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Courtship

Single elegant tern (Thalasseus elegans) in search of female. In May 2022 I visited Huntington Beach a few times in search of the elegant terns and their punk rock hair dos. It wasn’t until my third visit that I was able to see them. By then it was late in the breeding season, but I was still able to see activity. In this photo a male flew in with a fish looking for a female to pair with. He kept finding females to offer the fish to, but kept being chased off presumably by other males. It seemed that most of the group had already paired off but he was still trying.

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Elegant-Tern-Courtship-Offer_Fish-__G1A5719.jpg
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© 2022 Lara Ferraro
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3510x2340 / 3.6MB
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Birds
Single elegant tern (Thalasseus elegans) in search of female. In May 2022 I visited Huntington Beach a few times in search of the elegant terns and their punk rock hair dos. It wasn’t until my third visit that I was able to see them. By then it was late in the breeding season, but I was still able to see activity. In this photo a male flew in with a fish looking for a female to pair with. He kept finding females to offer the fish to, but kept being chased off presumably by other males. It seemed that most of the group had already paired off but he was still trying.
Info
Wildlife and Nature Photography by Lara Ferraro and Scot Ferraro