[Tweeters] Interesting Caspian Tern Behavior

[mollycvetovac at gmail.com]

Could it be practicing diving for fish?

Sent from my iPhone


> On Oct 1, 2021, at 8:16 PM, John Riegsecker <jriegsecker at pobox.com> wrote:

> 

> Today while watching the terns at Coulter Creek County Park I saw a juvenile Caspian Tern "playing" with a stick.  This evening, while going through my photos I discovered I had photographed a Caspian Tern flying with a stick which it dropped, and then dove into the water to retrieve.  It then carried it back to the group of terns.

> 

> Birds of the world has this to say:

> 

> Play

> Two adults were observed on repeated occasions flying over a lake, carrying small dark objects in bills; from time to time they dropped the objects but retrieved them before they hit the water (132). Other investigators have observed 2 adults playing with a stick (in 1 case about 12 cm long) in a manner similar to that described by King (J. Quinn pers. comm., FJC).

> 

> Curious if others have seen this.  Some photos and eBird list here:

> 

> https://ebird.org/pnw/checklist/S95456745

> 

> -- 

> John Riegsecker

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