The Story
I photographed this Large-billed Tern (Phaetusa simplex) near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. It is the only species in its genus, a short-tailed tern about 38 centimeters long with a large yellow bill and yellow legs. The crown is black, the upperparts gray and the underparts white. It lives on rivers and freshwater lakes across most of South America east of the Andes, and it has strayed as far as Bermuda, Cuba and the United States. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/1000 sec, f/16, ISO 1600, −1 EV. La Macarena National Park was created by decree on September 1, 1989, and spreads across five municipalities of southern Meta.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Large-billed Tern (Phaetusa simplex) belongs to the family Laridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List