{"id":6497,"date":"2012-11-04T03:55:14","date_gmt":"2012-11-04T09:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6497"},"modified":"2024-09-02T14:29:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T19:29:00","slug":"royal-terns-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/04\/royal-terns-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","title":{"rendered":"Royal Terns In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultRoyal Tern in nonbreeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a simple post today to show the differences in the breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Royal Terns.<\/p>\n

Royal Terns are “Crested Terns”, in this image the crest isn’t visible. The white on the top of this tern’s head indicates that it is in nonbreeding plumage.<\/p>\n

\"RoyalRoyal Tern in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/1500, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The shaggy crest is visible in this image and the black extends from the bill to just under the eye and to the tips of the crest. In some adult Royal Terns the bill can be more red than this adult.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Just a simple post today to show the differences in the breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Royal Terns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133659,"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":[27,25,407],"tags":[4004,4053,5132,14752,173,4077,4246,3980,4376,165,2090,629,4267,3996,4119],"class_list":["post-6497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-royal-terns","tag-adult","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-coastal","tag-coastal-island","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-pinellas-county","tag-royal-tern","tag-spring","tag-tern","tag-terns","tag-thalasseus-maximus","tag-water","tag-waves"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/royal-tern-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-5895.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1GN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46475,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/26\/breeding-and-nonbreeding-forsters-terns\/","url_meta":{"origin":6497,"position":0},"title":"Breeding and Nonbreeding Forster’s Terns","author":"Mia 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/forsters-terns-nest-mia-mcpherson-2469.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/forsters-terns-nest-mia-mcpherson-2469.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14702,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/06\/breeding-and-nonbreeding-caspian-terns\/","url_meta":{"origin":6497,"position":1},"title":"Breeding And Nonbreeding Caspian Terns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Soon Caspian Terns will be back in Utah flying over rivers, ponds, lakes, and other freshwater impoundments searching for prey.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Caspian Tern in flight, 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-flight-mia-mcpherson-0894.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-flight-mia-mcpherson-0894.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/caspian-tern-nonbreeding-flight-mia-mcpherson-0894.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4752,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/08\/forsters-terns\/","url_meta":{"origin":6497,"position":3},"title":"Forster’s Terns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"When I moved from Florida to Utah I felt it was fortunate that some of the nonbreeding birds I used to see in Florida during the winter I now get to see in breeding plumage on their nesting grounds.","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 breeding plumage on nest","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/forsters-tern-nest-mia-mcpherson-2961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/forsters-tern-nest-mia-mcpherson-2961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/forsters-tern-nest-mia-mcpherson-2961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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