Townsend's Storm-Petrel
Hydrobates socorroensis
Endangered seabird found in the Pacific Ocean well off the coast of Mexico and southern California. It breeds in summer on small islets near Guadalupe Island, located 160 miles from Baja California, and disperses northward and southward at other times of the year. Plumage is dark gray with a notched tail and pale stripes on the upperwing; rump may be either dark or white. Flies erratically and often patters the ocean with its feet. Very similar to Leach’s Storm-Petrel, which also has white- and dark-rumped forms, but it is smaller and darker with more rounded wings and less contrasting wing stripe. Also very similar to Ainley's Storm-Petrel, but keep in mind that Ainley’s has not yet been recorded in US waters.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Hydrobates socorroensis
- Authority
- (Townsend, CH, 1890)
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Hydrobatidae
- Genus
- Hydrobates
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PO : summer breeder, is. Negro and Afuera, off Guadalupe I. (w of s Baja California, nw Mexico)
- Non-breeding range
- to waters off s California and s Mexico
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Flavescent Bulbul
Pycnonotus flavescens
Brownish-yellow bulbul with a faint white eyebrow and a weakly tufted crest. Roams about in pairs or small groups, sometimes associating with other species. Prefers open forest and edge habitat over dense mature forests. Often found in scrubbier, less pristine habitats than other bulbuls in its range, though tends not to occur in cities as readily as Red-vented and Red-whiskered Bulbuls; a regular visitor of rural gardens and farm edges. Simple song consists of alternating sharp whistles, warbled notes, and buzzy gurgling. Also gives harsh low buzzing calls.
Fire-fronted Serin
Serinus pusillus
Sprightly and vividly-colored little finch with a black head and a fiery orange patch on the forehead. Sexes are similar, though female tends to have a smaller forehead patch than the male. Juvenile is warm brown with black spotting on the back and wings; beware of confusion with rosefinches and greenfinches, the former of which lacks yellow in the tail and the latter of which has streaked underparts. Inhabits open forests, scrubland, and meadows in montane areas. Often ventures into towns and villages. Calls include quiet fluty notes and twitters; song is a jumble of trills interspersed with random call notes.
Red-winged Francolin
Scleroptila levaillantii
Medium-sized, beautifully-patterned francolin. Complex head pattern is distinctive. Shows large rufous patches in the wings in flight. Found on the ground in areas with thick grass, including pure grassland, cultivation, and open savanna. Shy and retiring. Loud call is a dry, repeated “tek-tek-tek-chital-chew”. Similar to several other francolin species, which also show rufous in the wing. Separated by a careful look at the complex head pattern: a rufous neck stripe, white throat, and black-and-white barring. Lacks the black necklace of most similar francolins.
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