Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern is the biggest species of tern on the planet. Despite their geographic name they are widely distributed around the globe, across North America, Eurasia, Africa down to Australia and New Zealand. But they are patchily distributed and not very common. The entire global population is 50,000 pairs, whereas there are more pairs of Arctic Terns nesting in Britain alone than that (53,000). And when I said they were large they are 5 or 6 times heavier than an Arctic Tern, about the size of a large gull. Despite the wide global distribution there is almost no geographic variation. This one was at San Ignacio lagoon on Mexico's Baja peninsula. They used to be placed in the same genus as Arctic Tern (Sterna) but were recently placed in a genus Hydroprogne (means water swallow) all by themselves.
Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern is the biggest species of tern on the planet. Despite their geographic name they are widely distributed around the globe, across North America, Eurasia, Africa down to Australia and New Zealand. But they are patchily distributed and not very common. The entire global population is 50,000 pairs, whereas there are more pairs of Arctic Terns nesting in Britain alone than that (53,000). And when I said they were large they are 5 or 6 times heavier than an Arctic Tern, about the size of a large gull. Despite the wide global distribution there is almost no geographic variation. This one was at San Ignacio lagoon on Mexico's Baja peninsula. They used to be placed in the same genus as Arctic Tern (Sterna) but were recently placed in a genus Hydroprogne (means water swallow) all by themselves.