Dolphin Tales: Many variations of tern, they are plentiful
There is a season-tern, tern, tern.
Remember the old song by The Byrds? “Turn! Turn! Turn!”?
Well, this is my take on the bird, the tern. There are many variations of the bird and they are plentiful in the Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor where I run my dolphin and nature tours.
Their habitat is strictly coastal, preferring barrier beaches, estuaries and low-lying sandy islands. They are rarely seen inland. Most terns will frequently nest and rest alongside mixed colonies of gulls and terns. They are quite a noisy group of birds when gathered together.
Terns are often confused with gulls, but gulls are much larger than terns and gulls frequently sit on the water. Terns are known to be smaller, faster, have forked tails, pointed beaks and longer, more streamlined bodies. They swoop down and grab small fish from the water but rarely sit on the water as do the gulls. Terns hover in the air for quite some time, then dive straight down into the water to grab their fish and are quickly airborne again. The fast, shallow plunge-dive allows them to quickly catch surface prey.
Some of the terns we see in Southwest Florida are the royal tern, the common tern and the sandwich tern. The royal tern has a beautiful orange beak and a black tuft of feathers on the back side of the head during summer mating season. I almost always see one resting on a piling as I’m moving through the channels from Wilson Cut to Cabbage Key. They are very pronounced with the dagger-like carrot-orange beak and tuft of black feathers. The black crest does recede in non-breeding season. Interestingly, a flock of royal terns is called a “highness.”
The common tern is not as outstanding in appearance as the royal tern. It has a solid black head and beak in summer and will have some reddish color. It is a little prettier with its winter plumage but quite ordinary. Similar to other terns, it has a deeply forked tail and executes the dramatic plunge-diving behavior.
The sandwich tern has a yellow tip at the end of its sharp black bill. The yellow tip is often referred to as “mayonnaise.” The bird has a shaggy black crest on its head. It is a pale silvery-gray in color. As with most birds, plumage changes in non-breeding months. In the sandwich tern, the black cap recedes to a white forehead during non-breeding winter months.
Worthy of mention are the noddy tern and sooty tern, which are part of the natural beauty of the Dry Tortugas. The Dry Tortugas are a short plane ride from Key West. As well, the American bittern, another tern, is found in the tall grasses of swamps and ponds in the Everglades. The bittern is very shy and sways in perfect rhythm with the tall grasses as the wind moves through and it simply disappears from sight.
Capt. Cathy Eagle has spent over 45 years boating our local waters. As a professional charter captain, she specializes in dolphin and nature tours. For more information, visit CaptainCathy.com or text/call at 239-994-2572.