Candaba Tern for ID

[kseddon]

Hi Guys,

I visited Manila for the first time with family in April & whilst there managed a quick visit to Candaba Wetlands - although it definately felt 'out of season' I was very pleasantly surprised by the volume of species - many of which allowed quite a close approach - Definately on my bucket list of places to visit again soon
I snapped this tern closeby to the entrance & a quick look thru a hotel fieldguide @ the time had me stumped for conclusive id, so thought that I'd ask the pro's
Any help with Tern (& plant) id would be greatly appreciated!
+
If you have the time, any advice regarding most useful field guides for a future visit?


Best Regards

Karl Seddon

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

hi ksedon,

The plant is a lotus bloom and the bird, I think is a whiskered tern. But let's wait for the experts.

Here are reference photos I took.

[paulbourdin]

Yes to Whiskered Tern. The only other possibility here is White-winged Black Tern, which shows a different head pattern in this plumage, (It looks like it's wearing headphones). The structure is also too heavy for WWBT, which has a more slender bill, and an overall more 'delicate' look. A good field feature is the rump. In Whiskered Tern it is concolourous with the tail and back, a uniform pale grey. In WWBT in all plumages the rump is paler than the back (usually quite white), and in most plumages this extends down to the tail. In April most birds are still in winter plumage like this one, though some are starting to change.

[kseddon]

Thankyou very much for such informative replies!
To be honest, I find all but the most obvious non-breeding terns quite difficult to id at the best of times but I guess thats the game isnt it?
Thankyou once again.

Karl

[des]

I sympathise. But keep looking carefully and check through all the feather groups like rump, primaries secondaries etc regularly, and note the relative lengths of all the different parts. Gradually your brain will adapt to seeing birds differently.