RE: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Report.

[JOHN TURNER]

Things took a turn for the better today!

On Tue, Jun 19, 2018 at 07:20 PM, Long Island Birding wrote:

Hello all,
To summarize there were 7 tern species seen at Nickerson Beach Today.


Sandwich Tern (found by Doug Futuyma)
Arctic Tern (found by Adelia Honeywood)
Gull-Billed Tern
Forster's Tern 
Roseate Terns
Least Terns 
Common Terns



Mike Z.




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RE: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Report.

[JOHN TURNER]

Things took a turn for the better today!

On Tue, Jun 19, 2018 at 07:20 PM, Long Island Birding wrote:

Hello all,
To summarize there were 7 tern species seen at Nickerson Beach Today.


Sandwich Tern (found by Doug Futuyma)
Arctic Tern (found by Adelia Honeywood)
Gull-Billed Tern
Forster's Tern 
Roseate Terns
Least Terns 
Common Terns



Mike Z.




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[nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Report.

[Long Island Birding]

Hello all,
To summarize there were 7 tern species seen at Nickerson Beach Today.

Sandwich Tern (found by Doug Futuyma)
Arctic Tern (found by Adelia Honeywood)
Gull-Billed Tern
Forster's Tern
Roseate Terns
Least Terns
Common Terns


Mike Z.

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[nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Report.

[Long Island Birding]

Hello all,
To summarize there were 7 tern species seen at Nickerson Beach Today.

Sandwich Tern (found by Doug Futuyma)
Arctic Tern (found by Adelia Honeywood)
Gull-Billed Tern
Forster's Tern
Roseate Terns
Least Terns
Common Terns


Mike Z.

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[nysbirds-l] Cliff Swallows (Presumably Nesting) in Queens

[Steve Walter]

So once again I wasn't at the right place at the right time for a Sandwich
Tern. That's always the way it is - except after Hurricane Irene. What I did
do was turn to some local things. I remembered that someone (I think I know
who) had reported Cliff Swallows nesting in the Alley Creek area in
northeastern Queens a few years ago. So I wanted to follow up on that. After
standing along the creek, north of Northern Blvd. for a little while, I
finally caught sight of two individuals (and possibly a third). All appeared
to go to the bridge that runs over the creek on Northern Blvd. I think it's
okay to divulge that, if in fact they're nesting there. With thousands of
cars driving over them every day, I don't think a few birders are going to
be a problem. I should point out that I have never seen them from the easily
accessible platform south of the APEC nature center. It does seem that you
would have to do the sometimes dicey crossing of Northern Blvd. But it's an
alternative for Queens and Long Island residents that want to see Cliff
Swallows and would prefer to avoid the Throgs Neck Bridge crossing.

 

Another note. There's a breeding plumaged drake Ruddy Duck still in the
creek, left over from winter. 

 

 

Steve Walter

Bayside, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Cliff Swallows (Presumably Nesting) in Queens

[Steve Walter]

So once again I wasn't at the right place at the right time for a Sandwich
Tern. That's always the way it is - except after Hurricane Irene. What I did
do was turn to some local things. I remembered that someone (I think I know
who) had reported Cliff Swallows nesting in the Alley Creek area in
northeastern Queens a few years ago. So I wanted to follow up on that. After
standing along the creek, north of Northern Blvd. for a little while, I
finally caught sight of two individuals (and possibly a third). All appeared
to go to the bridge that runs over the creek on Northern Blvd. I think it's
okay to divulge that, if in fact they're nesting there. With thousands of
cars driving over them every day, I don't think a few birders are going to
be a problem. I should point out that I have never seen them from the easily
accessible platform south of the APEC nature center. It does seem that you
would have to do the sometimes dicey crossing of Northern Blvd. But it's an
alternative for Queens and Long Island residents that want to see Cliff
Swallows and would prefer to avoid the Throgs Neck Bridge crossing.

 

Another note. There's a breeding plumaged drake Ruddy Duck still in the
creek, left over from winter. 

 

 

Steve Walter

Bayside, NY


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RE: [nysbirds-l] Is this an Arctic Tern? Nickerson today

[Shaibal Mitra]

Yes! Delayed second-summer type, very similar to and possibly the same as a 
bird from 16 Jun:

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46594261

From: bounce-122648744-3714...@list.cornell.edu 
[bounce-122648744-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Adelia Honeywood 
[honeywo...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2018 5:07 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L-for Posts Posts
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Is this an Arctic Tern? Nickerson today

Hi,

I've been enjoying the long discussion about Arctic Terns on this list. 
Wondering if the bird at the link below at Nickerson Beach today might be an 
Arctic Tern

https://download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v1/asset/104939531/1200

For those who were there today, (Doug Futuyma, Zach Schwartz-weinstein, Michael 
Zito and Rob Taylor), this is a different bird than we were discussing
and which was determined not to be Arctic.

Thanks!
Adelia
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RE: [nysbirds-l] Is this an Arctic Tern? Nickerson today

[Shaibal Mitra]

Yes! Delayed second-summer type, very similar to and possibly the same as a 
bird from 16 Jun:

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46594261

From: bounce-122648744-3714...@list.cornell.edu 
[bounce-122648744-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Adelia Honeywood 
[honeywo...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2018 5:07 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L-for Posts Posts
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Is this an Arctic Tern? Nickerson today

Hi,

I've been enjoying the long discussion about Arctic Terns on this list. 
Wondering if the bird at the link below at Nickerson Beach today might be an 
Arctic Tern

https://download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v1/asset/104939531/1200

For those who were there today, (Doug Futuyma, Zach Schwartz-weinstein, Michael 
Zito and Rob Taylor), this is a different bird than we were discussing
and which was determined not to be Arctic.

Thanks!
Adelia
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[nysbirds-l] about birds

[Mardi Dickinson]

Birders et al,

Thought many of you would be interested on my next conversation on 
http://birdcallsradio.com/

Cheers,

Mardi Dickinson
Norwalk
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[nysbirds-l] about birds

[Mardi Dickinson]

Birders et al,

Thought many of you would be interested on my next conversation on 
http://birdcallsradio.com/

Cheers,

Mardi Dickinson
Norwalk
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[nysbirds-l] Sandwich Tern, Nickerson Beach

[zach schwartz-weinstein]

By the eastern Tern colony, currently near the water. Found by Doug Futuyma.--

Zach Schwartz-Weinstein
203 500 7774

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[nysbirds-l] Sandwich Tern, Nickerson Beach

[zach schwartz-weinstein]

By the eastern Tern colony, currently near the water. Found by Doug Futuyma.--

Zach Schwartz-Weinstein
203 500 7774

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Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others

[peter paul]

To add another layer to the aging confusion, while also tying into the ROST
banding conversation - here are two banded Roseate Terns I have recently
encountered at Nickerson.  I have now received reports from both of them.
They were both banded as chicks, one on Great Gull Island, one in
Connecticut, and both in 2016.  I think anyone reading this conversation
who encountered them in the field would call them adults by plumage, but by
the terms defined, they are both second summers.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129132563@N05/27955753537/in/
dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129132563@N05/28846030558/in/
dateposted-public/

On Tue, Jun 19, 2018 at 5:58 AM, Joseph DiCostanzo 
wrote:

> Shai does an excellent job summarizing the complications of the terms. And
> he makes a very important point about using the term “type” since there is
> so much individual variation you cannot always reliably join plumage to
> chronological age. I would disagree with one point however. On Great Gull
> Island we trap numbers of Common Terns that are 20 years old or older. (I
> frequently tell students the bird they are handling might be older than
> they are.) Some seasons we may handle a hundred birds in this age bracket.
> It is highly unusual for them to be visually different from from other
> adults, so I would disagree with Shai’s statement that many Common Terns in
> this age bracket look like TY birds. I should note that we are trapping
> birds on nests with hatched chicks so they are generally in healthy
> breeding condition. It is certainly possible that birds in subprime
> condition may not be in full adult plumage.
>
> Joe DiCostanzo
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On Jun 18, 2018, at 8:01 PM, Shaibal Mitra 
> wrote:
> >
> > Tim,
> >
> > There's an error here.
> >
> > Regardless of what's true of any given bird, note the following
> equivalenciesduring June-July in NYS:
> >
> > Juvenile = HY = hatching-year
> > First-summer = SY = Second calendar year
> > Second-summer = TY = Third calendar year (but caveat: many this age look
> like adults, and some adults look like this, hence "type")
> > Adult = ATY = After Third calendar year.
> >
> > With terns:
> >
> > 1. the first-summer plumage (=SY =second calendar year) is usually
> highly stereotyped; this is the "portlandica" plumage; one year-old birds
> that differ obviously and consistently from breeding adults.
> >
> > 2. the second-summer type plumage (associated with but not identical to
> TY = third calendar year) is highly variable. Part of this arises because
> it comprises some actual TY birds (two years old; but note, many TY birds
> attain definitive adult appearance), and also a percentage of older, fully
> adult birds that are not in prime condition (very old Common Terns >20
> years old often look like this).
> >
> > Below are links to a series of second-summer type Arctic Tern
> individuals, spanning the gamut from very delayed (almost
> portlandica-looking) to nearly adult looking. The Arctic Terns that show up
> on LI are non-breeders, and they range from classic first-summers through
> all manner of second-summer types to almost adult-looking birds. But among
> the latter, they almost always show some defect from full breeding adult
> condition, and these occur all through June and early July. Thus I tend to
> suspect them as mainly seond-summer = TY = Third year = two year-olds.
> >
> > https://flic.kr/p/VVHtaZ
> > https://flic.kr/p/VhQ65U
> > https://flic.kr/p/VT2po6
> > https://flic.kr/p/VCjr6C
> > https://flic.kr/p/VPwvqd
> > https://flic.kr/p/VT2pRk
> > https://flic.kr/p/VCjq6G
> > https://flic.kr/p/VT2rrp
> > https://flic.kr/p/VT2otk
> > https://flic.kr/p/VhQ6fo
> >
> > Best,
> > Shai
> >
> >
> > 
> > From: bounce-122646499-3714...@list.cornell.edu [
> bounce-122646499-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Timothy Healy [
> tp...@cornell.edu]
> > Sent: Monday, June 18, 2018 7:28 PM
> > To: Steve Walter
> > Cc: NYSBIRDS
> > Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others
> >
> > This is where many banders and field biologists often use the
> abbreviations SY and ASY, for second year and after second year. The second
> year, a.k.a. second summer a.k.a. year old, plumages for many species are
> pretty definitive, and quite distinct from adults. In the case of COTE and
> ARTE, birds stay in a plumage that resembles their initial juvenile
> coloration for their second calendar year. The black-billed,
> white-foreheaded birds that are so abundant at the beach this season are
> coming up on a year old. This “imperfect” adult Arctic, with only some
> smudges, flecks, and short streamers to separate it from a classic mature
> bird, is probably at least two years old. I certainly don’t think it was
> born during the last season, which is what I understand makes a second
> summer bird. It may be in its third summer, or maybe it’s older and just a
> little funky. I reported it on eBird as 

Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others

[peter paul]

To add another layer to the aging confusion, while also tying into the ROST
banding conversation - here are two banded Roseate Terns I have recently
encountered at Nickerson.  I have now received reports from both of them.
They were both banded as chicks, one on Great Gull Island, one in
Connecticut, and both in 2016.  I think anyone reading this conversation
who encountered them in the field would call them adults by plumage, but by
the terms defined, they are both second summers.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129132563@N05/27955753537/in/
dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129132563@N05/28846030558/in/
dateposted-public/

On Tue, Jun 19, 2018 at 5:58 AM, Joseph DiCostanzo 
wrote:

> Shai does an excellent job summarizing the complications of the terms. And
> he makes a very important point about using the term “type” since there is
> so much individual variation you cannot always reliably join plumage to
> chronological age. I would disagree with one point however. On Great Gull
> Island we trap numbers of Common Terns that are 20 years old or older. (I
> frequently tell students the bird they are handling might be older than
> they are.) Some seasons we may handle a hundred birds in this age bracket.
> It is highly unusual for them to be visually different from from other
> adults, so I would disagree with Shai’s statement that many Common Terns in
> this age bracket look like TY birds. I should note that we are trapping
> birds on nests with hatched chicks so they are generally in healthy
> breeding condition. It is certainly possible that birds in subprime
> condition may not be in full adult plumage.
>
> Joe DiCostanzo
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On Jun 18, 2018, at 8:01 PM, Shaibal Mitra 
> wrote:
> >
> > Tim,
> >
> > There's an error here.
> >
> > Regardless of what's true of any given bird, note the following
> equivalenciesduring June-July in NYS:
> >
> > Juvenile = HY = hatching-year
> > First-summer = SY = Second calendar year
> > Second-summer = TY = Third calendar year (but caveat: many this age look
> like adults, and some adults look like this, hence "type")
> > Adult = ATY = After Third calendar year.
> >
> > With terns:
> >
> > 1. the first-summer plumage (=SY =second calendar year) is usually
> highly stereotyped; this is the "portlandica" plumage; one year-old birds
> that differ obviously and consistently from breeding adults.
> >
> > 2. the second-summer type plumage (associated with but not identical to
> TY = third calendar year) is highly variable. Part of this arises because
> it comprises some actual TY birds (two years old; but note, many TY birds
> attain definitive adult appearance), and also a percentage of older, fully
> adult birds that are not in prime condition (very old Common Terns >20
> years old often look like this).
> >
> > Below are links to a series of second-summer type Arctic Tern
> individuals, spanning the gamut from very delayed (almost
> portlandica-looking) to nearly adult looking. The Arctic Terns that show up
> on LI are non-breeders, and they range from classic first-summers through
> all manner of second-summer types to almost adult-looking birds. But among
> the latter, they almost always show some defect from full breeding adult
> condition, and these occur all through June and early July. Thus I tend to
> suspect them as mainly seond-summer = TY = Third year = two year-olds.
> >
> > https://flic.kr/p/VVHtaZ
> > https://flic.kr/p/VhQ65U
> > https://flic.kr/p/VT2po6
> > https://flic.kr/p/VCjr6C
> > https://flic.kr/p/VPwvqd
> > https://flic.kr/p/VT2pRk
> > https://flic.kr/p/VCjq6G
> > https://flic.kr/p/VT2rrp
> > https://flic.kr/p/VT2otk
> > https://flic.kr/p/VhQ6fo
> >
> > Best,
> > Shai
> >
> >
> > 
> > From: bounce-122646499-3714...@list.cornell.edu [
> bounce-122646499-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Timothy Healy [
> tp...@cornell.edu]
> > Sent: Monday, June 18, 2018 7:28 PM
> > To: Steve Walter
> > Cc: NYSBIRDS
> > Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others
> >
> > This is where many banders and field biologists often use the
> abbreviations SY and ASY, for second year and after second year. The second
> year, a.k.a. second summer a.k.a. year old, plumages for many species are
> pretty definitive, and quite distinct from adults. In the case of COTE and
> ARTE, birds stay in a plumage that resembles their initial juvenile
> coloration for their second calendar year. The black-billed,
> white-foreheaded birds that are so abundant at the beach this season are
> coming up on a year old. This “imperfect” adult Arctic, with only some
> smudges, flecks, and short streamers to separate it from a classic mature
> bird, is probably at least two years old. I certainly don’t think it was
> born during the last season, which is what I understand makes a second
> summer bird. It may be in its third summer, or maybe it’s older and just a
> little funky. I reported it on eBird as 

Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others

[Joseph DiCostanzo]

Shai does an excellent job summarizing the complications of the terms. And he 
makes a very important point about using the term “type” since there is so much 
individual variation you cannot always reliably join plumage to chronological 
age. I would disagree with one point however. On Great Gull Island we trap 
numbers of Common Terns that are 20 years old or older. (I frequently tell 
students the bird they are handling might be older than they are.) Some seasons 
we may handle a hundred birds in this age bracket. It is highly unusual for 
them to be visually different from from other adults, so I would disagree with 
Shai’s statement that many Common Terns in this age bracket look like TY birds. 
I should note that we are trapping birds on nests with hatched chicks so they 
are generally in healthy breeding condition. It is certainly possible that 
birds in subprime condition may not be in full adult plumage.

Joe DiCostanzo

Sent from my iPad

> On Jun 18, 2018, at 8:01 PM, Shaibal Mitra  wrote:
> 
> Tim,
> 
> There's an error here.
> 
> Regardless of what's true of any given bird, note the following 
> equivalenciesduring June-July in NYS:
> 
> Juvenile = HY = hatching-year
> First-summer = SY = Second calendar year
> Second-summer = TY = Third calendar year (but caveat: many this age look like 
> adults, and some adults look like this, hence "type")
> Adult = ATY = After Third calendar year.
> 
> With terns:
> 
> 1. the first-summer plumage (=SY =second calendar year) is usually highly 
> stereotyped; this is the "portlandica" plumage; one year-old birds that 
> differ obviously and consistently from breeding adults.
> 
> 2. the second-summer type plumage (associated with but not identical to TY = 
> third calendar year) is highly variable. Part of this arises because it 
> comprises some actual TY birds (two years old; but note, many TY birds attain 
> definitive adult appearance), and also a percentage of older, fully adult 
> birds that are not in prime condition (very old Common Terns >20 years old 
> often look like this).
> 
> Below are links to a series of second-summer type Arctic Tern individuals, 
> spanning the gamut from very delayed (almost portlandica-looking) to nearly 
> adult looking. The Arctic Terns that show up on LI are non-breeders, and they 
> range from classic first-summers through all manner of second-summer types to 
> almost adult-looking birds. But among the latter, they almost always show 
> some defect from full breeding adult condition, and these occur all through 
> June and early July. Thus I tend to suspect them as mainly seond-summer = TY 
> = Third year = two year-olds.
> 
> https://flic.kr/p/VVHtaZ
> https://flic.kr/p/VhQ65U
> https://flic.kr/p/VT2po6
> https://flic.kr/p/VCjr6C
> https://flic.kr/p/VPwvqd
> https://flic.kr/p/VT2pRk
> https://flic.kr/p/VCjq6G
> https://flic.kr/p/VT2rrp
> https://flic.kr/p/VT2otk
> https://flic.kr/p/VhQ6fo
> 
> Best,
> Shai
> 
> 
> 
> From: bounce-122646499-3714...@list.cornell.edu 
> [bounce-122646499-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Timothy Healy 
> [tp...@cornell.edu]
> Sent: Monday, June 18, 2018 7:28 PM
> To: Steve Walter
> Cc: NYSBIRDS
> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others
> 
> This is where many banders and field biologists often use the abbreviations 
> SY and ASY, for second year and after second year. The second year, a.k.a. 
> second summer a.k.a. year old, plumages for many species are pretty 
> definitive, and quite distinct from adults. In the case of COTE and ARTE, 
> birds stay in a plumage that resembles their initial juvenile coloration for 
> their second calendar year. The black-billed, white-foreheaded birds that are 
> so abundant at the beach this season are coming up on a year old. This 
> “imperfect” adult Arctic, with only some smudges, flecks, and short streamers 
> to separate it from a classic mature bird, is probably at least two years 
> old. I certainly don’t think it was born during the last season, which is 
> what I understand makes a second summer bird. It may be in its third summer, 
> or maybe it’s older and just a little funky. I reported it on eBird as ASY, 
> because it is definitely far more progressed than the typical yearling birds 
> loafing around the inlets.
> 
> Cheers!
> -Tim H
> 
> On Jun 18, 2018, at 7:15 PM, Steve Walter 
> mailto:swalte...@verizon.net>> wrote:
> 
> Tim,
> 
> In normal conversation, I typically use the phrase “two year old” for birds 
> that I suspect were born two summers ago. But as the conversation of recent 
> days has alluded, there can be adults that for whatever reason, are not 
> complete. And adult traits may not develop in sync in younger birds. Looking 
> back at the weekend’s posts, I saw that Pat Lindsay made a point about her 
> “second summer type” having a black bill. Today’s had a red bill. So a two 
> year old? Probably. But definitely? Maybe, maybe not. It looks like it 

Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others

[Joseph DiCostanzo]

Shai does an excellent job summarizing the complications of the terms. And he 
makes a very important point about using the term “type” since there is so much 
individual variation you cannot always reliably join plumage to chronological 
age. I would disagree with one point however. On Great Gull Island we trap 
numbers of Common Terns that are 20 years old or older. (I frequently tell 
students the bird they are handling might be older than they are.) Some seasons 
we may handle a hundred birds in this age bracket. It is highly unusual for 
them to be visually different from from other adults, so I would disagree with 
Shai’s statement that many Common Terns in this age bracket look like TY birds. 
I should note that we are trapping birds on nests with hatched chicks so they 
are generally in healthy breeding condition. It is certainly possible that 
birds in subprime condition may not be in full adult plumage.

Joe DiCostanzo

Sent from my iPad

> On Jun 18, 2018, at 8:01 PM, Shaibal Mitra  wrote:
> 
> Tim,
> 
> There's an error here.
> 
> Regardless of what's true of any given bird, note the following 
> equivalenciesduring June-July in NYS:
> 
> Juvenile = HY = hatching-year
> First-summer = SY = Second calendar year
> Second-summer = TY = Third calendar year (but caveat: many this age look like 
> adults, and some adults look like this, hence "type")
> Adult = ATY = After Third calendar year.
> 
> With terns:
> 
> 1. the first-summer plumage (=SY =second calendar year) is usually highly 
> stereotyped; this is the "portlandica" plumage; one year-old birds that 
> differ obviously and consistently from breeding adults.
> 
> 2. the second-summer type plumage (associated with but not identical to TY = 
> third calendar year) is highly variable. Part of this arises because it 
> comprises some actual TY birds (two years old; but note, many TY birds attain 
> definitive adult appearance), and also a percentage of older, fully adult 
> birds that are not in prime condition (very old Common Terns >20 years old 
> often look like this).
> 
> Below are links to a series of second-summer type Arctic Tern individuals, 
> spanning the gamut from very delayed (almost portlandica-looking) to nearly 
> adult looking. The Arctic Terns that show up on LI are non-breeders, and they 
> range from classic first-summers through all manner of second-summer types to 
> almost adult-looking birds. But among the latter, they almost always show 
> some defect from full breeding adult condition, and these occur all through 
> June and early July. Thus I tend to suspect them as mainly seond-summer = TY 
> = Third year = two year-olds.
> 
> https://flic.kr/p/VVHtaZ
> https://flic.kr/p/VhQ65U
> https://flic.kr/p/VT2po6
> https://flic.kr/p/VCjr6C
> https://flic.kr/p/VPwvqd
> https://flic.kr/p/VT2pRk
> https://flic.kr/p/VCjq6G
> https://flic.kr/p/VT2rrp
> https://flic.kr/p/VT2otk
> https://flic.kr/p/VhQ6fo
> 
> Best,
> Shai
> 
> 
> 
> From: bounce-122646499-3714...@list.cornell.edu 
> [bounce-122646499-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Timothy Healy 
> [tp...@cornell.edu]
> Sent: Monday, June 18, 2018 7:28 PM
> To: Steve Walter
> Cc: NYSBIRDS
> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others
> 
> This is where many banders and field biologists often use the abbreviations 
> SY and ASY, for second year and after second year. The second year, a.k.a. 
> second summer a.k.a. year old, plumages for many species are pretty 
> definitive, and quite distinct from adults. In the case of COTE and ARTE, 
> birds stay in a plumage that resembles their initial juvenile coloration for 
> their second calendar year. The black-billed, white-foreheaded birds that are 
> so abundant at the beach this season are coming up on a year old. This 
> “imperfect” adult Arctic, with only some smudges, flecks, and short streamers 
> to separate it from a classic mature bird, is probably at least two years 
> old. I certainly don’t think it was born during the last season, which is 
> what I understand makes a second summer bird. It may be in its third summer, 
> or maybe it’s older and just a little funky. I reported it on eBird as ASY, 
> because it is definitely far more progressed than the typical yearling birds 
> loafing around the inlets.
> 
> Cheers!
> -Tim H
> 
> On Jun 18, 2018, at 7:15 PM, Steve Walter 
> mailto:swalte...@verizon.net>> wrote:
> 
> Tim,
> 
> In normal conversation, I typically use the phrase “two year old” for birds 
> that I suspect were born two summers ago. But as the conversation of recent 
> days has alluded, there can be adults that for whatever reason, are not 
> complete. And adult traits may not develop in sync in younger birds. Looking 
> back at the weekend’s posts, I saw that Pat Lindsay made a point about her 
> “second summer type” having a black bill. Today’s had a red bill. So a two 
> year old? Probably. But definitely? Maybe, maybe not. It looks like it 

Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others

[Joseph DiCostanzo]

Steve,

These color bands with the large letters have been used at Roseate Tern 
colonies for the last few years. They are known as PFRs (Plastic Field Readable 
bands). They are the latest incarnation of attempts to devise a band that is 
easily identifiable in the field. An important point to remember in recording 
these bands is that the coloring of the characters is just as important as the 
color of the band. I am guessing that the two blue bands you mention had white 
lettering. If you confirm this I will see if I can get them identified. I would 
encourage anyone seeing these bands to report them to the US Bird Banding Lab’s 
website (pwrc.usgs.gov). This will get them into the national dataset and you 
will find out where they are from. One last note: while all the reports I have 
seen recently have been of bands with a letter and two digits, there are also 
PFRs in use now with two letters and a digit. 

Joe DiCostanzo

Sent from my iPad

> On Jun 18, 2018, at 6:05 PM, Steve Walter  wrote:
> 
> Another day, another Arctic Tern at Nickerson Beach. Actually, my first for 
> the year, and this one had to be waited on. It might have been too foggy in 
> the morning for it to find land (joke). Interesting bird this one. My tern 
> guru advises me to call it a “second summer type”. Basically adult looking 
> with a red bill, but with a carpal bar and speckling on the forehead (not 
> well visible in the picture I posted). In a similar vein, there was a Roseate 
> Tern of less than full adult appearance. This bird, and also a full adult, 
> had readable blue legs bands. Maybe others have seen this, but this is the 
> first time I’ve seen terns with something more readable in the field than the 
> metal bands. I’ll reports these (bands B97 and Y11) and find out more in due 
> time. But perhaps someone on this list might know something (Joe D?).  Also, 
> a Gull-billed Tern flying over the east tern colony around mid-day. Pictures 
> of the Arctic and Roseates have been added to the bottom of the Recent Work 
> page at my web site http://stevewalternature.com/ .
>  
> Steve Walter
> Bayside, NY
> --
> NYSbirds-L List Info:
> Welcome and Basics
> Rules and Information
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
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> The Mail Archive
> Surfbirds
> ABA
> Please submit your observations to eBird!
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Re: [nysbirds-l] Nickerson Beach Arctic Tern and others

[Joseph DiCostanzo]

Steve,

These color bands with the large letters have been used at Roseate Tern 
colonies for the last few years. They are known as PFRs (Plastic Field Readable 
bands). They are the latest incarnation of attempts to devise a band that is 
easily identifiable in the field. An important point to remember in recording 
these bands is that the coloring of the characters is just as important as the 
color of the band. I am guessing that the two blue bands you mention had white 
lettering. If you confirm this I will see if I can get them identified. I would 
encourage anyone seeing these bands to report them to the US Bird Banding Lab’s 
website (pwrc.usgs.gov). This will get them into the national dataset and you 
will find out where they are from. One last note: while all the reports I have 
seen recently have been of bands with a letter and two digits, there are also 
PFRs in use now with two letters and a digit. 

Joe DiCostanzo

Sent from my iPad

> On Jun 18, 2018, at 6:05 PM, Steve Walter  wrote:
> 
> Another day, another Arctic Tern at Nickerson Beach. Actually, my first for 
> the year, and this one had to be waited on. It might have been too foggy in 
> the morning for it to find land (joke). Interesting bird this one. My tern 
> guru advises me to call it a “second summer type”. Basically adult looking 
> with a red bill, but with a carpal bar and speckling on the forehead (not 
> well visible in the picture I posted). In a similar vein, there was a Roseate 
> Tern of less than full adult appearance. This bird, and also a full adult, 
> had readable blue legs bands. Maybe others have seen this, but this is the 
> first time I’ve seen terns with something more readable in the field than the 
> metal bands. I’ll reports these (bands B97 and Y11) and find out more in due 
> time. But perhaps someone on this list might know something (Joe D?).  Also, 
> a Gull-billed Tern flying over the east tern colony around mid-day. Pictures 
> of the Arctic and Roseates have been added to the bottom of the Recent Work 
> page at my web site http://stevewalternature.com/ .
>  
> Steve Walter
> Bayside, NY
> --
> NYSbirds-L List Info:
> Welcome and Basics
> Rules and Information
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> Archives:
> The Mail Archive
> Surfbirds
> ABA
> Please submit your observations to eBird!
> --

--

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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01

Please submit your observations to eBird:
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