General Description: Long-tailed Jaegers (Stercorarius longicaudus) are large, gull-like birds of the open ocean, although some young birds migrate inland. Like gulls, jaegers show various plumages: adult (breeding and non-breeding plumages) and juvenile (including light, medium, and dark plumages), making identification tricky.

Breeding adults are striking with black caps, yellow faces, dark bodies, and long streaming central tail feathers. Juveniles are dark with mottled white and modest central tail feathers. All birds, however, show 2-3 white shafts on the primary feathers, fewer than are seen in other species of jaegers.

Taxonomy: Charadriiformes, Stercorariidae.

Favored Habitat: Breed inland in the high arctic, winter in southern oceans.

Where to Find: Don't look for Long-tailed Jaegers around Las Vegas. Rather, look for them while birding along the Pacific Coast, at sea, or in the Arctic. However, a juvenile showed up on El Dorado Dry Lake (Hwy 95, just south of Boulder City) during September 2012, so keep an eye out for the unexpected.