We recently had a Peregrine Falcon land on our vessel. It was extremely fast and aggressive. Saw it attack a frigate bird which was huge in comparison.
All I can say they were brownish about a foot or less tall. Impressive looking birds. Got on near Pascagoula/Mobile area in rough weather. We were in bumpy push mode. I was glad both flew off near land in Tampa. I will look it up regarding short eared or Northern Saw-whet. Get back to you. Thinking short eared, but just don’t know. yet. As others have said, many carcasses/feathers onboard during their transit.
I’ll see if I can find photos I’ve taken. Mostly I have seen sparrows, some starlings, and a few birds I could not identify. One of our ships had an owl stowaway and I think he met an unfortunate end.
At first, I would try to provide food and water to these birds but learned that they were so stressed out that they would die within days anyway. I love animals. Hate picking up the poor lil dead creatures and having to give them a Viking funeral but there is not much you can do when days away from shore.
I have sailed in the company of a bird observer (scientist), and I enjoyed asking him questions. He’s the one who told me that most shorebirds who stowaway will die within a few days unless able to disembark. Haven’t not seen this play out yet unfortunately
The seabirds. now that’s another story. They love it when the stewards come out to grind the garbage. What amazed me was learning that many of them spend most of their lives at sea, and go ashore only to roost. That can’t be entirely true, given the time many of them seem to devote to raiding my beach bag looking for sandwiches and Doritos. I had one try to snag my full Gatorate bottle out of a closed bag. He had X-ray vision.
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Ospreys are awesome. Watched osprey nests on youtube all spring.
Some years ago I joined one of my ships on a trip Brazil/Japan full of iron ore. My visit aboard was to prepare for a 5th SS of the old lady. The Indian Ocean was windy and rainy and one day a big Albatros bird landed on the deck. He told me he was flying around the southern globe as his wife was looking after the children at home. I wished him well. Later we decided to scrap the ship. It was too old for further service. I can tell you why.
It’s a bit heartbreaking sometimes, especially in heavy weather. The poor things have no idea what’s going on and how to deal with it, and burrow into the strangest places to die. I remember one little guy (sparrow?) who tried to hitch a ride from Sicily to Sardinia when we got into a hellacious gale, rolling through 60 degrees, inundated in heavy spray. I went on deck to look for him, and finding him nowhere assumed that he’d been swept away by the fury of it. Some considerable time later we found him in the center of a roll of tarp.
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A few months ago we had a little bird make it in the engine room. First time I seen that happen. We felt bad for so much we discussed opening the smaller bolted hatch that we use to lower equipment into the engine room to give it a means of escape when we got to port. The bird was so scared it wouldn’t stop flying long enough for me to get a picture of it. After 3 days it disappeared, probably laying in a bilge somewhere under a deck plate waiting to get caught in a strainer one day? Funny how us mariners will go out of our way to save a little bird & feel bad for them when they don’t make but eat chicken 8 days a week on board.
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Yes, that’s a Peregrine, picture checks out, but your account of it attacking a Frigatebird would have given it away, too. There are videos on Youtube of them attacking and killing Herons and Pelicans! Incredible birds
Sounds more like Short-eared Owl
Marvellous Osprey. Have yet to get a picture as good as yours
The first one’s (probably) a Blue-footed Booby, the second one a Snow Goose. Where were the pictures taken?
It’s a Eurasian Collared-Dove, they are very common in the Canaries, but don’t occur in Nigeria normally (African Collared-Dove lives there). Did it accompany you the entire way?
The only thing that I have ever found flying, or, well AFTER flying in my engine room was a flying fish. It has happened a couple of times. Tugboating. . . . …
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Looks like two Dark-eyed juncos and a Pine Siskin, so I’m guessing this was taken close to the shores of northern North America
Sounds like it might have been an Italian Sparrow. Did it survive?
During My whole night watch I had this guy perched on the Hand rail in front of the Wheelhouse window. Running from Houston to Corpus Christi. He flew away when I stopped to drop Anchor offshore Corpus,
Osprey if you haven’t guessed already. 