What Tern

[Dan P]

Taken 4-16-2021 at Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas, CA (Los Angeles County).

There were several Forster's Terns flying and diving in this area.  I'm not sure what to make of this bird.

Is this a Forster's Tern, and the dark areas just shadows?

This was taken at 1:37 pm on a sunny day.  The sun was high in the sky, but on the other side of the subject from the camera.

Thanks.

[Aidan B]

This is a Caspian Tern, note the bright red bill.

[Bird-Boys]

This is not a caspian tern. Note the black tip on the bill and the deeply forked tail. All the black on the wings is super weird. The only other tern with that much black on the wings is Black Skimmer, which this is clearly not. Do you have any other pictures of the bird, @Dan P?

[RCD]

I agree with @Dan P that the dark on the wings is likely just an odd shadow on a Forster's.

Edited April 19, 2021 by RCD

[BirdNrd]

That's what I was thinking.

Edited April 19, 2021 by BirdNrd

[RCD]

28 minutes ago, Bird-Boys said:

This is not a caspian tern. Note the black tip on the bill and the deeply forked tail.

Also, Caspians have black legs instead of red.

Edited April 19, 2021 by RCD

[Aidan B]

Well, looks like I really need to work on my terns!

Edited April 19, 2021 by Aidan B

[Dan P]

2 hours ago, Bird-Boys said:

Do you have any other pictures of the bird, @Dan P?

I have one other shot of it coming out of the water, but the wings are in the same position and show the same dark areas, and the head is cocked to the left so you can't see the bill.

I had deleted the 3 frames before this photo during my first pass at looking through them.  I restored those photos and there is nothing but sky or water -- no bird.  The photo prior to those appears to be a Forster's Tern preparing to dive.  It's probably the same bird, but I can't be sure of it. 

I remember trying a method where I saw the bird starting to dive, then I pointed at the water where I thought it would hit and started shooting.  If that's what I was doing with this bird, then I missed the spot where it hit, but caught up with it coming out of the water.

Attached is that a photo of that bird -- with only cropping, no other processing.

[DLecy]

Forster's Tern.

[IKLland]

2 hours ago, DLecy said:

Forster's Tern.

Yes. Forster’s can have red bills partially.