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Wolfgang Wander | all galleries >> Long Island Wildlife >> Terns > Least Tern (immature) Sterna Antillarum
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Summer 2005 Wolfgang Wander

Least Tern (immature) Sterna Antillarum

NY, Stony Brook - West Meadow Beach

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM
1/1250s f/8.0 at 700.0mm iso400 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time22-Jul-2005 07:12:43
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 20D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length700 mm
Exposure Time1/1250 sec
Aperturef/8
ISO Equivalent400
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modepartial (6)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (1)
Focus Distance

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Jon Atwood 13-Sep-2008 14:53
This is a classic "pikei" plumage bird - a one-year old individual that shows a dark carpal bar and dark gray outer primaries (not 2-3 black outer primaries as would an adult). Hatch-year (juvenile) LETEs never show yellow bases to their bill.

These one-year old birds mostly remain on their wintering grounds (we think), but annually small numbers return to the breeding areas, especially late in the season. They may engage in limited courtship behavior - which is almost surely what this individual was doing - but are not known to progress to the point of actually laying eggs.