Chirpy visitors

Caramor - sailing around the world
Franco Ferrero / Kath Mcnulty
Fri 13 Apr 2018 22:43
14:40.6S 108:14.3W

Tropic birds fly over from time to time, either individually, in pairs or in what appears to be family units, two adults and a juvenile. Unlike the storm petrels and shearwaters which constantly scour the waves in search of food, the tropic birds seem merely to be passing by.

When they sight Caramor, the birds come over and fly above the cockpit peering down at us. Often they will head off and return again, as if they can’t quite believe what they are seeing and need to double check. According to ‘Sea Birds of the World’, they can catch flying fish on the wing. Bad news really, just as a fish becomes airborne and congratulates itself on a narrow escape, a tropic bird could be closing in for the kill.

Red tailed tropic bird, not to be confused with the red beaked tropic bird

Juvenile