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Species
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MTY status & distribution
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Documentation:
if photo, usually a thumbnail;
if specimen or details,
so indicated
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credits or comments
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South Polar Skua
Catharacta maccormicki
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Scarce but regular fall visitor; rare at other seasons
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photo © Don Roberson
6 Oct 1999 Monterey Bay
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Pomarine Jaeger
Catharacta pomarinus
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Common migrant offshore spring & (esp.) fall; uncommon in winter
offshore. No interior records to date
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photo © Don Roberson
17 Nov 1979
~50 nmi SW of Pt. Sur
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Parasitic Jaeger
Catharacta parasiticus
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Common fall migrant offshore; uncommon spring migrant and rare
winter visitor. This is the jaeger most likely to be visiting river mouths
or on Elkhorn Slough
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photo © Don Roberson
22 Sep 1982 Monterey Bay
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Long-tailed Jaeger
Catharacta longicaudus
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Common fall migrant well offshore becoming scarce near-shore; one
inland record
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photo © Don Roberson
2 Sep 1990 Salinas wtp
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Laughing Gull
Larus atricilla
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Very rare spring, fall, and winter vagrant along the coast
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photo © Paul E. Lehman
18 Feb 1979 Moss Landing
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Franklin's Gull
Larus pipixcan
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Rare visitor, mostly coastal, with records scattered throughout
the seasons but most in spring & fall migrations
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photo © Don Roberson
27 Oct 2003 Pt. Pinos
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Little Gull
Larus minutus
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Very rare winter and spring vagrant along the coast
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photo © Ronald L. Branson
3 Apr 1982 Monterey Harbor
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Bonaparte's Gull
Larus philadelphia
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Common spring & fall migrant, much of it offshore; a few remain
to winter and summer locally
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photo © Don Roberson
16 Aug 1982 Carmel R. mouth
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Heermann's Gull
Larus heermanni
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Breeds locally: up to 3 pairs have nested at Roberts Lake, Seaside,
since 1999 (not always successfully). Otherwise, a common summer and fall
visitor along the coast with fair numbers remaining to winter locally.
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photo © Don Roberson
24 Feb 1984 Pt. Pinos
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Mew Gull
Larus canus
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Common winter visitor along the coast and in the Salinas Valley;
very rare in summer
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photo © Don Roberson
13 Nov 1995 Monterey harbor
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Ring-billed Gull
Larus delawarensis
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Common winter visitor to Elkhorn Slough and Salinas Valley; much
rarer on Monterey Peninsula and south along Big Sur coast where most records
are of spring or fall migrants; rare in summer
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photo © Don Roberson
8 Jan 2004 Moss Landing
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California Gull
Larus californicus
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Common winter visitor with good numbers of non-breeders remaining
into spring and summer
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photo © Don Roberson
18 Jan 1980 Pt. Pinos
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Herring Gull
Larus argentatus
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Uncommon winter visitor along the coast and offshore but regular
and conspicuous at some gull roosts; very rare in summer
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photo © Don Roberson
17 Nov 1979
~50 nmi SW Cape San Martin
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Thayer's Gull
Larus thayeri
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Uncommon winter visitor, regular at some roosts and offshore. Rare
in spring and very rare in summer
Much more
information on species page
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photo © Jeff Poklen
8 Feb 2004 ~12 nmi west
of Pt. Lobos
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Lesser Black-backed Gull
Larus fuscus
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Very rare winter vagrants; two records (Jan 1978, Jan 2003)
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photo © Ronald L. Branson
14 Jan 1978 Roberts Lake
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Western Gull
Larus occidentalis
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Breeds widely: common and conspicuous resident along the coast;
very rare inland
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photo © Don Roberson
Nov 1986 Otter Pt., P.G.
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Glaucous-winged Gull
Larus glaucescens
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Fairly common winter visitor along the coast; scarce in summer
or inland
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photo © Don Roberson
Feb 2000 Roberts Lake
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Glaucous Gull
Larus hyperboreus
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Rare winter visitor along the coast; exceptional in spring or summer
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photo © Don Roberson
2 Jan 1994 Carmel R. mouth
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Sabine's Gull
Xema sabini
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Common spring & fall migrant offshore; rare along coastline
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photo © Don Roberson
Sep 1987 Monterey Bay
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Swallow-tailed Gull
Creagrus furcatus
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Exceptional vagrant; one record in June 1985 likely linked to the
1982-83 El Niño
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photo © Peter LaTourrette
7 June 1985 Hopkins, P.G.
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Black-legged Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
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Regular winter visitor offshore, sometimes common during irregular
flight years, after which a few may summer
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photo © Don Roberson
10 Feb 1996 Monterey Bay
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Caspian Tern
Sterna caspia
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Breeds locally: uncommon but conspicuous along the coast of n.
MTY and on Elkhorn Slough; rare in winter
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photo © Don Roberson
2 May 1995 El Estero, Monterey
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Royal Tern
Sterna maxima
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Now a rare vagrant, mostly in summer (last record 1989); was once
a common winter visitor in the early 20th century
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no photo in MTY
but many
specimens at CAS, MVZ;
also sev. field
descriptions, incl.
this one 16 Aug 1982
Elkhorn Slough
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Elegant Tern
Sterna elegans
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Common post-breeding summer visitor along the coast; rare by Nov-Dec.
Numbers & date span has been increasing in recent years
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photo © Don Roberson
11 Sep 1994 Salinas R. mouth
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Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
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Common spring & fall migrant offshore with some seen along
the coast; rare in summer and very rare in winter
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photo © Don Roberson
24 Aug 1980 Monterey Bay
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Arctic Tern
Sterna paradisaea
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Common spring & fall migrant offshore; scarce along the coast
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photo © Don Roberson
22 Sep 1982 Monterey Bay
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Forster's Tern
Sterna forsteri
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Has been a local breeder but not recently (last nested 1980; nesting
attempted 1995), but common migrant and summer visitor to Elkhorn Slough,
and a few winter there
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photo © Don Roberson
22 Mar 1986 Moss Landing
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Least Tern
Sterna antillarum
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Rare spring & fall migrant, and rare summer visitor, but once
nested near Salinas R. mouth (last nested 1956)
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many specimens
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no photo for MTY ?
many specimens
CAS, MVZ +
and
annual sight records
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White-winged Tern
Chlidonias leucopterus
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Exceptional fall vagrant; one record (Aug-Oct 1999)
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photo © Ed Kwater
6 Sep 1999 Moonglow Dairy, Elkhorn Slough
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Black Tern
Chlidonias niger
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Rare spring & fall migrant along the coast; rare breeder a
century ago
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photo © Don Roberson
23 Aug 1981 Moss Landing
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Black Skimmer
Rynchops niger
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Rare spring & fall migrant along the coast; very rare in summer
(breeding attempted summer 2000) and winter
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photo © John Sorensen
27 Sep 2000 Del Monte Beach, Monterey
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Common Murre
Uria aalge
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Breeds locally: common resident along Big Sur coast (Castle Rock
& Hurricane Pt.). Common offshore; numbers increased in fall &
winter by migrants.
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photo © Don Roberson
date Monterey Bay
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Thick-billed Murre
Uria lomvia
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Very rare fall and winter visitor to Monterey Bay and Monterey
harbor
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photo © Don Roberson
24 Sep 1993 Monterey Harbor
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Pigeon Guillemot
Cepphus columba
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Breeds widely along coast: common summer resident from Monterey
harbor south along Big Sur coast; rare in winter
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photo © Don Roberson
18 Apr 1995 Monterey harbor
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Marbled Murrelet
Brachyramphus marmoratus
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Rare post-breeding visitor along coast; most recorded in fall &
winter
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photo © W. Ed Harper
Feb 1984 Monterey Bay
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Xantus's Murrelet
Synthliboramphus hypoleucus
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Post-breeding visitor offshore. Race scrippsi is an uncommon
late summer & fall visitor with more in warm-water years; rare in winter.
Race hypoleucus is a rare fall visitor is warm-water years, exceptional
in spring
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photo of S. h. scrippsi
© Don Roberson
Oct date Monterey Bay
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Craveri's Murrelet
Synthliboramphus craveri
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Uncommon and irregular late summer & fall visitor offshore,
primarily in warm-water years
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photo © Don Roberson
7 Oct 1978 Moss Landing
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Ancient Murrelet
Synthliboramphus antiquus
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Irregular but sometimes fairly common winter visitor offshore;
very rare in summer
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photo © Bill Hill
Jan 2003 Monterey
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Cassin's Auklet
Ptychoramphus aleuticus
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Breeds very locally at Castle Rock, Big Sur coast. Otherwise a
common fall & winter visitor offshore with smaller numbers present
in spring & summer
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photo © Don Roberson
9 Feb 2003 Monterey Bay
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Parakeet Auklet
Aethia psittacula
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Very rare winter vagrant; was more regular as a winter visitor
a century ago
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no photo in MTY
specimens at CAS &
at MLML (this one)
3 Mar 1974 Zmudowski SP
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Rhinoceros Auklet
Cerorhinca monocerata
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Common visitor offshore, primarily in fall & winter
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photo © Don Roberson
10 Feb 1996 Monterey Bay
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Horned Puffin
Fratercula corniculata
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Very rare visitor offshore with records in both winter & summer
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photo © John Sorensen
7 Aug 1999 Monterey Bay
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Tufted Puffin
Fratercula cirrhata
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Rare but regular offshore visitor throughout the year with fewest
in summer, but may breed occasionally at Castle Rock
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photo © Don Roberson
24 Aug 2003 Monterey Bay
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