We are getting to the hungry season with young birds of all sorts begging for food from their busy and tired parents. You have probably seen this happening in your yard for a couple of months. We are now into the season for waterbirds like the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) to be doing the same.
Check out this video of a juvenile Common Tern begging for more even after an adult delivers a sizable meal!
The squeaky wheel, it turns out, does indeed get the grease. Or the fish. Here are some photos of the foraging and feeding in action.
That hungry little one was unhappy and then happy rather quickly…and probably unhappy again as soon as the meal went down the hatch. I cannot wait to see how many Common and Least Terns we are able to help fledge across Long Island Sound as part of our work in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. All of that data will be presented this fall.
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
