Hi Richard- Beautifully done. Great wing position and background. I wish the right wing tip were a little more visible- it almost disappears into the background. To hang on the wall I may cover up the little bit of blue top right with green from the BG.
By the way this is not a Caspian Tern. They are big, brutish terns with thick red bills and black caps. I am a bit puzzled by the ID. The black patch behind the eye is characteristic of a Forster's Tern but they have pinkish/reddish legs and feet at all ages. The other possibility is a Gull-billed Tern, which has a stout bill like your bird and black legs, but the patch behind the eye is usually not as big. I'll ask Paul Guris to chime in.
Last edited by John Chardine; 09-06-2012 at 11:42 AM.
John sent me a PM and asked me for an opinion (FWIW). I'm at work without references so this is just off the top of my head.
This bird looks like a basic plumage adult Gull-billed Tern to me. That species and Forster's are the only two I can think of that have the "eye pit" look rather than having some amount of black across the nape. Other marks in favor of Gull-billed are
Very thick black bill
Broad wings.
Black legs. I don't think that Forster's shows completely black legs in any plumage.
Short outer tail feathers. Forster's should show very long outermost tail feathers even the next set in should be a little longer. Since you can count 11 of the expected 12 tail feathers (with one rather than two showing dead center), you know there are no outer ones missing. And since they're older and worn, they aren't short because they're new ones growing in. So that means shortish outer tail feathers, and that's bad for Forster's.
Richard, I too like the shot. I might try to lighten up the shadowed parts of the underwing just a bit since it looks like you have nice details there, but that's really a nit. All in all it looks like you nailed it at just the right moment.
Richard, I have a few questions on the possibility of Whiskered Tern (which I've seen a few times, but long ago and never in full basic). First, where was the picture taken? Second, do you have anything showing the nape better? And third, do you have anything showing comparative size? I don't find New World tern ID to be the easiest thing for me, but I'm way out of my depth with Old World terns.
OK now we're getting somewhere. Australia eliminates Forster's Tern!
Gull-billed Terns are in Australia, so are Whiskered. Whiskereds are petit and the second bird does look small. There is an apparent Whiskered on Wikipedia here:
Tern ID (copied from ETL)
Originally Posted by John Chardine
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote