Penguin-like bird hanging out at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove

MONTEREY, Calif. —

A bird was spotted at Lovers Point on Thursday that had some wondering if a penguin had waddled into Pacific Grove.

Sonya Chang snapped photos of the cute black and white sea bird while it was hanging out on the Lovers Point pier.

A California Department of Fish and Game officer and Monterey Peninsula bird experts confirmed that the bird is not a penguin. It's actually a common murre.

PHOTOS: Penguin-like bird at Lovers Point

Common murres live beyond the Monterey Bay out on the open ocean. They are not commonly seen because they rarely come to shore, and only show up on land if they are breeding or injured.

KSBW called the Monterey County SPCA at 2 p.m. and asked their wildlife rescuers to check on the common murre at Lovers Point and make sure it was OK.

Monterey County SPCA spokeswoman Beth Brookhouser said rescuers determined that the young bird was dehydrated and tired, so they brought it back to the wildlife center for rehabilitation. 

Brookehouser said common murres are migrating along the Central Coast right now, and the bird was likely exhausted from trying to migrate during Wednesday and Thursday's stormy weather.

Anyone who spots a marine bird in distress along the shore should call the SPCA at 831-373-2631.

"It might be easy to mistake this bird for a penguin, with its white belly, dark head and wings, and upright posture. But common murres aren’t even related to penguins," the Monterey Bay Aquarium wrote on its website. "Common murres are seabirds that spend eight or nine months of each year continuously at sea. Those short wings are perfect for diving and 'flying' underwater."

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Mystery bird spotted at NM national refuge

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Wildlife managers at one of the nation's premiere bird-watching spots have a mystery on their hands.

A strange-looking bird with dark plumage showed up at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge earlier this month to join the tens of thousands of cranes and geese that spend the winter in the Rio Grande Valley.

The problem: No one knows exactly what kind of bird it is.

The debate has spread from the refuge's fields and wetlands onto Facebook, where guesses have ranged from some kind of mutant to a Thanksgiving turkey disguised as a crane for self-preservation. Birding experts from New York to California continued studying photographs of the bird Thursday, spurring even more theories.

The refuge posted a photograph of the bird on its Facebook page this week, sparking dozens of comments. Aside from the disguised turkey and oil-slicked bird theories, some suggested it could be a hybridization between a crane and an emu or a trumpeter, which are native to South America.

It could be a sandhill crane that has come down with a feather-staining fungal infection.

Or maybe he—or she—has a genetic disorder that results in too much melanin production.

"It's different. It's got to be a hybrid-cross more than likely, but what, we don't know," Refuge Manager Aaron Mize told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Members of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Team Sapsucker—known as some of the best birders anywhere, they hold the U.S. record for finding the most bird species in 24 hours—say it's a sandhill crane.

Continued:  http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22091159/mystery-bird-spotted-at-nm-national-refuge