sbruenjes Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I saw these birds in Cape May, NJ at the beginning of June. The beak color of the two birds, and the white patch on the cap are confusing me.... are these both common terns? Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dred Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 First one is a least tern Second looks like a forsters tern 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dred Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 But don't quote me on the second one since I don't have any experience with common terns and there could be some gray on the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akiley Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 8 minutes ago, dred said: First one is a least tern Second looks like a forsters tern I'm not 100% on the second either, but I'm thinking Forster's as well. Agreed on Least for 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbruenjes Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 That explains my confusion on the coloring! Thank you! I'm curious because I'm trying to get better with terns. is it the beak, cap, body, or wingtips that make you all lean towards Forster's tern? Also, this tern, which I saw in Clearwater Fla in May seems to have black feet? Which type of tern would this be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadynn_H Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 That's a Royal Tern. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbruenjes Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 That's what I thought. Can you differentiate from a Caspian tern because of the bill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadynn_H Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 11 minutes ago, sbruenjes said: That's what I thought. Can you differentiate from a Caspian tern because of the bill? That's one key to figuring them out, also Caspian have more black on their wing tips compared to Royal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nighthawk01 Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 I believe Caspian Terns are also BARELY larger than Royal Terns. I’m probably wrong, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akiley Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 1 minute ago, Nighthawk01 said: I believe Caspian Terns are also BARELY larger than Royal Terns. I’m probably wrong, though. Yes, I think Caspian is the largest tern in the world, if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbruenjes Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 That was very helpful. Thank you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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