ML101822141

Age and sex

Adult, Unknown sex - X

Media notes

This photo shows a COTE on the left and a FOTE on the right with a RBGU between them. I had clear views of both birds briefly through my scope and snapped this, and 2 other lower quality, documentation photos. Although the following field marks were much clearer as seen through my spotting scope, I will describe what I believe to be key field marks for the COTE: 1) note the darker orange-red bill with a dark tip contrasting with the lighter orange dark tipped bill of the bird on the right; 2) the body was slightly darker on the COTE compared to the FOTE and is a bit masked by the quality of the photo; 3) the mantle color of the COTE was (and kind of appears to be in the photo) slightly darker for the bird on the left. Not seen in these photos was the primary extension of the birds in comparison to the tail feathers and I didn't get any photos from that angle. However, in flight I did not a slightly longer tail on the lighter bellied (FOTEs) birds compared to the darker bellied (COTEs) ones.

Observation details

Photos were taken in less than ideal weather (wind and rain) and with a smartphone through my scope. There were 4 terns total and they would land on this sandy bank only to be chased away by the RBGUs that were also there. I saw the two individuals (COTEs) clearly through my scope and watched them with 2 FOTEs for reference.

Technical information

Model

XT1526

ISO

80

Focal length

2.5 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/2.2

Shutter speed

139/50000 sec

Dimensions

649 pixels x 366 pixels

Original file size

276.19 KB