Dovekies and Razorbills - Long Island, New York

On 24 January observers gathered at Montauk Point were treated to a remarkable flight of Razorbills.  Razorbills were the most numerous species present, with the peak migration passing the point between 0730 and 0830. An conservative estimate was of 4,000 birds, and quite possibly more, passing the point.

On 28 January Chip Hamilton, a bird conservation biologist, reported " a bunch of calls have come in from all over the island (Long Island) about Dovekies...I got called to one in Bayshore, but they are popping up everywhere, including: Miller Place, Sayville, Medford, Patchogue, and the Hamptons..."

Dovekie photograph is courtesy of Luke Ormand from 27 January from Timber Point County Park West Marina, Great River, NY, this bird first seen on 26 January by Ken Thompson.

Dovekie (Alle alle) is the most northerly Atlantic alcid, an ABA Code-2 species, thought to be the most abundant North Atlantic auk (also called Little Auk) with population estimates at 8-18 million pairs (HBW, Volume 3).  Besides their occurrence in the low-arctic waters of the Grand Banks, along the Newfoundland coast, on the Scotian Shelf, and on the northeastern edge of Georges Bank, Dovekies often show up out of range along the east coast of North America, sometimes inland. At times, stranded, starving birds occur  called wrecks, thought to be a result of sustained, easterly gale-force winds and/or changes in Dovekie food supply.  Winds likely cause feeding conditions to become unsuitable as weak and emaciated birds are pushed to coastal and inland waters.  The largest recorded wreck of Dovekies in North America occurred during the winter of 1932-1933, when  large numbers of Dovekies washed ashore from Nova Scotia to Florida during two storms. (Birds of North America Online and "The Dovekie influx of 1932", Auk 50:325-349, Murphy and Vogt).

The passage of thousands of Razorbills, coastal Dovekies, and the appearance of Ivory Gulls from Newfoundland south to Georgia has made for an interesting January for birders.

Comments

[rdcny]

Hello:

You might want to re-phrase the wording referencing the articles about the historical (1932) flight of Dovekies along the Atlantic Coast. Your wording: "when Dovekies rained on the streets of New York City" --- The flight was extraordinary in the vicinity of NYC [perhaps one was found on Manhattan Island according to my reading of the two articles in the Auk; several were found in the Bronx and Queens - the latter primarily at Jamaica Bay (thousands)]. However, your quote cited above does not represent the facts accurately - the streets of NYC were not rained upon by Dovekies according to the scientific literature. Perhaps the Daily News would headline the flight in such a manner...

[james]

Your wording: "when Dovekies rained on the streets of New York City" --- The flight was extraordinary in the vicinity of NYC [perhaps one was found on Manhattan Island according to my reading of the two articles in the Auk; several were found in the Bronx and Queens - the latter primarily at Jamaica Bay (thousands)]. http://fullmediafire.com