Least Tern Courtship

I visited a nesting area for Least Terns and Piping Plovers situated at the southern end of Plum Island. The area is a Massachusetts park. The beach is open but no pets are allowed and the bulk of the dune area is closed and off limits so that the birds can successfully nest.

Least Terns are a small tern and are easily identified by their white forehead and yellow beak with a black tip. Males court prospective mates by bringing them a fish and doing their best to impress them. Multiple males may try to court a single female and there will be some competition. The females indicate their interest by lowering themselves close to the ground. The male in this photo seems to have made his case.

He is successful and she should get the fish.

But…

The cad! He flew off with the fish, leaving her at the altar so to speak.

Another male, or maybe the same one, showed up and the ritual begins again.

The drama was a bit too much and I wandered off to look for other subjects. I’ll have some other sightings in the next post.