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Caspian Tern, Sterna caspia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Caspians from Mexico were photographed wintering in the Gulf of California, and show the non-breeding plumage, with the crown speckled rather than solid black. | (MEXICO) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Parent and child -- the adult in the picture left above brought the fish to feed to the juvenile as shown below. Further down the page, two panoramas show the scene at the Salinas River mouth, where a large colony (maybe 2000) of Elegant Terns which moved north in post-breeding dispersal, have shared space some winters with a much smaller nesting colony of Caspians. The upper scene shows a lone Caspian juvenile in front of a group of Elegants; the lower, shows an uproar among five adult and two juvenile Caspians as an adult feeds a juvenile. |
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This adult Caspian Tern was flying south along Salinas State Beach carrying a fish to the nesting ground at the mouth of the Salinas River, summer 2005. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(MEXICO) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(MEXICO) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The three pictures below show a Caspian Tern diving, then in the water, then taking off with its catch, late summer 2008. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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This one went upside down in mid-air to keep from dropping its catch. |