After my early May trip to Fort De Soto, I stopped at a Black Skimmer colony to see if the birds were settling in for the nest season. They were definitely congregating, but their colony wasn’t yet roped-off because they weren’t on eggs yet. I spotted a mixed flock of terns and skimmers down by the water and wandered down to say hello. I focused mostly on the Sandwich Terns because I don’t have many images of their courtship rituals.

The males were bringing in fish to impress their prospective mates…

On the ground, the females waited anxiously. Their calls took on a particular pitch as their partner approached…

After landing, the males presented the females with the fish. As you can see from the below photo, the birds require no privacy at all in these courtship rituals! (or the ones that sometimes follow if the fish is particularly yummy)

After so many happy hours photographing Least Tern courtship, it struck me that the Sandwich Terns find much bigger fish!

I wondered how the males identified their mates below. After all, the birds mostly look alike, and several of the females would call excitedly to attract the attention of the male overhead. It turns out that sometimes the males do get confused and try to give the fish to the wrong lady…

…and then when he realized his mistake, the two birds started to fight over the fish!

They fussed as the male yanked back the fish and tried to make off with it…

… but alas, the gulls usually win these kinds of fights!