Places and times seen in Munakata city

It is a winter bird in Munakata and it can be seen from late December to May. The number of flights varies widely from year to year.
In February - March there are occasions when hordes are seen offshore. It will be on the way to change to summer wing from April to May, but sometimes we see a beautiful figure that has become a perfect summer wing.
From the shore of Kannin to Kanazaki, we can see the flocks floating off the coast. It is also common in shipbuilding on the Oshima · Oshima route. Sometimes it is seen in the fishing port such as Kaminomi and Kanazaki, but in the case of emergency evacuation when the sea becomes rough, or oil is attached to the body, it is mostly weakened.

Characteristic

The total length is 65 cm. Same color of both sexes. It is a large waterfowl of the size of a duck. It closely resembles Ooham, but it is small one size.
In the summer wing, the luster of the black spots in the anterior neck is purple, and the posterior to the posterior neck are silver white.
There are black neckline patterns in the throat in the winters. There is no vitiligo behind the armpits. It looks like two color two tone. There are also individuals without cavernous rings.
When spring comes, the head becomes gray, vertical lines and check patterns enter the neck and back, it becomes a beautiful figure, but it gets passed before it becomes a beautiful summer wing, so it is hard to see the beautiful figure.

Habit

Living on the sea facing the open ocean. I rarely rise to land. Sometimes it enters rivers and ponds rarely.
If you swim on the sea, put your face under the sea surface and look for fish and diving and catching it when you find the prey.
It acts in a group, and in many cases it can be several hundred.

distribution

Breeding in North America (Alaska, Northern Canada), the extreme North of Southern Siberia, overwhelming in the Aleutian Archipelago, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the coast of the Japanese Islands, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. It is known that a large flock can be seen in Genkai and Seto Inland Sea.

Other

The name of Ooham is said to derive from eating fish. Similar Oham is also seen on the coast of Munakata, but it is not seen in a large flock like Shiroleio Oham. There are differences such as bigger than Sierrio Oham and long beak, but they are very similar, there are things that specialists in wild bird identification can not distinguish.