| Birds of La Ropa |
by Larry Abrams
January 2004
The first couple of days you only noticed the skimpy bikinis and the bronzed hard bodies walking on the sand….or you spent those first few days wondering how some other people are allowed to wear a bathing suit at all, showing the world what they really look like…How much torture can one person take!… So now you’re sitting on the beach on La Ropa shielding your eyes from the sun when you glance up into the sky and you finally notice the birds…
The one that’s really very different from the ones you see at your backyard feeder, with its long forked tail and its long, pointed, angular black wings is something that looks like it’s out of Jurassic Park. Those are Magnificent Frigatebirds or Man of War Birds. (Fregata magnicens). They have the longest wingspan (up to 8 feet) relative to weight of any bird. A bald eagle has about the same wingspan but is 3 to 4 times heavier. The Frigatebird is easily able to soar all day long, hardly flapping its wings, because of this length to weight ratio. They are also kleptoparasites. (Now that’s a word you haven’t used much lately) Even though they can eat by skimming fish on the surface of the water, they get a lot of their food by stealing it from other birds. Those long wings and deeply forked tail enable them to execute brakes and sharp turns in pursuit of the other birds just caught meal. When the victim’s food is dropped, the frigate bird then grabs it right out of the air.
Even though they are classified as seabirds. They almost never land on the water. And they are one of the few seabirds that have different plumage coloration between the males and females. The females are about 25% heavier and have extensive patches of white on their black bodies. The males have an inflatable red pouch below their bills that they puff up during breeding season.
Now a bird that everyone knows, even though you never see these at your backyard feeder either, is the Pelican with a wingspan of up to 9 feet. There are two that live in North America, the White Pelican (pelecanus erythrorhynchos) that is usually found in lakes and shallow lagoons like barra de Potosi and the Brown Pelican (pelecanus occidentalis), the pelican that flies over La Ropa. The White Pelican feeds by swimming in the water and sticking its head underwater to grab a small fish or other prey. They will often feed in groups herding the fish into shallower water to make them easier to catch. The Brown feeds by plunge-diving from heights of up to 60 feet. Both have bills that can hold 3 gallons of water along with the fish just caught. They lift their bills in the air and the water runs out of the corners leaving only the fish to be swallowed, head first. Yummy……
There is one other large bird that flies over our bay. This one is the Brown Booby (sula leucogaster). They have a wingspan of 4 1/2 feet and usually skim very low over the water and can also plunge-dive as the pelicans do to feed. They can dive down 30 feet and also “swim” using their wings to chase fish underwater. If you go out fishing, the odds are that you will catch a young booby or two. They really don’t realize that the tasty morsel that you’re using for bait has a hook in it. I’ve seldom caught an adult booby; they seem to learn after being caught a few times the difference between bait and food.
The young birds are pretty much all brown with a blueish bill. During their second year when they are considered adults, the bill becomes yellow and the male gets a clean white chest with a little blue patch on his face. It’s thought that they get their name “booby” from being fearless of humans on their nesting grounds and their comical appearance during courtship.
“Happy Birding”
Larry Abrams can still be found, when in town, at Paty’s eating his daily shrimp cocktail......or at lardor@yahoo.com |
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