Answers & solutions
Check your answers against our explanations. Remember, as ever, there are no ‘trick’ birds or extreme rarities among those here
BIRD 1
No one said this month’s ID Challenge was going to be easy! It may even be a little tricky for some. And we start with one of those red-billed, red-footed terns with long tail streamers which have caused birders problems for generations. Indeed, many a birder of the old school used to lump such terns together as ‘Commic Terns’, being unable to distinguish Common from Arctic Terns. A handful of features shown here should allow you to name this bird, though. The wings are neat and ‘clean’ white, with a neatly defined black trailing edge to the primary wing feathers. The bill is short and blood red (no black), the neck is short, and the tail streamers are very long. These are enough in themselves to name this as an Arctic Tern.
Key features
■ Clean, neat appearance
■ Short neck, long tail, so wings look 'set well forward'
■ Short, wholly blood-red bill
■ Thin black line on trailing edge of primaries
BIRD 2
We tried to make this one more challenging by showing a tern which has plunged into water, presumably diving for a small fish, as our sea terns often do. But the most important features are still on show: the yellow bill and the white forehead and white line above the eye ( before the black crown). If these weren’t enough (which they should be!) have a look at the wing pattern. The wings are pale grey, as is typical for most sea terns, with a distinctive black leading edge on the primaries (the long flight feathers). The combination of this wing pattern, the white forehead and yellow bill mean this can only be a Little Tern. In real life, the diminutive size would be a giveaway, with only the so-called marsh terns coming even close to the smallness of a Little Tern.
Key features
■ Yellow bill
■ White forehead above black eyestripe
■ Wings with black leading edge on primaries
■ Head looks proportionately large compared with wings
BIRD 3
This one is perhaps the easiest of all this month’s ID Challenge birds to name. This is mainly down to the colour and pattern of the bill. It is a wholly black bill with a distinct yellow tip, which is quite unlike any of our other terns’ bills. The other outstanding features of this generally pale tern (typical of a sea tern) include the black legs and feet and the black crown which projects in a slight crest at the back of the head. The combination of black legs, shaggy crown and black bill with yellow tip is unique to Sandwich Tern. This conclusion is backed up further by the apparently rather short, almost truncated, rear end, including a short forked tail. Sandwich Terns are our largest breeding tern species and in real life are notably bigger than the other British species.
Key features
■ Long black bill with yellow tip
■ Black crown extends as shaggy crest at back
■ Black legs and feet
■ Relatively short, forked tail
BIRD 4
Sadly, there are no prizes for saying that this largely black tern species is one of the ‘ black terns’. Actually, there are no prizes even for naming all the species, correctly, but that is another matter. There are two black terns, however, so to even get the imaginary points you have to say which one it is. This almost immaculate individual is displaying more than enough feathers to make ID straightforward, even if all we can see is the underside. The black body (the underparts that is, apart from the white lower belly, undertail coverts and tail), the red feet, and the black underwing coverts, contrasting with pale flight feathers, make this a summer-plumaged White-winged Black Tern. Black Terns have dark grey underparts, black legs and feet and wholly pale grey underwings.
Key features
■ Strikingly black and white
■ Black head, belly and underwing coverts
■ Pale grey flight feathers
■ Black bill, red feet
BIRD 5
A short while ago (Bird 3) we explained the black bill was unique among sea terns to the Sandwich Tern (or so you may claim). So, this must be another Sandwich Tern. But, don’t forget the yellow tip of the Sandwich Tern’s bill (or the black feet for that matter). This is much more like one of those pesky ‘Commic Terns’, so notoriously tricky to identify in the field! It has the long tail streamers of an Arctic Tern, and smudgy looking primaries, like a Common Tern. But the body has a subtle yet distinct pale pink flush and that bill is all black. This can only be the scarce breeding Roseate Tern, which nests in such localised areas as Coquet Island, Northumberland, and some parts of Northern Ireland.
Key features
■ Fine, black bill, bright red feet
■ Very long tail streamers
■ Pink flush to underparts
■ Slightly ‘smudgy’ grey in primary flight feathers
BIRD 6
We finally come to a perched bird to finish things off. And we are finishing with another one of those red-billed, red-legged, pale-backed, long-tailed Sterna sea terns. Arguably the best feature to go on here is the long, orange-red bill with a black tip. Arctic Terns have shorter, cuter bills which are blood red and lack the black tip. Arctic Terns also have notoriously short legs, and this bird is showing a decent amount of leg. The body is white or very pale grey, lacking the greyer ‘ flush’ on a summer Arctic Tern or the pink of a (largely black-billed) Roseate Tern. We can comfortably conclude that this is a Common Tern, which in addition to nesting on coastal beach colonies will nest on rafts and islands on inland water bodies.
Key features
■ Long orange-red bill with black tip
■ White-grey underparts
■ Medium-length red legs (for a tern)
■ Pale grey upperparts