common tern? romania, black sea coast, september 1st (1 Viewer)

[lou salomon]

hi,

this should be a 1cy common tern. but it has an all black bill and dark trailing edge to primaries looks very narrow. anyone feeling confident to rule out 100% arctic tern on these pics?

thanks

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I wouldn't be too worried about the all black bill on a 1cy Common by this time of year.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Just to add - it seems too long-billed to me for a 1cy Arctic and seems to have a pretty clear dark bar on the secondaries, so these all suggest Common Tern to me.

 

[Tib78]

Neither Common nor Arctic IMO.
Just picture this bird with a yellow tip to its bill...note coverts pattern and rather front-heavy appearance.

 

[lou salomon]

i wondered about sandwich tern from the very first time i saw the pic, tib. actually there is a small pale tip but common is said to have one too at this time of year. and the bill really seemed to short, even for a young sandwichensis but i guess you're right and i feel a bit better something really looked ood for it being a common tern!

 

[Iraq Babbler]

Whiskered Tern

Omar

 

[stevo]

Sandwhich tern,black bill with a yellow tip.

Steve.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Must admit, when I saw the thumbnails I thought it looked a bit like a Sandwich (honest!). That would probably fit the best.

 

[Cristian Mihai]

I'm in the Sandwich camp (with yellow...cheese and salami, please).

 

[Iraq Babbler]

Whiskered Tern

Omar

Return to the flock, admit on ST... rush.

Omar

 

[lou salomon]

terns...same place and time

i found another pic (of presumably another 1cy) with a similarly short bill; it's obviously a sandwich tern o (pic 1)

2. is a moulting adult sandwich for comparison - secondaries look darkish in this pic...

3. 1cy common - note differences in proportions (larger head on a smaller body)

4. another 1cy common, more juvenile looking (actually there have been even chicks in the colony, i guess predation is high, so they layed again...)