Chinese Crested Tern near West Papua

[Michael Szabo]

An extremely rare Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini) with a black-tipped orange bill was photographed yesterday on Seram (Indonesia), near the western end of West Papua, by Lev Frid (see link below) and shared today on Facebook. It is with a group of three Greater Crested Terns.

His post reads:

"Wow! I am still in awe at the events that unfolded yesterday with our Rockjumper - Worldwide Birding Adventures Remote West Papuan Islands tour in Seram, that led to finding probably the rarest bird I’ve ever found.

We took the tender boats out to search for shorebirds, herons and others during the hot afternoon, with a picturesque storm rolling in off the island. There were some terns resting on a fishing platform, so we went to check them out. One stood out from the crowd - very pale with an orange bill and an adrenaline-inducing black tip - a Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini). Before long we got both boats in position for great views of this critically endangered tern, and one of my most wanted Asian birds. I’d never imagined that this is how I’d see it!!"

[andrewcrossland]

I hope they publish this sighting in Kukila, Forktail or Stilt so it’s not another important record lost in eBird or bird tour trip reports.

[Michael Szabo]

I forwarded the sighting and photo to Forktail.