Black Tern Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Black Terns are one of my favorite species. I see them every spring and summer, but they're not the easiest bird to photograph. In their black summer breeding plumage, it's tough to get the right light and exposure to get any sort of plumage definition, and the dark eye is sometimes lost in the dark feathering of the head. My favorite photo is the flight shot below, from Grass Lake in western Minnehaha County on May 16th, 2020.

Black Tern - Childonias Niger


Black Tern 1 August 1st, 2004 Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Black Tern 2 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Black Tern 3 July 28th, 2006 Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Black Tern 4 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota

Black Tern 5 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Black Tern 6 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Black Tern 7 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Black Tern 8 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota

Black Tern 9 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Black Tern 10 September 11th, 2010 Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Black Tern 11 July 2009 Lake County, South Dakota	Black Tern 12 July 2009 Lake County, South Dakota

Black Tern 13 May 17th, 2013 Kingsbury County, South Dakota	Black Tern 14 May 14th, 2016 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Black Tern 15 August 11th, 2018 Brookings County, South Dakota	Black Tern 16 May 14th, 2016 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Black Tern 17 May 14th, 2016 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Black Tern 18 May 14th, 2016 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Black Tern 19 May 16th, 2020 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Black Tern 20 May 16th, 2020 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota