Hi Everyone,
Had these Terns on the coast.
Im positive they are Common Terns but could be something else.
Thanks.
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Curtis, I reckon you are right. I'm confident they are both Common Terns. I assume this was in Ballina recently. We get hundreds of Commons in Ballina at this time of year.
White-fronted Terns are similar but we only get them at Ballina in winter months. Arctic Tern are also similar, I've never seen one, I would expect much shorter legs if Arctic. Finally Roseate Tern are also similar, but I'm confident not that either, I've never seen a Roseate.
Steve
I don't know much about Turns, so I have been staring at those for a while and looking at my books, I think the bird on the left in the photo has -red legs-? My Simpson&Day tells me Common Turns have brown mid-length legs?
M-L
Thanks Araminta and Steve, your truly an expert!
Araminta, I think they both have the same coloured legs, it was taken very early in the morning, probably the sun shining on it.
Curtis
The bird on the left appears to me to have dark red legs & more reddish than the other bird, but that could be the lighting, & that's normal for Common Terns anyway, their leg colour varies a lot from red to appearing black. The bird on the right appears to have very dark primaries, I believe that indicates 1st year bird.
Cheers, Steve