Inky

The drama on the beach that day was intense.

Normally, seeing a few hunched sea gulls on the edge of an ocean beach hardly warrants a second glance... but unbeknownst to most was a subtle social drama unfolding.

Inky is the Ring-billed Gull who occupies our section of the beach. He/She (from now on He, for convenience) has a bluey/inky splotch on his left wing, hence the recognition and the name.


(My camera was acting up, but if you look close to his tail on the bottom of the wing, you should be able to see Inky's namesake.)

That day there was a flock of preening and sunning terns (Royal and Sandwich) and gulls (Ring-billed and Laughing). Wester (Ring-billed gull (RBG) who "owned" the western side of the beach the flock was on), Middler (RBG who owned middle part) and Inky (owned the eastern part).

Casual observers would have seen a few RBGs walking around, but closer look would have revealed the desperation in the walks of some RBGs and the murderous intent of others. Inky and his two homeowner counter parts were having nothing to do with the renegade RBGs and spent the better part of an hour chasing, screaming and generally threatening the poor homeless gulls. It was easy to see who owned what with the puffed up self-importance radiated by the homeowners and the strict lines of territory that the three owners observed.

Occasionally it seemed as if romance might be blossoming, as Inky occasionally allowed one gull to occupy his beach and stayed near to it (dare I say her?) when it(she) was around. They even sat down next to each other on the beach and warned other stray RBGs off together.

So who knows what happens on a seemingly innocent beach? Some further looks into RBG biology might show this 'romance' to be nothing of the sort (if say, in winter the birds have no intention of making attachments with the opposite sex), or maybe it's a buddy system. Who knows? But one this is for sure.... somethings going on... :D

Magnificent!

On this trip to Florida, one of my main wishes was to see a Magnificent Frigate Bird (Frigata magnificens).

Day 2: At the Ding Darling Park, I catch up to Dad who points out a fading speck in the sky, "You just missed it!"

Day 3: Coming out of the shower after a short swim in the pool, Mom rushes in, "A frigate bird just flew over the pool!"

ARG!

HOWEVER...
Day 5: A flock of about 12 Frigate Birds soars overhead at the Gym, close and beautiful, but no binoculars

Day 6: On the beach several Frigate birds are spotted. I train my binoculars on a huge male who flies close to the beach and right over our heads. I can see his red skin pouch and his hook bill. Finally! Magnificent!Picture from WikiMedia Commons courtesy of E. Kirdler.

Zen!

The zen-ful question has been partially addressed! After talking to an enthousiastic photographer, it appears that the Snowy Egret uses it's yellow toes as 'bait' to attract minnows.

This doesn't mean that this was the original reason yellow feet evolved, but it's a step in the right direction.

Questions remaining:

1. Immature snowy egrets have yellowish-greenish legs, they don't get totally black until adult-hood ==> Yellow feet/black leg combo related to mating?
Note: Another egret, the Cattle Egret, has yellow/pink legs in the breeding season and dark legs in the winter

2. Other Egrets, such as the Great Egret, have dark legs

3. And why are all these tropical wading birds (Great, Cattle and Snowy Egrets, White Ibis...) white? Even the Little Blue Heron immatures are white and some of the big Herons (Great Blue Heron and Reddish Egret) have white morphs. What's with this colour?