1st summer Northern Gannet pitfall for Brown Booby
On 6.7.2019 a brown and white gannet was seen off Arnao, Asturias (Saúl Rodríguez). See two photos below. The bird was initially identified as a Brown Booby ( Sula leucogaster ) mostly on the basis of the face pattern and overall black and brown plumage. © Saúl Rodríguez, 6.7.2019 © Saúl Rodríguez, 6.7.2019 On 9.7 Daniel López Velasco, after being contacted by Jorge Valella who initially realised the bird was not a Brown Booby, confirmed that the photos of the bird and initial thoughts of Jorge were right so the bird was indeed a 1st summer Northern Gannet ( Morus bassanus ). Features pointing towards Morus were: • Brown chest limit too far from the front edge of the wing compared with Sula leucogaster (see figure below) • White rump (hardly visible in the photos) • Dark underwings Sula leucogaster © Daniel López Velasco Arnao photos were not taken close enough and face pattern strongly recalled that of Sula leucogaster but a better analysis of the...