least tern

Tiny little terns often seen at our beaches, but like to visit the wetlands too for the good fishing

Small tern

Least Tern According to the EOL: (End of Life) The following institutions participate in EOL: Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History Marine Biological Laboratory New Library of Alexandria

As a change from my usual garden birds, thought I'd post this old "record shot". Image quality isn't brilliant obviously, but it's the only time I've photographed a bird which was not only a first for Britain but the entire Western Palearctic. It's a very heavy crop from a scanned...

I love coming across these guys.

A couple of years ago their numbers were on the rise but now they are decreasing again. They are, however, considered "Least concern" Can't figure that one out.

Could only stay on the dock for about 20 minutes under the very, very hot sun and high 90s

Least Tern (Sternula antillarum subsp. athalassos) Boliver Flats Shorebird Sanctuary, Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County, Texas, USA. Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes Vegetational Area. Beach, mud flats, and coastal marsh. Mouth of Galveston Bay at the Gulf of Mexico.

Least Tern (Sternula antillarum subsp. athalassos) Shell Ridge Road, Rockport, Aransas County, Texas, USA. Coastal Prairie and Marshes Vegetational Area. Small depressional pond in a coastal salt pan at ca. 1 m (3.3 ft) elevation.

Least Tern (Sternula antillarum subsp. athalassos) Shell Ridge Road, Rockport, Aransas County, Texas, USA. Coastal Prairie and Marshes Vegetational Area. Small depressional pond in a coastal salt pan at ca. 1 m (3.3 ft) elevation.

Reported this endangered Tern to DNR and they documented it. Yay for the Least Terns

A few newbies at the shore yesterday...This Tern being one.

According to our last report, the number of nesting Least Terns is improving greatly. They are so adaptable in finding different nesting environments. In this image the juvie seems so much larger than the parent.

The Least Tern is classified as threatened, endangered, or as a species of concern for most states because of loss of nesting habitat, and the interior population has been federally listed as endangered since 1985. For the last several years that I have been watching/counting them, they have...

A Least Tern in flight over the estuary at John MacArthur Beach State Park, North Palm Beach, Florida.

One good Arctic deserves a Least. When defending its territory this bird will come within inches of your head before veering away--all emphasized with a loud shriek.