ML61569991

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

Photo courtesy of Wilf Yusek

Observation details

Original observers: Wilf Yusek, Al Sinclair and members of MFN during Baillie Birdathon. First record for Muskoka. Source: Muskoka Bird Board 17 May 2004; Al Sinclair pers. comm. 2014; Wilf Yusek pers. comm. 2014. During the second Ontario breeding bird atlas project, nesting was confirmed at Cook’s Bay on Lake Simcoe, the only inland nesting area for this species in Ontario (Weseloh 2007; Atlas Data Summary). Perhaps it was a wandering bird from this site that made its way north on 15 May 2004 for Muskoka’s first documented record of Forster’s Tern. There are four similar medium-sized tern (Common, Arctic, Roseate, and Forster’s) that do not have crests and differentiating them relies on identifying features such as body colour, upper- and under-wing colouring, and bill colour and thickness (Stokes 2010;Sibley 2000). At 10:00 a.m. on 15 May 2004, participants in the annual MFN Baillie Birdathon had their identification skills put to the test when Wilf Yusek first noticed a tern flying around and occasionally diving into cell 4 at the Bracebridge Lagoons. Yusek and the others noted the following features: wings with white primary coverts and no black at the tips, white underparts, not grey, and the bill appeared to be relatively thick and was a yellow/orange colour with a noticeable black tip (MBB 17 May 2004). Yusek managed to get photos of the bird in flight, although it was somewhat underexposed due to strong backlighting. The observers noted that the bird was much whiter in the field than it appeared in the pictures (MBB 17 May 2004). The consensus of all those who saw it was that this bird was a Forster’s Tern. The bird’s white primaries and belly were key features which helped to separate it from the more widespread Common Tern (Weseloh 2007; Sibley 2000).

Technical information

Dimensions

439 pixels x 716 pixels

Original file size

18.44 KB