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Wilson’s Storm-Petrel

    RARA AVIS

    This Week’s Bird Sightings

    By

    Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, May 13 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

    Birds at Race Point in Provincetown this week included a Little Gull, 300 Red-Breasted Mergansers, a Parasitic Jaeger, 45 Bonaparte’s Gulls, 6 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, an Iceland Gull, 820 Common Terns, 8 Roseate Terns, a Manx Shearwater, and 250 Northern Gannets.

    The Northern Shoveler gets its name from its noticeably large shovel-shaped bill. This duck skims the water’s surface with its bill, which is lined with comb-like projections called lamellae that allow it to sift through marsh water for tiny crustaceans and seeds. While many duck species pair up with multiple partners during the breeding season, the Northern Shovelers’ lifestyle resembles that of the more reserved summer visitors to the Outer Cape in that they’re seasonally monogamous, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. (Photo courtesy USFWS)

    A Northern Shoveler and a Blue-Winged Teal were seen at High Head in North Truro.

    There was a Tricolored Heron at the Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary.

    And someone saw a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel off the shore in Eastham.

    If you have questions about these sightings or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send an email to [email protected].

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