gemfyre | Amendment to Birding Lessons

rdmasters reminded me, there is one more tern you have a good chance of seeing in certain spots around Perth.

Bridled Tern - Onychoprion anaethetus

Photo by me! Taken at Penguin Island.

Bridled Terns are a middle-sized tern that isn't so common on the mainland, but on offshore islands like Penguin Island, Rottnest and Lancelin Island you will find hundreds of these guys fluttering around. All three islands have breeding colonies on them. As you can see from my photo (which was taken with a crappy old digicam), you can get very close to them sometimes. If you are visiting these islands look closely under bushes and even under the wooden stairs, you may find eggs and chicks.
Bridled Terns are pretty easy to tell apart from the other common terns. Apart from being hugely abundant on offshore islands, they have -
- Black caps and a black stripe through the eye, creating the 'bridle'
- Dark grey wings and tail
- Black bill
- Snowy white underneath.