Another "which tern?" - this time in PA (1 Viewer)

All,

This tern was seen a few weeks ago at Leaser Lake here in Eastern PA.

Here.

Just wanted to verify the ID of Common Tern is right.

Is "PA" meaning Palawan (in the Philippines) or Palau?

Assuming from the flag, Jeff might mean Pennsylvania from PA abbreviated. I can understand Valéry's frustration since non-american members can't intuitively tell what PA is, or which PA ーwithin this whole word ー is referred to in this regard. For the tern, it looks like Arctic tern; red short bill without black tip, stubby legs. Not really sure though, Arctic could be a rare sight over there isn't it?

Werzik said:

Assuming from the flag, Jeff might mean Pennsylvania from PA abbreviated. I can understand Valéry's frustration since non-american members can't intuitively tell what PA is, or which PA ーwithin this whole word ー is referred to in this regard. For the tern, it looks like Arctic tern; red short bill without black tip, stubby legs. Not really sure though, Arctic could be a rare sight over there isn't it?

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It was to be taken with some humour also... having some family in the US, I'm familiar with those abbreviations.

Valéry Schollaert said:

It was to be taken with some humour also... having some family in the US, I'm familiar with those abbreviations.

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But some aren't familiar, PA, Pakistan?



A

Arctic for me on bill, short legs, and primary colour, but the tail streamers are oddly short, more like Common - perhaps missing their tips?


@ Andy - think Pakistan is PK?

Honestly, after I sent the post, I realized I should have said Penna., or even spelled out the whole name, but too late. Mea culpa.

As to the rarity of sterna terns around here, according to "Birds of the Lehigh Valley", both Forster's and Common are rare but regular in our area. There are only three records of Arctic from our area: one in '89, one in '03, and one in '12, but none in Lehigh County. Common Terns (and Forster's for that matter) are fairly regular in migration along the Susquehanna River about 70 miles/115 km west of here.

This bird was originally found by one of the best birders in the area, who called it a Common. He was actually hoping for a Forster's, I've been told, since's he's seen Common in the county but not Forster's. No idea whether he considered an Arctic, but if I know him, he may have.

I saw the bird a week after it was found, noticed the bill did not have a black tip, and wrote that off as a distinction between Common and Forster's and went no further than that. It was only after looking at the other tern threads in the ID Forum last night that I took a second look at the eBird photos of our bird and began to think maybe Arctic.

My thoughts. Pro Arctic: Short legs, deep red bill without black tip. Pro Common: Bright white breast and shorter tail streamers. I also spoke to another experienced birder this morning who saw the bird, but only in flight. He thought it was a common based on the breast color.

Full disclosure: Common is a new county bird for me. Arctic would be a new bird both for Pennsylvania as well as the Lower 48.

It is an Arctic Tern for me too.

Just a quick update: I spoke to the birder who saw the Common Tern the week before (he didn't find it, but he did ID it). This is not the same bird he saw. He confirms that for certain, and also agrees with the ID of Arctic for this new bird.

I've since seen pictures of "his" Common Tern. It was definitely a Common and a different bird. So we apparently had a Common Tern one week and a week later an Arctic Tern.

I've also learned that there have only been a handful of state records for Arctic Tern in Pennsylvania. This one, I believe, makes 6, assuming it's accepted by the records committee.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Great catch, Jeff! What a nice record for Pennsylvania.