Chlidonias hybrida

1 Whiskered Tern at Fyshwick, ACT

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Identification history

Chlidonias hybrida	18 Jan 2020	natureguy
Chlidonias hybrida	13 Jan 2020	Liam.m
Chlidonias leucopterus	24 Nov 2019	natureguy
Chlidonias hybrida	23 Nov 2019	RodDeb

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5 comments

natureguy wrote:

24 Nov 2019

I have tentatively suggested this ID. It does not look like a Whiskered Tern, as it is white underneath, where Whiskered Tern would usually be darker. The facial markings also do not look right for Whiskered but seems ok for White-winged Black Tern. Also White-winged Black Tern has been seen at J Wetlands as recently as 16th Nov on eBird, so could easily be the same bird. However it is still a very tentative ID as tern identification is not my area of expertise. We will see what the other moderators think.

Luke

ArcherCallaway wrote:

27 Nov 2019

Not sure, we may need to ask around.

rawshorty wrote:

28 Nov 2019

WT can be white on the underside. The only indicator in these pics is a forked tail, from my recent research i have been doing WWBT have a square tail.

natureguy wrote:

11 Dec 2019

If you search White-winged Black Tern on eBird, there are many pictures of birds there with a slightly forked tail. See https://ebird.org/species/whwter/ for more information. However I am happy to go with whatever others think as I have very little experience with tern ID. I just though that this bird doesn't look like any Whiskered I have seen and seems to fit ok with WBBT.

natureguy wrote:

19 Jan 2020

I have confirmed this as Whiskered Tern because multiple people have now suggest that as the ID. After checking again it does fit some pictures of non-breeding plumage Whiskered so I will confirm as Whiskered.

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