Hello birders, I was hoping you could answer me a question.
Around February every year terns arrive in Wellington harbour and settle in for a while. They spend a lot of time on the rocky embankment close to the tug boat on the bay restaurant. Are these arctic terns or some other tern?
Much thanks in advance!
Carrie
Forest & Bird » Other
What kind of tern in Wellington harbour?
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Posted 1 year ago #
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Very difficult to say without a photo or description of plumage, beak and leg/feet colour.
The most common tern we have around is the White-fronted Tern (40cm, White with black beak and cap). These are seen in flocks around the NZ coast, often of large numbers eg 20 - 100+ and also fishing in smaller groups.
There is also the smaller and greyer Black-fronted Tern (29cm, Red beak and legs) that breeds on the braided rivers of the South Island.
There are also flocks of Caspian Terns, usually seen in much smaller numbers, apart from on their breeding grounds. These are our largest tern at 51cm with a bright red beak, grey to black cap and black legs.
The Arctic Tern and Common Tern are rare migrants that are seen in much smaller numbers from time to time around our coasts. The Antarctic Tern is largely confined to the sub-antarctic islands in NZ waters. There are 7-8 other species of tern, but these are rare and highly unlikely to be in Wellington in the flocks you describe.
So the White-fronted Tern is the most likely candidate, but maybe post a description of the bird, for confirmation. A good reference for you is The Field Guide to the birds of NZ by Heather and Robinson, available in most bookshops.
Posted 1 year ago #
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