Birds of Nantucket

It was a sunny, cool morning in mid-June, and I was on the Nantucket, headed across to America. Now I must point out that if you are a birder, the rules are that you spend a good deal of time out on deck looking for birds. Although Nantucket Sound is not truly the ocean, it is still a fascinating bird habitat.

The sun was at my back, but there was a brisk northwest wind cutting across the bow. I was somewhat huddled on the starboard side, reciting to myself that summer was almost here. Suddenly, I spied a dark shape coursing o'er the white caps ahead of us, then another, then several more.

If I were looking out over Miacomet Pond, these would have been swallows. But out here in the briny air, they were something else again, birds that most inland birders would give their eyeteeth to see. These were Wilson's Storm-Petrels.

Here we have an amazing bird – one that is abundant with its numbers extending into the millions, yet it is one that many Nantucket birders don't have on their life list. Seeing storm-petrels normally involves a special trip well out of sight of land, often involving intense mal de mer, at least for me. So, finding them (I saw eight or 10) on a regular ferry crossing was a redletter day.

Wilson's Storm-Petrels are true oceanic birds. Their Latin name, Oceanites oceanicus, goes back to the Greek for "sea nymph." This bird was first classified and named by Heinrich Kuhl, an amazing German zoologist from the early 1800s. Although he died too soon at the age of 24, he published ornithology's first study on petrels and in a strange parallel, another on bats.

The name "petrel" is the name early seamen gave these birds, deriving from their knowledge of St. Peter. Like St. Peter, these birds appear to walk on water, hovering delicately here and there, dipping their long black legs with yellow-webbed feet to just touch the water and then scamper off to another spot.

Another nickname sailors use for them is "Mother Carey's Chickens." Again, this name goes back hundreds of years but it is thought to originate with the Italian phrase madre cara, "dear mother," an oath often used as storms howled. Mother Carey is also supposed to be the aunt of Davy Jones, so one legend leads to another.

So here we have a bird that appears as if by magic in mid-ocean, often when weather is at its worst, and certainly a creature living in such a harsh environment is worth some study. But study proved difficult because this was another bird that seemed to nest nowhere. It wasn't until the south polar regions were plumbed that the mystery was solved. They nest on the islands of South Georgia, Crozets, Kerguelen and Falklands, the coast of South America at Tierra del Fuego, and the Antarctic continent itself.

There, in the harsh and exceedingly brief Antarctic summer, these birds dig their burrows and lay their single annual egg. Their main enemies are skuas, vicious, hawk-like gulls that take their chicks – and snow! Yes, often summer snowstorms will block the burrows causing the chick and brooding adult to smother.

Well, how would you know you were seeing a Wilson's Storm-Petrel? They are small, dark-appearing birds seen skimming the waves. They are the size of Red-winged Blackbirds but fly like no other bird, seeming to flutter like butterflies above the waves. With binoculars, you can see their white rump and note their long black legs extending beyond the tail.

The best way to see them from Nantucket is to go on one of the whale watching trips like the ones hosted by Captain Blair Perkins with Shearwater Excursions. Blair does a great job with marine life, but for an added ornithological treat, the Maria Mitchell Association teams up with them on certain Sunday cruises. On July 31, August 14, 28 and the 4th of September, Doctor Bob Kennedy, MMA's Director of Natural Science, will be along. Call Shearwater Excursions at 228-7037 to reserve a spot.

Our Wilson's Storm-Petrels arrive in late May and stay into October. The peak time to see them is now through early August. Remember many of them have flown 5,000 miles to get here, never touching land unless blown in by a gale. They feed on the ocean's surface, eating small marine animals. Whale oil seems to attract them as well as the fish liver oil used as chum from the party boats that go out in search of them.

Now is the time to see these visitors spending their "winter" with us. If you can't catch a cruise, be sure to scan the waters of Nantucket Sound as you cross back to the mainland. Maybe you'll get lucky, as I did in June.

Illustrations by George C. West.

Maria Mitchell Bird sponsors birdwalks on Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 a.m. and Saturday at 8 a.m. Meet at the MMA Science Library Courtyard at 2 Vestal St. There is a fee.

To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report, call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 888-2246444, option 4.

Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy@copper.net.