One thing that has to be kept in mind about dark billed and/or dark legged Common Terns seen on Long Island in the spring is that our Common Terns (Sterna hirundo hirundo) have dark bills and dark legs in winter (both the young birds and adults). The possibility that these birds are just S. hirundo hirundo retaining aspects of their winter plumage must be considered. Indeed, given the breeding and wintering ranges of S. hirundo longipennis, S. hirundo hirundo with retained winter characters seems a more likely possibility.
Joe DiCostanzo Sent from my iPad -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
