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Least terns are found across much of the planet, but are a threatened species in California (the local subspecies is Sternula antillarum brownii), largely because their preferred nesting beaches are also popular with bathers, dogs, joggers, volleyball players, and (in one or two military bases) Marines on war games. As their name implies, least terns are quite small, and can be easily identified by their yellow bills and white foreheads. These were breeding at Bolsa Chica reserve in coastal Orange County, California. Their nesting area is protected against terrestrial predators, and I had to shoot directly through a green-painted cyclone fence to get these images. The chick in the bottom photos is almost ready to fly; it was flapping its wings and getting slightly off the ground on the late July day I took these pictures.
Images of flying least terns are on this page. Click here for more flight pictures of elegant terns, royal terns, Forster's terns, and Caspian terns.
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