Unknown Bird at Eastern Beach, Auckland

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OWilkinson
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Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:20 pm

Unknown Bird at Eastern Beach, Auckland

Postby OWilkinson » Sat Apr 17, 2021 7:30 pm

Hi,

Today, I saw a strange bird at Eastern beach, Auckland, floating near the shore line. I initially thought it was a duck, but as I got closer it did not appear to be so.

It had a short beak (when compared to that of a duck), a small rounded head, a black body (possibly dark brown) with a lighter chest and a black face. When I got out my binoculars I saw that it had multiple white stripes on its black face. These stripes were were wavy and uneven. It also had a short body compared to that of a common duck and a small spiky tuft as a tail. It was hard to take a photo of, as it seemed wary of the attention. But I managed to take a few terribly distant photos as it floated further away (see attachments). At the most, you can make out the birds’ silhouette.

Any ideas on what this bird could be?

Thank you for reading my post.
A827BF15-68E9-447A-9400-D75C2A39A067.jpeg
A827BF15-68E9-447A-9400-D75C2A39A067.jpeg (209.54 KiB) Viewed 1564 times
870A9E4E-35FA-4FFA-ABB5-75A547D10BB5.jpeg
870A9E4E-35FA-4FFA-ABB5-75A547D10BB5.jpeg (236.36 KiB) Viewed 1564 times
A83A435E-2CFC-4AD1-B4D0-57D3D2939F37.jpeg
A83A435E-2CFC-4AD1-B4D0-57D3D2939F37.jpeg (135.94 KiB) Viewed 1564 times
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AngryBird45
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Re: Unknown Bird at Eastern Beach, Auckland

Postby AngryBird45 » Sat Apr 17, 2021 7:49 pm

It looks like a shag or grebe.

My best guess is an intermediate Little Shag.
133 birds on my life list since 17 June 2020, latest bird Common Tern.
93 birds on my 2024 year list as of 6:50pm 13 January, latest bird Indian Peafowl.

15 y/o birder from the Waimak and Paradise Shelduck campaigner: facebook.com/paradiseshelduck.
SomesBirder
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Re: Unknown Bird at Eastern Beach, Auckland

Postby SomesBirder » Sat Apr 17, 2021 9:16 pm

I think that this is a juvenile Dabchick or Australasian Little Grebe. Your description of stripes on its face is a good fit for a young grebe.
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Oscar Thomas
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Re: Unknown Bird at Eastern Beach, Auckland

Postby Oscar Thomas » Sat Apr 17, 2021 9:31 pm

Yes it’ll be a young New Zealand Dabchick / weweia or potentially an Australasian Little Grebe. Definitely not a shag.
OWilkinson
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Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:20 pm

Re: Unknown Bird at Eastern Beach, Auckland

Postby OWilkinson » Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:12 pm

Thank you for your replies AngryBird45, Somesbirder and Oscar Thomas. I searched up images of The New Zealand Dabchick on iNaturalist and it looks to be exactly what I saw through my binoculars this morning! I did not expect a bird like that to be in that environment.
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AngryBird45
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Location: Waimakariri District, Canterbury
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Re: Unknown Bird at Eastern Beach, Auckland

Postby AngryBird45 » Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:02 am

Hey, I don’t live in the North Island.
133 birds on my life list since 17 June 2020, latest bird Common Tern.
93 birds on my 2024 year list as of 6:50pm 13 January, latest bird Indian Peafowl.

15 y/o birder from the Waimak and Paradise Shelduck campaigner: facebook.com/paradiseshelduck.

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