English and Scientific names:	Long-tailed Jaeger  Stercorarius longicaudus
Number of individuals:	One Juvenile, dark type, (sex unknown)
Locality: LOUISIANA:	Washington
Specific Locality:	South edge of Washington Ph. on Bogue Chitta River, 8 miles west of Bush, La.
Date(s) when observed:	August 25,1996
Time(s) of day when observed:	11:00 a.m.
Reporting observer and address:	Curtis Sorrells Kenner, La.
Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):	none
Other observers who independently identified the bird(s):	none
Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):	Bright, There was a uniform light/white high cloud cover.
Optical equipment:	Zeiss 10x40 B, good condition
Distance to bird(s):	approximately 200'
Duration of observation:	40-50 seconds
Habitat:	The bird was soaring over thick, mature woods 150 yards south of the south bank of the Bogue Chitta River.
Behavior of bird:	The bird was flying/soaring, apparently migrating, following the Bogue Chitta River downstream from a NW to SE direction.  It soared across an opening in the woods about 40 yards wide.  I first saw the bird as it appeared from behind the trees to the northwest. It made three complete circles over the opening and disappeared behind the trees to the southeast.  The wings were in a completely extended position as the bird was soaring.  It did not flap or partially fold its wings while it was in view.
Description:	As the bird was soaring overhead, there were no direct comparisons to nearby objects or other birds.  It appeared as a medium size raptor.  The overall appearance was a slender bird with comparatively long wings.  As the wings were completely extended with no curves or bends, the leading edge was symmetrical with the trailing edge with a very slightly rounded tip.  The head was rounded and did not project a great distance in front of the wings.  There was a relatively long body and tail projection behind the wings.  The two central rectrices extended one-half to one inch beyond the other tail feathers and were blunt.  The bird was a uniform dark (gray/ black) color.  The only marking was a faint light line on the under side of the wing.  The line extended from the leading edge of the wing, one-half of the way between the tip and the "wrist", diagonally across the wing to the trailing edge near the body.  This faint line extended along the base of the primaries and down the trailing edge of the underwing coverts to the body.  What I saw was very similiar to the illustration in Sibley on page 197 on the upper left of the page of a dark juvenile, except the base of the primaries were not as white.  I was unable to discern the amount of white at the base of the outer primaries, whether only 2 or 3 white primary shafts as on a Long tailed, or 3 to 5 as on a Parasitic or 4 to 6 as on a Pomarine.  Although I was looking at a dark bird against a light back ground, no other markings were noticed.
Voice:	none was heard
Similar species:	The extension of the two central tail feathers would eliminate all other birds except the two other jaegers, Pomarine and Parasitic.  (Also possibly except some pelagic shearwaters and petrels, which would be highly unlikely and are not considered.) A Pomarine Jaeger would appear bulkier and more robust, and the central rectrices extension would be much less than in a Long- tailed.  A Parasitic Jaeger cannot be eliminated completely. A Parasitic should be bulkier with broader wings and a shorter tail, but these attributes can overlap, and at best are subjective in a soaring bird.  The majority of juvenile Parasitics have short pointed central rectrices, and this should have clinched the identification in favor of Long tail.  However as Wiley and Lee state in the BNA account no. 445 on Parasitic Jaeger,"about a  quarter of Parasitic have rounded central rectrices in juvenile plumage", although these central rectrices extensions are shorter than on a Long-tailed.  In short, the comparatively less bulky more slender build, the lesser amount of white at the base of the outer primaries, and the longer, blunt central rectrices extension all indicate a Long-tailed Jaeger, but are not definitive to distinguish from a Parasitic or Pomarine.  All the juvenile jaegers have completed their molt by August, and the adults do not start their basic molt until winter after migration, indicating that the extended central rectrices are not the result of the timing of the molt or unusual growth of the tail feathers.  Superficially, the size, shape, and color of a Mississippi Kite could be considered similar to the silhouette of the subject bird.  However the kite would need to have had a very unusual molt of the tail feathers to be like the subject bird, and this highly unlikely.
Photographs or tape recordings obtained?	none
Previous experience with this species:	None in juvenile plumage.  I have seen several adults in breeding plumage in Alaska, and in intermediate plumage on pelagic trips in the Gulf.
Identification aids:	at time of observation: National Geographic Guide to the Birds of North America              after observation: Sibley Guide to Birds, Harrison: Seabirds,An Identification Guide Harrison: Field Guide to Seabirds of the World Olsen and Larson: Skuas and Jaegers Wiley and Lee: Birds of North America; account no. 365-Long tailed  Jaeger; account no. 445-Parasitic Jaeger; account no. 483 Pomarine  Jaeger.
This description is written from:	from memory
Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain:	No - I am positive that this bird is a Stercorarius jaeger. However, the evidence does not definitely eliminate a Parasitic Jaeger.  I do not feel that the LBRC should except this as a definitive record, but it is submitted to be recorded and be on file as a probable record of an early migrant of a very rare bird in an unusual plumage and age.
Reporter:	Curtis Sorrells
Date and time:	September 28, 2007,  3:00 pm