The Story
I photographed this Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) in flight at Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida, United States, in November 2020. It lives only in the Americas, on both coasts, though vagrants have turned up in Europe. Adults have a wingspan of about 130 centimeters. From early summer into late winter its black cap turns white on the forehead and crown, keeping black only on the nape. In the east it winters from North Carolina south to Panama, the Guianas and the Caribbean. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/2500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400, −0.7 EV. The park lies on both sides of Sebastian Inlet, which forms the line between Brevard and Indian River counties, and in 2010 it was the second most visited state park in Florida.
©2024 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) 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 2018), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List