I.D. needed.

[jonah]

Hello birders,
I need help to indentify the bird I saw today, in Welland, flying over a local pond, presumably looking for fish. It looked like a gull, all white except for its' head , which was black with a orange beak. It did look like a kingfisher,only larger, but I cannot find a photo of this bird in any of the bird links.
Thanks in advance,
Jonah. :?:

[JTF]

Your bird is a Tern species. Here are two pics of a Caspian Tern often seen in Southern Ontario.

Immature Caspian



Adult Caspian Tern

[The Observer]

Had to shuffle around to re-find this post (think it should be in "Bird ID" section).
JTF: are you ever near the Humber River where it meets Lake Ontario? I ask because I labeled all of my tern pics as "Common Terns" and now you have me wondering if they are Caspians...

[jonah]

Absolutely correct, it is this bird, a Caspian Tern. Thnks so much. I guess it must have made a wrong turn from the Caspian Sea !!!
Regards,
Jonah.

[JTF]

Never been there, I live in Kingston.

[backyard birdin]

I was fishing today and had one of those take a dive for a fish about 50 feet away from me.  Pretty big splash and cool to watch.

[Margaret]

I was at Sam Smith park on Sunday where 2 types of tern were in action, one large and one smaller. The large tern, the Caspian, would circle the duck pond several times "casing the joint" and then dive-bomb straight down from on high for a fish, quite spectacular. I got a good look at the thick red bill through my bins.
But I find definition of the smaller tern more difficult. I'm looking at my Kaufman and Common and Forsters seem v. similar. I know Forsters are not common in our area but I do remember TO people having seen them. Is their tail more forked than the Common variety? It's fine saying one has a "slimmer beak" but not much help unless you have the 2 birds side by side!!
(One time on this site I called the smaller tern a "Least tern" but I know better now. And eventually I did see Least terns and the Royal variety in Florida.)
Another place to see terns is Bronte Harbour.

[The Observer]

Okay... first time posting a picture AND first time uploading to flickr so please forgive any oddities.

I use a point and shoot camera so quality may not be top notch but I hope these shots allow you to adequately see the terns. Any help would be appreciated.

Just in case posting the picture doesn't work, here is the address for them.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40811606@N03/

[/img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3786905367_dc8d4c773f.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/3786905101_20224e4f2b.jpg[img]

And just a warning... if this works, I am going to be all over getting assistance with the identities!!

[thouc]

It looks like you have Common Tern in the picture as it's bill has a black tip and is not as huge as Caspian.

Regarding Common and Forster's (I have got some experience separating the two after living a couple of years in Southwestern Ontario where Forster's actually is the more common tern) I find that Forster's have very bright white upperparts of the wing all the way to the tip while Common have more grey upperparts with a black tip.

/Thomas

[The Observer]

Thank you so much! Also really appreciate your specifying WHY it's a Common Tern. Oh so helpful!

[Brian Bailey]

it must have made a wrong turn from the Caspian Sea

They are actually very wide ranging.  I remember being surprised to see them in New Zealand when I visited there many years ago!

BB