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Elephantlover

can anyone id this tern

I saw this in Maryland in the summer but I have failed to get a proper id

can anyone id this tern
Elephantlover, 13 Nov 2020
Terry Thomas and SivatheriumGuy like this.
    • CheeseChameleon1945
      Maybe a Roseate tern, Sterna dougallii?
    • birdsandbats
      Not a Roseate Tern, not sure on species though.
    • CheeseChameleon1945
      @birdsandbats It could very well be. :) I compared all the tern species that travel to the Maryland area, and this was the only one that I found that matched. But I could be wrong as well.
    • birdsandbats
      @CheeseChameleon2007 Roseate Terns have black beaks. Looking at this again, this looks to be a Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri).
    • CheeseChameleon1945
      Funny, because doing a quick google search it doesnt look anything like this bird. o_O

      EDIT: And roseate terns do not entirely have Black beaks.
    • birdsandbats
      @CheeseChameleon2007 All of the field guides I own show Roseate Terns as having entirely black bills, but just looking at some photos on the internet this is obviously not true. Why is this? Are my field guides lying?!

      I would say that the legs aren't the right color for a Roseate, either, but maybe that's wrong, too! I'm so confused!

      EDIT: Apparently Roseate Terns don't breed in Maryland, so I think we can rule them out either way.
    • CheeseChameleon1945
      @birdsandbats Alright, we shall rule them out. Tern color variations are pretty variable, and can be confusing and unique to any bird, so that's why some terns look different than the others. But this also could be a female, and the female of any tern can look drastically different from the male. Heck, I could even say this may be a growing juvenile for all I know? I have field guide of shorebirds as well, but I cannot find it, and have not seen it for some time now.
    • Great Argus
      This looks like Common Tern to me.
    • CheeseChameleon1945
      Maybe? Not entirely convinced.
    • Great Argus
      This is either Common or Forster's, I'm not sure which.

      @Elephantlover If you'd like I can pass the photo along to some birding expert friends of mine for an ID. A specific month would be helpful too.
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