SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN BIRDS
PHOTO GALLERY
Trinidad & Tobago Field Naturalists' Club    Southeastern Caribbean Bird Alert    Trinidad & Tobago Rare Bird Committee

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Short-legged 'Mystery Tern' (Sterna sp.)
A short-legged 'mystery tern' among 33 Common Terns (S. hirundo) at Columbus Bay, Trinidad, 23 June 2002. Photos © by Floyd Hayes. Found by Floyd Hayes, Nigel Hacking, Nigel Lallsingh, and Keisha Lallsingh, this bird was momentarily thought to be Trinidad and Tobago's first Arctic Tern (S. paradisaea), which is shorter-legged than Common Tern, but closer inspection revealed no differences in bill size, plumage, or wing-tail proportions; furthermore, something was wrong with the legs...well, the last photo clinches its identity. If you are stumped (hint), click here for further comments.
closeup of legs