birdless waters punctuated only >> by Common Murres and Pelicans for the first few miles offshore had >> some of us grumbling about the fear of a dead, slow June trip. But all >> this stopped when screams came out of "passerine!!" The boat stopped >> and we watched a tattered-looking passerine, seemingly a warbler >> circling the boat. After a minute or so of confusion as to it's >> identity it came close by the boat and we realized we were looking at >> a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER! The bird circled for about 5 minutes, >> taunting us and considering landing on the boat but eventually giving >> up and flying back east. We were in shock. We had already seen what we >> assumed would be the rarest bird of the day, and it wasn't even 8am! >> There is just a single previous record of Yellow-throated Warbler for >> Sonoma county, and this was the first to be photographed. Unbelievable. >> >> As we charged offshore life picked up, a (summering?) Red-necked >> Phalarope flopped around about 10 miles off, and our first Pink-footed >> Shearwaters and Black-footed Albatross appeared. Then, about 20 miles >> off when we were reaching Bodega Canyon shouts came out of a >> Pterodroma: a COOK'S PETREL had appeared at the horizon! We waited >> around for a while. Some albatross came by, but with some patience we >> found several more Cook's Petrels. >> >> We headed south and off of the continental shelf. What would ensue in >> the next hour was one of the most magical pelagic experiences I have >> ever encountered. A few miles from Bodega Canyon, we hit a wall of >> birds. Most were Sooty Shearwaters, but LOTS were COOK'S PETRELS! >> Dozens turned into hundreds, and before long we had seen upwards of >> 200 COOK'S PETRELS in one 45-minute stretch!! It had been years since >> Cook's had been seen from Cordell and Bodega, and this was a county >> bird for almost everyone on board. Through all of this, we picked up >> our first couple LAYSAN ALBATROSS for the trip as well as an >> interesting June first-summer LONG-TAILED JAEGER and several Ashy and >> Black Storm-Petrels. >> >> As we proceeded south the Cook's thinned out somewhat but the birdlife >> did not. A FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER made a quick pass my the boat and >> our first pair of SCRIPPS'S MURRELETS were found on the water. As we >> neared the area right off Cordell Bank, the farthest area offshore we >> would reach today, we found a feeding frenzy of several Storm-Petrels. >> Among them was a small, blackish, white-rumped, short- and >> square-tailed bird that caught our attention. After a quite a bit of >> study, we concluded that the bird appeared to be a TOWNSEND'S >> STORM-PETREL, a potential first record for Sonoma/Marin and the >> farther north the species has ever been seen! It allowed good views >> for all, and eventually drifted off. We will be sending photos of the >> bird off for further discussion in the coming weeks. >> >> The return leg was suitably spectacular. We re-entered the COOK'S >> PETREL zone, with hundreds all around us for over an hour. If you >> scanned the horizon, you were sure to see at least a few if not a >> dozen or more Cook's at any given time! Flocks of 15 and 20 were found >> resting on the water. Amidst all the commotion, a close HAWAIIAN >> PETREL bombed right by no more than 30' from the boat at times, and we >> ran into a group of BLUE WHALES feeding among large numbers of birds. >> On many boats, a Hawaiian Petrel would be the talk of the day, but not >> today! It was during this period that someone spotted a Murrelet off >> the front of the boat: a GUADALUPE MURRELET! Not only is this a rarity >> at this date, but it is all but unknown in June. Then again, there are >> no June boats, so who knows....As we headed back in another >> white-rumped Storm-Petrel crossed by, this one a clear >> nominate/northern LEACH'S STORM-PETREL, and not long after a stunning >> breeding-plumaged RED PHALAROPE landed by the boat. >> >> As we kept cruising inshore, a group of DALL'S PORPOISE briefly >> investigated our vessel. By 20 miles off, we had re-entered the >> pelagic desert of inshore dead waters. But, it was spiced up by the >> occasional shearwater raft. As we neared shore, we found a dead >> Humpback Whale with a few Black Storm-Petrels nearby, just 5 miles off >> Bodega Head! Normally the species is rarely found inshore of 15-20 >> miles this far north. It looks like it will be a good summer for Black >> Storm-Petrels off NorCal! >> >> It was an unbelievable day out there, with the quantity of quality >> birds, let alone the ubiquity of Cook's Petrels and the >> Yellow-throated Warbler making a truly unforgettable combination. >> Through the day, we estimated upwards of 400 Cook's Petrels, the most >> anyone on board had ever seen, even off of SoCal! >> >> For those interested in getting offshore elsewhere this season, there >> is a Fort Bragg pelagic on June 26th that still has available spots. >> Noyo is often similar to Bodega, and there could well be many Cook's >> out of there too, and who knows what else! If you are interested in >> joining the additional Cordell Banks trips like the one above, message >> me off-list, as there may be options for July. >> >> A Full list of pelagic birds and mammals is here (Birds inshore of >> about 5 miles off not included): >> >> COOK'S PETREL-400+ >> >> HAWAIIAN PETREL-1 >> >> Pink-Footed Shearwater-50 >> >> FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER-1 >> >> Sooty Shearwater-4000 >> >> Ashy Storm-Petrel-30 >> >> Black Storm-Petrel-10 >> >> Leach's Storm Petrel-1 >> >> putative TOWNSEND'S STORM-PETREL-1 >> >> Black-footed Albatross-50 >> >> Laysan Albatross-4 >> >> Scripps's Murrelet-2 >> >> GUADALUPE MURRELET-1-2 >> >> Pacific Loon-5 >> >> Long-tailed Jaeger-1 >> >> Western Gull-100 >> >> Heermann's Gull-10 >> >> California Gull-1 >> >> Cassin's Auklet-1500+ >> >> Rhinoceros Auklet-15 >> >> Common Murre-250 >> >> Red Phalarope-1 >> Red-necked Phalarope-5 >> >> YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER-1 >> >> Salmon Shark-4 >> >> Blue Shark-1 >> >> Mola Mola-2 >> >> Blue Whale-6 >> >> Humpback Whale-50+ >> >> Dall’s Porpoise-10 >> >> Northern Right Whale Dolphin-1 >> >> Full trip report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/542027 >> >> June and July are RARITY TIME off of Northern California. If you are >> interested in looking for rarer seabirds off our shore, consider >> signing up for a trip as with Noyo Pelagics ("the Murphy's Capital") >> out of Mendocino: https://noyopelagics.com/#calendar , Alvaro's >> Adventures trips out of Half Moon Bay, Monterey and more: >> https://www.alvarosadventures.com/ , Humboldt county pelagics with Rob >> Fowler (migratoriusfwlr at gmail.com <http://gmail.com>) or Redwood >> Regional Audubon Society: https://www.rras.org/ or Monterey Seabirds: >> https://www.montereyseabirds.com/ >> >> Happy Summer! >> >> Logan >> >> > > > > >
