Birdwatchers always want to put a label on a bird. Species lists are important, whether it is the trip list, day list, year list of life list. But that does mean you need to be able to identify the species. In many species that isn’t too difficult, but in others… 

One of the most difficult of the seabirds are the prions. There are several of these small grey birds with their black W-shape on their wings, and they all look very similar. In the Drake Passage, there are two likely candidates: the Slender-bill Prion and the Antarctic Prion. In the field, it is almost impossible to identify them, but with pictures, it is a little easier. But it still is ground for long debates between birdwatchers. In this case, I’m fairly certain these are Antarctic Prions, but  I’m open for debate…