Gelochelidon macrotarsa

Australian Tern at Port Douglas, QLD

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Identification history

Gelochelidon macrotarsa	6 Aug 2023	Liam.m
Gelochelidon macrotarsa	6 Aug 2023	BenW
Thalasseus bergii	6 Aug 2023	CarbonAI
Sternula albifrons	6 Aug 2023	BenW
Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae	6 Aug 2023	CarbonAI
Gelochelidon macrotarsa	6 Aug 2023	BenW

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User's notes

A large flock of terns flying from the estuary out to sea. I had intitially identified them as gull-billed terns, but the pictures show they are non-breeding little terns. My reasoning for this is: 1. The black on the head is centred on the nape and ends at the eye 2. The birds did not have a complete black cap, as shown by the 1st image, which breeding gull-bills would have 3. The black patch was sharp and well-defined, unlike the dull, patchy area behind the eye on non-breeding gull bills. See linked image: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/122819371

5 comments

natureguy wrote:

6 Aug 2023

By the looks of it I'm still thinking Gull-billed?

Liam.m wrote:

6 Aug 2023

I tend to agree with Luke here, especially the bird in the first image. @TomW are you able to crop the photos and reupload them so we can see the birds more clearly? Thanks

BenW wrote:

6 Aug 2023

See updated notes - unfortunately the cropped images are quite blurry. I'm actually starting to lean towards gull-billed again anyway, but not sure about some of the features on the first bird (again, see updated comments).

natureguy wrote:

6 Aug 2023

Yes, well at least photos 2 and 3 are Gull-billed in my view. Not 100% sure about all the birds in the flock.

Liam.m wrote:

6 Aug 2023

I agree. Could you maybe remove the rest of the photos and upload them as a separate sighting (with some of the flock photos cropped). Thanks

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Location information

Coordinates 145.460216 -16.480265
Places Port Douglas, QLD

Sighting information

24 Abundance
28 Jun 2023 07:19 AM Recorded on
BenW Recorded by
Collections
BenW NatureMapr Other Waterbirds (Crakes, Grebes, Gulls and Terns) Water birds Birds Gelochelidon macrotarsa

Species information

Gelochelidon macrotarsa Scientific name
Australian Tern Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 20.3m Recorded at altitude

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes