Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cwjcc!hal!nic.MR.NET!tank!mimsy!dftsrv!ames!amdcad!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!edsews!edsdrd!gss From: gss@edsdrd.eds.com (Gary Schiltz) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Forster's and Common Terns Keywords: Differentiation, abundance Message-ID: <114@arcturus.edsdrd.eds.com> Date: 7 Dec 88 15:50:29 GMT Organization: EDS Research and Development, Auburn Hills, MI 48057 Lines: 40 I've been birding now for about ten years, and have yet to identify a Common Tern. Most of my birding has been while I was a student at Kansas State University in Manhattan. With several large reservoirs in the area, and the Cheyenne Bottoms wildlife refuge close by, I was able to see a fairly large number of small terns, and as far as I could tell, they were all Forester's. At least, the people with whom I birded all said the common small terns in the area were Forster's. Now that I live in the Detroit area, I again see a large number of terns and am still unable to see any that I am sure are Common. Does anyone on the net have any good rules of thumb for differentiating between Forster's and Common Terns? Specifically, 1) How can one visually tell the difference between the two? The Golden field guide shows slightly darker primaries and dark outer edges of the tail in the Common, with lighter primaries and dark inner edges around the tail in the Forster's. I've looked at hundreds of small terns, and even through a spotting scope, I've been unable to see any of these markings. Do these markings usually show up well? During what seasons do the markings show up best? Do I just need new binoculars (maybe Santa Claus reads this newsgroup :-) 2) Which tern would be more abundant around midwestern lakes (i.e. in Kansas) and in the Great Lakes region, and in what seasons are each more abundant? 3) Where is a good place to go to see both species in large numbers at the same time? Thanks in advance. You might as well post your responses rather than email, since the birding traffic on the network has been light, lately. --- /\ What cheer, /\ | Gary Schiltz, EDS R&D, 3551 Hamlin Road | / o< cheer,