{"id":14702,"date":"2014-04-06T05:49:14","date_gmt":"2014-04-06T11:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14702"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:26:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T00:26:46","slug":"breeding-and-nonbreeding-caspian-terns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/06\/breeding-and-nonbreeding-caspian-terns\/","title":{"rendered":"Breeding And Nonbreeding Caspian Terns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soon Caspian Terns will be back in Utah flying over rivers, ponds, lakes, and other freshwater impoundments searching for prey.<\/p>\n

\"CaspianNonbreeding Caspian Tern in flight – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 310mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Caspian Terns are the largest terns in North America and are about the size of\u00a0a Ring-billed Gull. I have been fortunate to see and photograph them in both Utah and Florida. They make a funny “kowk<\/a><\/span>” call and usually I hear them before I see them when I am out photographing here in Utah. Caspian Terns breed here in northern Utah but the largest breeding colony of them is in Oregon.<\/p>\n

The Caspian Tern with the speckled crown in the photo above is in nonbreeding plumage, I photographed it in flight over the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. There was a storm coming off of the Gulf that made for an interesting sky.<\/p>\n

\"PairPair of Caspian Terns in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f18, 1\/160, ISO 160, Nikkor 70-300mm VR with 1.4x TC at 300mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This pair of Caspian Terns with all black crowns were in breeding plumage when I photographed them at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach. I have always chuckled when I view this image because it almost looks like a two-headed, four-legged Caspian Tern due to the close proximity of the terns. To get both birds in focus I set my aperture at f18 and that worked well.<\/p>\n

I can’t wait to see my first of the year Caspian Terns!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see my Caspian Tern photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soon Caspian Terns will be back in Utah flying over rivers, ponds, lakes, and other freshwater impoundments searching for prey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1802,25,704],"tags":[4004,4039,4053,1803,5132,4052,4122,4467,3997,4246,4018,165,2315,2090,629,3996],"class_list":["post-14702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-caspian-terns","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","tag-adult","tag-beach","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-caspian-tern","tag-coastal","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hydroprogne-caspia","tag-lagoon","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-sky","tag-spring","tag-summer-3","tag-tern","tag-terns","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-nonbreeding-flight-mia-mcpherson-0894.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3P8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":113219,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/04\/spring-caspian-tern-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":14702,"position":0},"title":"Spring Caspian Tern Photos Plus A Bonus Osprey Image","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"At the end of last month, I had the pleasure of taking Caspian Tern photos as these terns were flying and fishing at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nearly eye level with a flying Caspian Tern, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-adult-flight-urban-mia-mcpherson-3874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-adult-flight-urban-mia-mcpherson-3874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-adult-flight-urban-mia-mcpherson-3874.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-adult-flight-urban-mia-mcpherson-3874.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6092,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/10\/caspian-terns\/","url_meta":{"origin":14702,"position":1},"title":"Caspian Terns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) are North America's largest tern with a wingspan of 50 inches and weighing in at 1.4 pounds.","rel":"","context":"In "Caspian Terns"","block_context":{"text":"Caspian Terns","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/terns-and-skimmers\/caspian-terns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Caspian Tern in flight next to the Gulf, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-nonbreeding-mia-mcpherson-2336.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-nonbreeding-mia-mcpherson-2336.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-nonbreeding-mia-mcpherson-2336.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-nonbreeding-mia-mcpherson-2336.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138401,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/30\/i-saw-my-first-forsters-terns-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":14702,"position":2},"title":"I Saw My First Forster’s Terns At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I saw, but didn\u2019t photograph, Forster\u2019s Terns flying and hunting over Sally Jones Lake.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Forster's Tern in flight over the Gulf, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-pair-beach-mia-mcpherson-2804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-pair-beach-mia-mcpherson-2804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-pair-beach-mia-mcpherson-2804.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-pair-beach-mia-mcpherson-2804.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48449,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/14\/caspian-tern-banded-at-malheur-nwr-flying-over-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":14702,"position":4},"title":"Caspian Tern Banded at Malheur NWR Flying over Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Although I didn't see it at the time I photographed this bird in flight the Caspian Tern did fly in close enough for me to capture images that showed it had bands on its legs.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Caspian Tern Band K101 in flight over Bear River MBR with insert, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-banded-flight-mia-mcpherson-insert-1589.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-banded-flight-mia-mcpherson-insert-1589.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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