Flesh-footed Shearwater (Record image)

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Flesh-footed shearwater | Off Karwar, Karnataka, approx. 7-8 km from land; 13th October 2015

Another uncommon pelagic seabird. Out of all the days I have spent at sea so far this season, I happened to see this bird only once.
Identifiable as a shearwater by the structure of the body, wings and tail, and the species can be told by the dark-tipped yellow beak, flesh-coloured feet and all-brown plumage.

The species breeds in large colonies on oceanic islands. The nearest such record to our region would be unconfirmed records from Astola island, Pakistan. This species is believed to be threatened due to accidental plastic consumption and when they get snagged and killed on commercial-scale long lines with baited fish hooks.

Nikon D3100, Nikkor 70-300 mm ED VR
SS 1/640
Av 5.6
ISO 400

Thanks, C&C welcome.