Posted by Michael Lotito on November 8, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Is the brown color in this brant because it is a 1st year bird or subspecies? Looked on the net and could not find another with this color or any explanation.
Mike
Posted by Ron Bielefeld on November 9, 2010 at 5:09 AM
This looks like a bird in Juvenile plumage, but I am no Brant expert.
Mike, this is pretty typical Brandt coloring, and I believe this is a first-year juvenile.
There is also a sub-species of Black Brandts that breeds in Alaska and winters in Baja, MX - saw a few of these this past weekend at the Sacramento NWR on their migratory path - along with about 50,000 typical brown Brandts.
Here is some good general info:
http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=52
Sandy
Discussion
2 repliesMike
There is also a sub-species of Black Brandts that breeds in Alaska and winters in Baja, MX - saw a few of these this past weekend at the Sacramento NWR on their migratory path - along with about 50,000 typical brown Brandts.
Here is some good general info:
http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=52
Sandy