As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday 11 July 2016

Rare tropical brown booby sighting stuns Charlotte bird world

JUNE 22, 2016 7:14 AM

Tropical bird almost never makes an NC appearance

It’s one of the most unusual species to ever occur in our area

By Taylor Piephoff

I have written about rarities that are attracted to large inland reservoirs, but I never thought I would be writing about this one: A brown booby has appeared at Lookout Shoals Lake on the Catawba County/Iredell County line, specifically at the Sharon Boat Access area.

I have seen the species only twice in North Carolina, both times at the coast. The species is considered a true rarity anywhere in the state, even along the coast or offshore.

Boobies are a family of large, mostly tropical, heavy-bodied plunge-divers. One northern species, the Northern gannet, is a familiar winter sight from our coastal beaches. The other species are found over tropical open oceans where they dive head-first for fish in the warm waters or along the warm Gulf Stream as it flows north. Occasionally an individual of one of several species will show up on a Southeastern beach, jetty or buoy marker.

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