State wildlife officials and the Mass Audubon bird conservation group are advising residents to bring in their bird feeders and birdbaths until more is known about a mysterious avian ailment.
Two weeks ago it was shearwaters, last week it was the brown booby and now it is a phalarope.
Unexpected is not an understatement. A brown booby is a pelagic species that some birders make special trips to the Dry Tortugas to see.
Long narrow wings and a fairly robust body, running along the water’s surface to become airborne, oceanic and a tube on top of their beaks to excrete excess salt. All are characteristics of shearwaters.
The Manuel F. Correllus State Forest on Martha’s Vineyard remains one of the six strongholds in Massachusetts for the whippoorwill.
Nobody claims shorebirds are easy to identify.
