Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), Patagonia Lake, Santa Cruz County

One Common Tern was found at this location on 07 September 2016 by Chris McCreedy, and was joined by a second on 08 September, found by Lauren Harter and David Vander Pluym and photographed by Lauren Harter.

Casual in southeast Arizona. Reports from Santa Cruz County are far less than annual, mostly from Patagonia Lake. These birds were almost certainly associated with Hurricane Newton.

Hurricane Newton formed roughly 220 mi southwest of Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico on 4 Sep 2016 and reached Arizona on 7 Sep 2016, bringing with it several notable species, including three species new to Arizona and one even new to the ABA area! This storm officially reached hurricane strength winds late on 5 Sep 2016 and reached peak intensity with wind speeds of 90 mph shortly before making landfall at Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. Newton moved north and weakened over the Baja California Peninsula. The eyewall fell apart before it made a second landfall, after crossing the Gulf of California, near Bahia Kino, Sonora where it weakened to tropical storm status. Early afternoon on 7 Sep it crossed into Arizona in a weakened state. Despite the weakened state of the storm it managed to bring 5 species of “tubenoses” to Arizona, typically associated with stronger storms. Clearly we have a lot to learn about how hurricanes affect birds in our area! To see a track of the storm see here and to see windspeeds see here. For more information on the last tropical storm to bring tubenoses to Arizona, Nora, see here.

Similar species to look for would be Arctic and Forster's terns. Arctic would lack the large dark wedge on the upperside of the primaries and have a shorter bill. Observers also noted long legs (not visible in photos), whereas Arctic Terns have extremely short legs. Forster's Terns are typically in basic plumage this late in the fall, so would lack the black crown shown by both birds. Forster's Tern also has a gray tail (not white), white uppersides of the primaries (not gray), and pure white belly (these birds still show a hint of gray).

08 September 2016, photo by Lauren Harter

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