Caspian Terns with Gulls and Common Terns

The massive size of these Caspian Terns can only be appreciated when you see them in comparison with the "normal sized" terns in our area (Common Terns, Roseate Terns, Forster's Terns, Arctic Terns, and even smaller Least Terns and Black Terns). It is also much easier to judge relative size when the birds are standing on the ground rather than flying.

Caspian Terns Common Terns and Various Gulls

 I had a very hard time finding photos that included both large and small terns on the web (although there must be thousands of them), and these are even better because of all the gulls in the group.  Check out the Caspian Tern on the far left that is looking straight up in the air!

Caspian Tern vs Common Tern

This is a closeup of the previous photo.  To me, the Caspian Terns look 4 times the size of Common Terns, which is about right.  The Caspian Tern's wingspan of 4.5 feet is almost twice the Common Tern's 2.5 foot wingspan, but the Caspian Tern weighs about 5 times what a Common Tern weighs.  Overall, the Caspian Tern is about 4X larger than the terns we are accustomed to seeing here in Massachusetts.

Gulls and Terns

Caspian Terns are larger than Laughing Gulls and larger than Ring-billed Gulls.  They are supersized terns, and I think they're super cool birds!