Community Corner

Pelagic Adventures: Birds of the Open Ocean

Some avian species rarely come ashore, so to see them, bird lovers have to head to sea

This week, we're re-running this column about the pelagic species found in our waters because the best time of year to see them is once again approaching. Follow the links below to find out how you can get out to see and catch a glimpse of some of these hard-to-find species.

When it comes to winter birding, the Jersey Shore is almost unbeatable. But there are some species that even dedicated birdwatchers will almost never get to see unless they give up landlubber status and take to the sea. 

What it is: Pelagic trips take birders beyond the shoreline to get up close and personal with birds of the open ocean.

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These species, known as pelagics – from the Greek pelagos, meaning sea – often come to land only to nest. Even then, their terra firma of choice might be remote rock in the sub-arctic.

But a trip offshore with an experienced guide and a pair of binoculars offers a window into the lives of these highly adapted and fascinating birds.

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Where to go: The most active pelagic trip organizer in New Jersey is See Life Paulagics, run by expert birder Paul Guris. The group contracts with boats out of Long Island, Belmar, Wildwood, Cape May and Lewes, Del., offering day-long and half-day trips that take enthusiasts far out to sea to spot birds as well as whales, dolphins and turtles.

But the perfect introduction to pelagic birding is just a quick drive down the Parkway, and it’s cheaper than an all-day ride out to the continental shelf. Just get yourself a ticket on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.

Birders jokingly call the ferry’s hour-and-a-half trip across the Delaware Bay “the poor man’s pelagic,” with great, up-close views of birds that can be tough to spot from land, like northern gannets, offshore gulls and various species from the group of hearty sea ducks known as scoters. 

Why bother: Pelagic birds themselves may not be rare, but because our lives intersect with theirs so infrequently, the chance to glimpse them is.

These birds have developed fascinating adaptations that allow them to fly, sleep and eat on the open ocean.

Tubenoses, a group that includes petrels, shearwaters and albatrosses, are so called because of external tube-shaped nostrils, which help drain away the excess salt they consume.

The tiny, football-shaped dovekie looks entirely too delicate and cute to survive a life at sea, but its torpedo shape offers a clue to its own survival skills: It gave up the soaring flight of terns and gulls for expert diving ability.

You’d be very lucky to glimpse those species from aboard the Cape May-Lewes ferry, but there’s still plenty to be seen from that boat’s bow.

Scoters and other sea duck species will gather in Delaware Bay en mass before departing for their spring migration, and you can watch graceful northern gannets plummeting in breathtaking dives for fish.  


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