Tern, New Jersey (1 Viewer)

[mordovarot]

Least or Forster's Tern?
Sandy Hook, NJ, 2 days ago.
Thanks!

 

[THE_FERN]

Least. I see a white forehead and the bill is the wrong colour / too needle-like for Forster's

 

[tom baxter]

Agree with Least. The thin black bordered wing tips are another pro for Least.

 

[Butty]

I agree with least tern - tho the photo is clearly rife with colour artefacts, so I'd hesitate to trust the apparent bill colour - and narrow objects in a fuzzy photo like this (no offence), eg the bill, will look narrower than in reality.

 

[lou salomon]

Hm, three experienced birders are saying Least Tern. While there are indeed colour artefacts and the bird lacks the long outer tail streamers, I still see a red bill, no white forehead (but I think this wouldn't be possible from this angle), proportions more in line with one of the Sterna species (fuller body in relation to head size) and especially the primary pattern which is not in line with Least, imo. The latter has an accentuated black line along leading edge (black to outermost 2 primaries) but little or no black on the tips of outer primaries while in these pics you clearly see a black trailing edge to most primaries. While a contrasting and slim edge would favour Arctic Tern over Common and Forsters this might be caused by the mentioned artefacts. I'm not sure about the exact species but I'd strongly favour a Sterna over a Sternula here.

 

[mordovarot]

Thanks to all for opinions! Here I post the same photos but less whitening, hope it can reduce aberration.

 

[lou salomon]

Common Tern, imo.

 

[tom baxter]

Okay, I happily retract my above comment upon another look.