We have a few different types of Terns on the South Carolina coast. Of course they all have a similar head marking. This bird doesn’t seem to fit though.
Note; BayPhotosByDonna cleared this up, a Forster’s Tern. See comments.
My best guess, a Sandwich Tern. This is not part of their usual habitat range though.
The black bill still points to a Sandwich…best I can tell.
Shore birds are the hardest for me to ID.
I do know it’s not a Flamingo.
An adult Sandwich Tern has black legs, the juvenile’s legs & bill are orangey. Sooooo….I got my handy-dandy ID books out on gulls & terns. Look at the non-breeding adult Forster’s Tern, the one in my book looks just like your photo. The gulls and terns are so darn hard with juveniles and non-breeders in the mix. I’m at lost many times with these species without my books showing the phases. 🙂
Hey, I do agree with you it’s not a Flamingo!
LOL, me too. Thanks. Ellen has an IPhone App that ID’s a bird by an image, or photo of a photo. I didn’t ask her 🙂