Hi all,
I took some pics of 3 Terns at Werribee on the weekend. I think they’re Little Terns but I’m not absolutely sure. The 3rd pic is bigger (about 500kb) than the others (less than 200kb) so will take a little longer to download.
Fairy Tern for: Non-breeding yellow black tipped bill and yellow legs. Very pale.
Little Tern for: Dark wing tips and wing edge. Heavy streaking on head.
Any comments welcome.
http://www.gilmours.com.au/other/tern1.jpg http://www.gilmours.com.au/other/tern2.jpg http://www.gilmours.com.au/other/tern3.jpg
Cheers,
Joe Gilmour ===============================
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They’re Fairy Terns because they are plump not slender, have short legs especially tibia, are very pale on back and wings (Little’s are darker grey), head pattern is perfect, bill pattern, black at tip and at base of culmen, orange elsewhere is diagnostic of winter plumaged Fairy Terns of the southern (nominate) race. Outer primaries in Little Tern are black.
Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136
Joe
first impressions (on a v. quick look) are on non-breeding Fairy Terns. I’d expect Little to show darker tips to the underside of the last few primaries and be darker on the upperside too. They also look too pale to me for Little and the bare part colouration is more Fairy coloured. Interested in others thought.
Rob Morris
Brisbane, Australia
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