I am currently working on updating this checklist since a lot has occurred since this was last updated in 2015.
This table summarizes the status of 25 Pelagic Seabirds seen on all 64 Texas Pelagic trips up to the end of 2015. This includes 18 trips from Port O’Connor and Freeport from 1994 to 1999 and 44 trips from South Padre Island from 2000 to 2014, and 2 trips from Port Aransas. The species names are links to a page for each species with a seasonal occurrance graph of all the sightings by trip sorted in seasonal by month order. In addition the species pages include a google map of the geographic distribution of these sighting where coordinates are available.
PELAGIC SPECIES |
# OF TRIPS SEEN ON | PERCENT OF TRIPS SEEN ON | TEXAS PELAGIC HIGH COUNT | # of TEXAS PELAGICS RECORDS | # of TEXAS RECORDS |
TEXAS PELAGIC STATUS |
|
1 | Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos) | 1 | 2% | 1 | 1 | 4 | Accidental: one pelagic records |
2 | Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata) | 2 | 3% | 1 | 2 | 2 | Accidental: two pelagic records |
3 | Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) | 41 | 64% | 102 | 381 | na | Rare to fairly common in spring & summer, common in early fall |
4 | Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis) | 7 | 10% | 1 | 6 | 20 | Rare visitor, 6 pelagic records |
5 | Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) | 2 | 3% | 1 | 2 | 16 | Very rare visitor, 2 pelagic records |
6 | Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) | 2 | 2% | 1 | 2 | 9 | Very rare visitor: 1 pelagic records |
7 | Audubon’s Shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri) | 36 | 54% | 206 | 554 | na | fairly common in summer and fall |
8 | Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) |
0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accidental; one Texas record |
9 | Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) | 23 | 36% | 103 | 152 | na | Rare- Uncommon in late spring through early fall |
10 | Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma castro) | 40 | 63% | 88 | 597 | na | Fairly Common – common in spring through early fall |
11 | Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) | 9 | 14% | 1 | 9 | 14 | Rare in summer and fall, 9 pelagic records |
12 | Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) | 36 | 56% | 14 | 133 | na | Uncommon – common in summer and fall |
13 | Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) | 46 | 72% | 9 | 148 | na | Uncommon – common in summer and fall |
14 | Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) | 4 | 6% | 2 | 5 | 37 | Rare in all seasons, 5 pelagic records. |
15 | Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) | 2 | 3% | 1 | 2 | na | Uncommon fall/winter; rare summer |
16 | Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) | 2 | 3% | 1 | 2 | na | Rare in migration / winter, 2 pelagic records. |
17 | Sabine’s Gull (Xema sabini) | 2 | 3% | 1 | 2 | na | Rare in fall / winter, 2 pelagic records |
18 | Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus) | 1 | 2% | 1 | 1 | na | Very rare in summer and fall, one pelagic record |
19 | Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscata) | 29 | 45% | 231 | 972 | na | Fairly common to common in summer |
20 | Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) | 46 | 72% | 100 | 451 | na | Fairly common to common from spring through fall |
21 | Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) | 2 | 3% | 1 | 2 | 9 | Very rare in summer, 2 pelagic records |
22 | South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) | 1 | 2% | 1 | 1 | 1 | Accidental: one pelagic record |
23 | Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) | 18 | 28% | 15 | 75 | na | Rare to uncommon in summer, Common in Fall |
24 | Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) | 7 | 12% | 5 | 14 | na | Rare to uncommon in summer, Common in Fall |
25 | Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus) | 7 | 12% | 1 | 7 | na | Rare from fall through spring |
Click Names for Details Pages – Graphs, Maps, and Photos | Numbers Last Updated on: 4/23/2016 |
Texas Seabirds – Pelagic Status Offshore Texas and in the Gulf of Mexico:
This page contains a table listing all the documented seabirds found on Texas Pelagics and includes all the other seabirds found in coastal Texas but not necessarily seen on a Texas Pelagic.
I’ve also included the status of these species in three ever larger Areas:
This table links to all the photo galleries of seabirds that have been photographed on recent Texas Pelagics by myself and others who have contributed to this effort. There are still many species I don’t have pictures of yet. If you have pictures of birds from Texas Pelagics, especially of ones we’re missing, please email them to the webmaster for posting on this site.
Seabirds of the Lower Texas Coast:
Much has been learned about Pelagic species status, distribution and occurrences in the last 19 years. This annotated checklist by Brad McKinney was updated on Sept 22, 2009 and is an excellent reference to the status and distribution of seabirds that have been found on South Padre Island Pelagic trips. Check out this page to learn more.
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