Seabird

“ If a bird is to cross the sea it needs a certain breadth of wing; its destiny depends on some inches, more or less, of feathers. Seabirds that desert the shore before their wings have attained the proper strength are one after another engulfed in the waves, but when their wings are full grown they can cross the ocean. ”

“ We must move away from the concept that seabirds are merely yo-yos of various sizes, shapes, and colors on strings of various lengths that venture forth to sea from the land, grab a quick lunch, and then return to the safety of terra firma. Seabirds are marine organisms and deserve at least as much research attention as that currently given marine mammals. ”

“ Because of the rigor of carrying out their primary duties while at sea, only a very few North American and European oceanographers or fishery biologists have found time to interest themselves in seabirds and then, with a few notable individual exceptions, only as an off-duty pastime. ”

“ Lack (1966) discussed some general features of how the breeding adaptations of seabirds are adjusted to the distances the birds must go to find food. The species which feed close to the nest characteristically establish isolated territories or nest in small groups, and they accept many different kinds of nesting substrate. Their clutch sizes are large, individuals move nesting sites readily, and their young grow rapidly compared to the species which feed far at sea. Species which feed far at sea aggregate in large colonies. ”

“ Since earliest times, marine birds have accompanied the evolution of human societies in coastal and insular environments of the world. Their social value is in part recorded in kitchen middens of ancient campsites and villages. From the time man first inhabited the seacoasts and ventured out in ships, the company of seabirds has added life and inspiration to what otherwise would be a bleak and desolate landscape. ”

“ The general relation between the distribution and abundance of seabirds and other marine resources is beginning to be understood. However, comparatively little is known about the distribution of seabirds in winter, and there is a serious dearth of information about breeding success, survival, and demography.
Seabirds in the north Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas are concentrated over the continental shelf and in areas of high biological productivity. Hence they are especially vul [Pg 315] nerable to human exploitation. ”

“ To know enough about places where seabirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds gather on migration and during the winter to identify those areas which need special protection from effects of economic development.
a. It is important to determine the areas where marine birds gather at sea when they are away from their breeding grounds. What factors of habitat and food supply make certain places preferable to others? ”

“ It is apparent from this review that the most vulnerable species are those that dive beneath the sea surface, including all the alcids and cormorants breeding along the coast that are discussed in this paper. This group makes up almost 60% of all the breeding seabirds in this area. Unfortunately, our knowledge of several of these species is scanty and our current census techniques are unsuitable for most of these birds. ”

“ I might believe, at least, that the instincts of the sea-bird [168] would come to one whose dreadful and ghostly existence lay in an aimless furrowing of the mighty waters, and that he would know how to steer when the occasion arose, as does the ocean-fowl whose bed is the surge as its pinion is its pillow, but whose nest must be sought in rocky solitudes, leagues and leagues below that sea-line in whose narrow circle you find the creature flying. ”

“ The flowing tide begins and the birds retreat carefully seizing every object of food that the rising water brings to the surface. Often they are so eager in their search that many birds are crowded into the deeper water and save themselves only by flight. This or that place is quickly covered over by the water and again the birds collect into larger flocks which now sway to the right or left, alternately, exposing their silvery white underparts which gleam in the sunshine like a stream of silver. The gray or brown of their backs relieving the color as the long stream of birds pass by. ”

“ A general favourite among seamen is the Cape pigeon, a pretty, busy little sea-bird about the size of a dove, but plumper, with a black head and an elaborate pattern in black and grey upon the white of its open wings. Around the stern of any passing ship large numbers of these fluttering visitors hover continually, their shrill cries and unwearying manœuvres contrasting pleasantly with the deep monotone made by the driving keel through the foaming sea. In common with most Southern sea-birds having hooked beaks, they are easily caught with hook and line, but will not live in captivity. ”

“ They sleep standing on one or both legs with the bill tucked under the feathers of the back—not "under the wing" as in poems—or they squat down, resting their breasts on the sand. They occasionally seem to yawn by stretching one wing over a leg. They also spread both wings above the back as do many other shore birds, and they flirt the bill nervously from side to side, to relieve their ennui, perhaps shaking the head at the same time. ”

“ Here the happy sea-birds ride on the silvery foam, or flit across the breezy water; the seagulls and pelicans luxuriate and flap their wings in peaceful quietude, while the sand-crab takes his walks, standing upright like a pigmy of the human species, presenting arms in a soldier-like manner, and never turning his back, however hotly pursued. ”

“ The harbors of all the northern seacoast cities are visited in winter by numbers of these birds, constantly on the watch for any bits of refuse which may be thrown from the wharfs or vessels, or brought down by the tides or currents. Their long and powerful wings make the flight of even so heavy a bird a sight beautiful to watch, and the water looks deserted when the motion and color which the gulls furnish is absent. But it is not to the eye alone that the birds appeal. ”

“ The helplessness of our song birds when carried to sea is pitiable in the extreme. I rarely make a voyage of any length but some small bird is shaken out of a sail where it hid in its fright, or is found taking refuge in the rigging. Once, while off Cape Hatteras, a finch or sparrow of some species came aboard our schooner, showing great fatigue and fear by its tremulous, hesitating flight. ”

“ If we force them to fly, which they seem reluctant to do, they circle out over the waves and settle on the beach again a short distance ahead of us; by repeating this maneuver again and again they lead us on and on up the beach, until, tired of being disturbed, they finally make a wide circle out over the water around us and alight on the beach far behind us. Their flight is swift, direct, and generally low over the water, with less of the twistings and turnings so common among shore birds. ”

“ An aquatic bird that swims and dives all as easily as it breathes, and which has just before plunged into the water from a considerable height, stands now upon a rock but little above its surface, and watches a boat, the object of its dread, coming nearer and nearer, till at last it stops in front of it, and the hand is stretched out to seize and take, without ever escaping, which it might easily do in the way that it has just before done. ”

“ Evelyn said with a smile. "Perhaps you ought to know."
"The sea-birds are fierce wild things that live by prey. One associates them with elemental strife—the white tide-surge across desolate sands and the pounding of the combers on weedy reefs—and not with domestic peace. That's the lot of the tame land-birds that haunt the sheltered copse." ”

“ It is a most exceptional thing to see a conspicuously coloured bird rise from its nest in a bare situation; the eggs are generally coloured protectively, and resemble the objects around them; the presence of the showily attired parent would inevitably lead to their discovery. Early in autumn, when the young are strong upon the wing, the return journey to the winter home on the African coast begins, and it is during these migration journeys that the bird is, perhaps, most commonly observed along the British seaboard. ”

“ It is indeed a tempting sight to see perhaps a hundred of the splendid birds gathered close together on the shore, the greater part with heads tucked under their wings, fast asleep; but if you are to surprise them, you must turn snake and crawl, and learn patience. Scattered along the beach on either side are single birds or small bunches evidently acting as sentinels. The crows and gulls are flying continually along the tide line after food; and invariably as they pass over one of these bunches of ducks they rise in the air to look around over all the bank. ”

“ They are the birds of the wide ocean, even showing small partiality for narrow seas, and chiefly frequenting for breeding purposes only such spots as face the widest expanses of water. They are the most marine of birds, yet they form one of the least apparent features in the bird-life of the sea, and more especially when that bird-life is studied from the coast. Their crepuscular, or nocturnal, habits during their short visits to the land to breed, their sombre hues, their low flight, just above the waves, all combine in rendering these birds exceptionally difficult of observation. ”

“ Sometimes, indeed, they may be seen wandering inland, but, notwithstanding, all are sea-birds in the strictest sense. As regards their movements, they walk well, wade readily in the shallow water near the shore, swim lightly and buoyantly upon a rough sea, and often sleep upon the water. Their flight is slow, but by no means heavy, and can be sustained for a considerable time. With long strokes of their wings they sweep onwards through the air, sometimes flying in circles, sometimes mounting upwards against the wind, and again descend to the surface of the sea. ”

“ The long black lines of birds undulating in their flight can readily be distinguished from any other shore bird. They have a very dark appearance. In a short half hour the last flocks have passed and there is no further flight until the next tide. At high water they congregate on the upper beaches, well out of reach of any disturber. ”

“ Particularly slender and graceful, these long-winged birds may usually be distinguished by their irregular or hovering flight, and are known as Sea-swallows; while their method of beating up and down maritime streams or shallows, singly or in pairs, in search of fish, is quite peculiar to themselves. At such times they make constant plunges into the water, often completely immersing their bodies, or occasionally discontinue their operations to engage in trivial and seemingly amicable quarrels. ”

“ But although their flight is easy and powerful, in a degree not surpassed by any other bird, they move with great difficulty on the ground. They can rise, however, from a sand-bar, no matter how low and level it may be. At such times, as well as when sitting on the water, which it occasionally does, the bird raises its wings almost perpendicularly, spreads its tail half erect, and at the first flap of the former, and simultaneous stroke of the latter, on the ground or the water, bounces away. ”

“ Idly reposing on the rocky crag or the sand-bank, or boldly sweeping the surface of the waters alike in the calm and amidst the fury of the tempest, few having the opportunity have failed to mark the sea-birds as a feature in the wild scenery peculiar to the localities for which they are fitted by nature, and perhaps to associate them with the adventurous character of our useful fellow-men whose profession it is, in the beautiful language of the liturgy, to “go down upon the deep.” ”

“ And if, in mid-winter, months after the breeding-places have been left desolate, a sea-bird feels death in his heart, he hastens as long as his strength holds out, that he may, if possible, die in the place where he was cradled. ”

“ There are certain other Limicoline birds found upon our coasts, more or less frequently, which at least deserve some passing notice; but as they are 119 species that are merely fleeting visitors during their annual migrations, and never occur in sufficient number to form a dominant feature in the bird-life of the shore, they do not call for any lengthened description, or minute study, in a work which seeks only to sketch the more enduring avine characteristics of the British seaboard. ”

“ A swarm of sea-parrots fly out from its rocky bluffs on the south shore, stirred into unwonted activity and curiosity by the near approach of our vessel, while a dozing herd of sea-lions suspiciously stretch their long necks into the air, smell us, then simultaneously and precipitately plump themselves into the foaming breakers just below their basking-place above the surf-wash. ”

“ In flight the different species, although in company, generally, but not always, keep by themselves.
In the marshes—which are their preferred feeding grounds, although, as stated above, they are sometimes found on the beaches, especially in the spring—they scatter widely, and one may flush one bird after another, previously unseen in the grass. They soon unite in a flock, however, and after circling about and turning now this way, now that, with great nicety of evolution, drop down again suddenly, often near the spot from which they sprang. ”

“ The three very large ones are invariably followed by a succession of small ones, advantage of which has to be taken at once, and a dash made for the entrance. Meanwhile, sea-birds of every sort and description are wheeling about in a cloudless sky or pursuing their prey in the bluest of seas, and the amiable sea-lions and sea-cows, and such like, loll about on the rocks all around and survey the scene with perfect placidity. ”