Put on your seat belts for a little update on the Brown Booby from Boulder Co. If you recall, Peter Bandurian photographed an adult female Brown Booby in Left Hand Canyon on June 22, 2016. The bird was not seen again and presumed end of the story. Not so much. A few days later, the emaciated booby was found along a roadside near Nederland, Boulder County, CO (WHAT?!) by someone who works at a wildlife rehab facility and the bird was transported to a rehab facility. The bird was getting stronger and appeared on track for release on a coast somewhere to be determined. Unfortunately, in spite of excellent care, the bird became sick and died in mid-August.
The specimen is now with Jeff Stephenson, Collections Manager at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and will be preserved as a study skin. Hopefully we can get some photos of the underwing when it is thawed out for prep, as this can help us determine if this adult female was from the Atlantic (Gulf) or Pacific population. From photos, it appears the bird is likely from the Atlantic population, but there is not enough evidence to be certain. With the almost regular pattern of Brown Booby's occurring inland in the mid-west (OK, NE, IA, AR, inland TX and others) and apparently not associated with tropical systems, it stands to reason this is an Atlantic/Gulf bird, but that remains to be determined. Sad ending to the story, but at least the bird will be preserved here in Colorado. Cheers, Scott Somershoe Migratory Bird Program, USFWS -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAJmtx%2BVXLp%2Bj%3DnCfMYB9LSxD9ca9TxfviOUeH34%3Dznmsj5nFfg%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
