Of all Possessions a Friend is the Most Precious

Spent an Enjoyable Morning in 2017 with a pair of Royal Terns… Life is Good.

 

Royal tern usually feed on small fish such as anchovies, weakfish, and croakers. Fish are their main source of food but they also eat insects, shrimp, and crabs.

 

When feeding on small crabs the royal tern does not use its normal plunge-dive technique, but instead uses short shallow dives so that they are concealed from their prey. The royal tern also uses this technique when hunting flying fish.

 

The royal tern nests on island beaches or isolated beaches with limited predators. It lays one or two eggs, usually in a scrape, an area on the ground where a tern has made a small hole to lay its eggs.

 

In some cases, tern eggs are laid directly on the ground, not in a scrape. The eggs incubate from 25 to 30 days; after the eggs hatch the chicks remain in the scrape for about a week. About two weeks after hatching the chicks

 

(Nikon D500, 300/2.8 + TC, 1/1000 @ f/8.0, ISO 200)

 

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