Sterna maxima

Aransas NWR, near Rockport, TX

In the Western Hemisphere, the Royal Tern is the most common of crested terns. It has an all-orange bill, a conspicuous black crest and light gray primaries and secondaries. These are highly social gregarious birds, found sometimes in flocks numbering in the thousands. On land, it is rare to find a single individual. There are almost always two or more, as in this photo.