Common Tern?

[Drevni]

Visited the Bluffs on Saturday and saw a few of these flying around. I couldn't figure out if this was a Common Tern or not.





Thanks for the help in advance!

[JTF]

If the tern has some black on the end of the bill its a Common Tern, can't quite tell from the images. If no black on the end then it would be a Caspian but they have very large think bills not slim like in the pic.

[thouc]

Yes, it definitely looks like a Common Tern.

[Brian Bailey]

Yes, definitely a Common Tern.  Caspian Terns are much more gull-like in shape, size, and flight style.  They are more heavily built, and take much shallower wingbeats than this bird.  Its bright orange bill is much thicker than that of the Common Tern.

Forster's Terns look very similar to Common, but they lack the black on the wingtips.  They are also much less common around here.

BB

[Anonymous]

Here's a couple of Caspian shots that you can reference, also from the Bluffs.  Cheers, Attila