Hi Kelvin (ytakching),
As said by Paul, the ringer of this Gull-billed Tern in Western Australia is very interested in your photo and wants to know more about the observation. Grateful if you could contact Clive Minton at mintons@ ozemail.com. au
Here is a message from Clive: ~~~~~~~~~~~
It really is a wonderfully exciting record for us. It is the first flagged or banded Gull-billed Tern report we have received from outside Australia. We knew that some of the birds here were the affinis race, which comes from Asia, because they are very much smaller than the macrotarsus race which breeds in Australia. We have caught and banded and flagged several hundred GBTs over the years and about 20% of these have been affinis. We also see them departing in small flocks in March and April from northwest Australia at the same time as various waders are leaving on northward migration. It is really nice to have proof now that some of our birds do come from the Northern Hemisphere.
All our data on Gull-billed Terns in northwest Australia was published in a paper in the Birds Australia journal "Emu" in 2005 (Volume 105, pages 145-158) "Gull-billed Terns in northwestern Australia; subspecies identification, moults and behavioural notes. Rogers et al (five joint authors).
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Many thanks,
Captain
