Yesterday evening I had a very strange tern on the North End of Wrightsville Beach, NC. The rain storms had just cleared out all the people and by the time I made it to the inlet, there was a large group of gulls, terns and shorebirds.
At first I was looking through Common Terns to try for a Roseate but then a darker tern caught my eye. Especially how dark it was compared to nearby Common Terns. Usually I would only include a few photos but just in case one of these helps ID I am posting almost all of them.
Dark tern to the right, Commons to the left with some others Sandwiched (pun intended) in between.
What strikes me:
1. Contrast of the cheek with the rest of the bird.
2. How dark it is underneath.
3. The shade of gray seems "dirtier" with some brown tones.
4. The bill looks shorter and more stout than typical Common's.
5. The wing had 4-5 primaries that were dark as opposed to 2-4 in Common.
Dare I say that I can see some blotchy gray here on the body...... I see online that Whiskered transition from dark gray bodies to white in winter. However, what does a transitional bird look like?
I think the contrasting white rump eliminates Whiskered, and the bill is not stout enough. Eye-catching bird though for sure.
ReplyDeleteYep, good point. I thought I read somewhere that the Whiskered can have a white rump but you can't believe everything on the interwebs nowadays and I see the comment about gray rump in my Collins guide. Pity, would have been nice to be a hero for a day. I was taking favored traits from winter plumage and mixing favored traits from summer. A case of Rarophylia, a dreadful affliction I will never be rid of.
DeleteWhiskered Tern is uniformly gray on the mantle and tail. Your bird has a very white rump and tail which Whiskered Tern does not show in any plumage. There is also the beginnings of the hint of a carpal bar in the first couple of photos which Whiskered Tern does not have but is diagnostic for Common Tern in winter plumage. Were you able to gauge the size realtime to Common Tern? Whiskered Terns are small....not much larger than a Black Tern and noticeably smaller than Common Tern.
ReplyDeleteJan Hansen
It was about the same size as the Commons, but I did not have much time to gauge it. It certainly was bigger than a Black. So you think it's just a weird Common? I can live with that.
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