Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
Photos by Tim Lenz. We had seen a "normal" Sandwich there just before, and I called this one out to our group since it was a narrow-billed orange billed tern. We asked the boatman to chase it, but the tern outran us and headed out into impenetrable marsh. We carefully considered Elegant, but the bird was too pale billed and had a head pattern with not enough black for Elegant. The bill was pale yellowish-orange, not the orange or rich orange that Elegant seems to always show. For me, this is typical of Cayenne Terns I have seen in South America. The head was in winter plumage, with an extensive pale forehead, narrow black line through the eye and behind the eye, and relatively medium breadth black band behind the head. Elegant Tern would have shown a much more extensive black area around the eye in almost any plumage, including immature and winter birds. Also, its molt was extensive, with a dark edge in the outer five primaries. Most adult Elegant Terns have crisp, fresh primaries at this season, although admittedly subadults (first and second-summers) might show similar wing patterns.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 5D Mark III
- Lens
- EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +1.4x III
- ISO
- 800
- Focal length
- 560 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/9.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/2000 sec
- Dimensions
- 1112 pixels x 742 pixels
- Original file size
- 296.71 KB