ID puzzle

[John Chardine]

Artie's peep was such fun I thought I'd post this one.

Bird was noticeably smaller than the Bonaparte's Gulls or Common Terns in the area. Image taken on salt water near Deer Island, New Brunswick, which is near Eastport, Maine, 6 August 2008. I misidentified the bird first off, then realised what it was because I had seen others in previous years in the same general area of the Bay of Fundy (i.e., it is not a vagrant). This image does not show the feature well but the feet are semi-palmated (half-webbed).

Have fun!

[Dan Brown]

Nice shot John, showing the dark outer primary (p10?). This looks like a juvenile Black Tern to me. Dan Brown

[James Prudente]

Juvenile Black Tern looks right to me as well.

Jim

[Arthur Morris]

Agree with the above ID.

[Eleanor Kee Wellman]

I am going for juvenile Roseate Tern, John. Juvenile Black Tern has orangy-yellow legs. I have never seen a Roseate Tern, though.

I hope lots more of these are posted! Great learning experience!

[John Chardine]

Well, my first thought when I saw this bird was immature Little Gull, which would have been a great record for the area. Then I remembered that I'd seen young Black Terns in previous years and so there you have it, a fledgling Black Tern. Not sure whether the semipalmated feet are diagnostic of this species but it does rule out the larger terns and its size does as well.