Coulds somebody help with these please. Taken at Victor Harbor last October.
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They are definitely all Crested Terns. The first photo of a non breeding bird is spectacular!
Thanks Lachlan. My book is a unclear and I thought they may have been Fairy Terns with wind ruffled hair
As I understand it, Crested Terns have black legs, opposed to the orange legs of the Fairy Tern.
After a quick search I see what you mean.
My identification book mentioned orange legs on the Fairy but nothing about the legs on the Crested.
Being relatively new to serious bird watching/photography I'm starting to realise that the differences may be tiny between various birds and that a really close look is required.
Thanks again for your help
Tens are really messy, because you have mixes of male, female, breeding, non breeding and immature birds in mixed species flocks all at the same time. Plus, for many species there are only very small distinguishing factors... The great thing about bird photography rather than straight bird watching is that you have an immaculate record to refer to for IDing things- much easier than relying on rushed written descriptions!
I'm still pretty much a beginner too, and that's one of the reasons why I'm so keen on this ID forum- I get to be helpful, and it helps me improve my own skills too.
Please note if you have Simpson & Day 8th edition 2010
the Crested Tern and Lesser Crested Tern are shown on page 114-5, the words are right but the sketch names have been reversed ie the yellow-billed bird is the Crested Tern and not Lesser Crested Tern as titled.
Peter