{"id":20938,"date":"2015-03-13T05:56:36","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T11:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=20938"},"modified":"2025-09-19T14:34:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T19:34:23","slug":"common-tern-and-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/13\/common-tern-and-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Tern And Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CommonCommon Tern and friends – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

One July morning at 2008 I came across quite a few Common Terns at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach. Despite their name Common Terns weren’t all that common in Florida except during migration so I was happy to find them there on the beach and in flight along the shore.<\/p>\n

Common Terns populations were decimated in the 19th century due to the millinery trade but they recovered with protection as did many other bird species that were targeted by feather collectors so women could wear feathers in their hats during that time period.<\/p>\n

Common Terns are also called “Sea Swallows” and I like that name.<\/p>\n

This Common Tern was resting on the beach when I photographed it in front of a flock of Sandwich Terns and a few Laughing Gulls.<\/p>\n

Even in nonbreeding plumage Common Terns are quite dashing in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

One July morning at 2008 I came across quite a few Common Terns at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156886,"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":[27,3446,25,704],"tags":[4004,4039,4021,14752,3447,173,4077,4246,3980,4017,3448,2090,629],"class_list":["post-20938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-terns","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","tag-adult","tag-beach","tag-bird-photography","tag-coastal-island","tag-common-tern","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-pinellas-county","tag-sand","tag-sterna-hirundo","tag-tern","tag-terns"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-tern-mia-mcpherson-7183.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5rI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138401,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/30\/i-saw-my-first-forsters-terns-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":20938,"position":0},"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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McPherson","date":"April 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The differences in breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Forster's Terns is enough that some bird watching and bird photography novices might even think that they are two different species of terns.","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 mated pair on nest, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/forsters-terns-nest-mia-mcpherson-2469.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/forsters-terns-nest-mia-mcpherson-2469.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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image of a juvenile Sandwich Tern in flight from my Florida archives to post this morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Sandwich Tern in flight, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sandwich-tern-immature-mia-mcpherson-7201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sandwich-tern-immature-mia-mcpherson-7201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sandwich-tern-immature-mia-mcpherson-7201.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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