Dark Common Tern - Poland (1 Viewer)

[AGDK]

Hello

Today I saw this Common Tern in the local harbour area.. For me it's unusual with such dark grey plumage.. I have never seen this before and feet's also seems very orange, compared to the rest I see, which usually have reddish feet's, when they are in adult plumage.. Can this be a hybrid or just a normal variance in the colour?

Thanks

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello,

I agree with you, its a Common Tern. Arctic Tern can be excluded by

• shape and lenghts of the bill that has a dark tip (and pale colouration with a shift towards orange is also wrong for Arctic)
• long legs

I had a similar bird some time ago. See here with interesting comments from Klaus Malling Olsen: Club300 Germany

With the comments from Nikolas Haass, Martin Gottschling, Detlef Gruber and KMO in mind, I see no need to think about an hybrid in your bird. Thanks to all again!

 

[AGDK]

Hi Alexander

Thanks for your always good description.. I'll stick to the Common Tern..

I never really suspected a Arctic Tern, for the reason you wrote above.. But maybe a hybrid with a Whiskered or something more exotic...

Thanks again

 

[Butty]

This would be very dark for arctic tern, let alone for common tern. Is whiskered tern certainly excluded? Legs look long. But bill too long? - and obviously wrong colour-pattern unless 1?-year-olds can look like this?
Any more photos? - especially side-on to show tail length.

 

[AGDK]

I don't have too many other pictures, since the bird was very stationary for all the time I was there and too far out in the water to get closer or different angle.. It didn't really move, except some "maintenance" of feathers.. I have attached the most different picture I have from the first posted, but it doesn't show too much different anyway..

 

[Butty]

Bill looks even more common tern in 2nd pic 👍🏻

 

[RichardBaatsen]

You also need to consider White-cheeked Tern (Sterna repressa)
I do not have any experience with this species.
It is an interesting looking bird.

 

[AGDK]

Thanks Richard for your post.. Highly appreciated with some extra input..

I see that the similarity is striking on several areas, when I compare pictures online.. But the bird is not present at all in Northern Europe.. That in it self of course doesn't rule out the possibility, but my experience with this is none existing..

Does any other have a hint in this direction?

 

[jurek]

There is a dark subspecies of Common Tern longipennis in Asia, which was recorded as a vagrant in Western Europe. It is said to have very dark legs and bill. Still, you could send the pics to the Polish Rarities Committee - why not, or maybe in future the known ID characters will change.

 

[AGDK]

Thanks for your input Jurek

Yes, I was planning to contact Rarity Committee yesterday after Richards post, just wanted to wait to see if some more info come up here, before I wrote to them..

So thanks again

 

[lou salomon]

I really don't see any need for contacting the RC regarding this bird. It's a Common Tern of the nominate subspecies, longipennis can be excluded on bare parts colours. Underparts grey is somewhat variable and I think lighting conditins and camera settings can account for orangey tingue to legs and bill. Whiskered and White-cheeked Terns are completely different birds!

 

[AGDK]

Thanks Lou.. I have no experience with White-cheeked, so it's hard for me to judge, only based on pictures.. But I already wrote to him, so I'll await and see what he says..

 

[MacNara]

I don't have experience of these birds in Europe, so I wasn't planning to join in this thread, just to learn from it.


But since things still seem to be up in the air (ha!ha!) among those who do have experience, I'll respond to two of the earlier posters.


In my spot in Nara, Japan, well inland, 100m asl, we have a few Whiskered Tern passing through our small pond on migration in Spring and Autumn (with relevant plumage) most years. But this year - global warming? - we had a pair of breeding plumage birds in June for a day. And although they didn't hang around, similar photos have been taken more recently, so maybe they are breeding in the area, which they are not supposed to do.


Anyway, I post a couple of photos of one of these breeeding plumage Whiskered Terns which show that the bill shape is wrong for the OP's bird, as is the deep red colouration of the bill and legs. So Butty's suggestion in #4 (amended/retracted in #6) of Whiskered Tern, or as someone else suggested, a hybrid, is, I think, impossible. Also the dark belly of Whiskered is much, much darker than the OP's bird - the Japanese name for Whiskered is 'Black-bellied Tern'.
 (Photos 1 and 2)


And we also had a longipennis Common Tern pop in one day in 2016. Jurek's suggestion of this bird in #9 also doesn't work out. As you can see in the attached photos, longipennis has a pale grey undercarriage, but this ssp has an all-black bill in breeding plumage and legs that might show very dark red on close inspection, but usually appear black. (Photos 3, 4 and 5)


Finally, I have bored everyone to death on Bird Forum with my view that almost nobody understands the fact that digital photos have no 'real' version, but that this doesn't mean there is no such thing as a 'best' version and this is true of the OP's photo which is much darker than it should be. But if you move the 'white point' and the 'grey point' (whitest pixel and middle pixel) to an appropriate spot then the OP's bird is a bit grey underneath, but nowhere near as grey as it seems in the original photo. (Photos 6, 7 and 8)

And you can make it whiter than this (final photo) without it seeming obviously 'wrong'. (Photo 9)

I'm in full agreement with Lou in post #11.

HTH

 

[AGDK]

Thanks MacNara

I'm learning from these kind of cases, so just let the knowledge come forth..

 

[AGDK]

Just a last update..

I got response from the guy I know at RC.. He also see it as a Common Tern with dark plumage.. As he also points out, among other things, the white on White-Cheeked, should be on the cheek and not on the throat as well..

So thanks again to all for their input..