Getting the Story Straight About Birds

Why is it so difficult for newspaper reporters to get the facts about birds straight? I see errors constantly, including this morning’s picture of a “Least tern” (“Birders in Paradise,” Feb. 16) which is most likely a Forster’s tern. Least terns are endangered, Forster’s are not. Least terns have yellow bills and legs, not red, and have white patches on their foreheads, not a full black “cap.” Both are pictured in commonly available bird field guides, and both are recognized by many people in the area.

--MONA BAUMGARTEL

Encinitas

Editor’s note: There seems to be plenty of disagreement about which birds are which, and is why we took the captions directly from the slides provided by the Audubon Society.