Taking a tern
by Bryan Keil
Title
Taking a tern
Artist
Bryan Keil
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
An elegant tern flying off the coast of La Jolla CA. The Elegant Tern (Thalasseus elegans, syn. Sterna elegans - sa seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It breeds on the Pacific coasts of the southern USA and Mexico and winters south to Peru, Ecuador, and Chile.
This species breeds in very dense colonies on coasts and islands, including Montague Island and exceptionally inland on suitable large freshwater lakes close to the coast. It nests in a ground scrape and lays one to two eggs. Unlike some of the smaller white terns, it is not very aggressive toward potential predators, relying on the sheer density of the nests (often only 20-30 cm apart) and nesting close to other more aggressive species such as Heermann's Gulls to avoid predation.
The Elegant Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, almost invariably from the sea, like most Thalasseus terns. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped hover" favored by the Arctic Tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display. I was lucky enough to see this bird off of the Shore of La Jolla California. Fine Art America watermark will not appear on purchased artwork.
Uploaded
August 6th, 2013
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Viewed 921 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/27/2024 at 11:36 PM
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Comments (23)
Robyn King
Congratulations your gorgeous artwork is being featured in 500 Views Share Group & Shared:-) Please take a moment to add your beautiful art to our archives in the message area and have a wonderful day!
Don Columbus
Congratulations Bryan, your work is Featured in "Birds In Focus" I invite you to place it in the group's "2018 Featured Image Archive" Discussion!! L/Tweet
Lenore Senior
Outstanding! I love this. v/f and my Pick of the Day in the Best of Minimalism group discussion!
Don Columbus
Congratulations Bryan, your work is Featured in "A Birding Group - Wings" I invite you to place it in the group's "2017 Featured Image Archive" Discussion!! L/Tweet
Anita Faye
Bryan, superb Tern capture! Featured on Poetic Poultry! http://fineartamerica.com/groups/poetic-poultry-.html
Ralph Klein
Congratulations. Your photography has been chosen to be featured on the HP of PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.
William Tasker
Hi Bryan! Fun title! Your fantastic in-flight image has been featured by Wild Birds Of The World. L/F