The Least Tern is the smallest of the terns, about the size of a Brewer’s Blackbird, under nine inches. When we observed a nesting colony of these small terns, they were still busy bringing fish to their offspring although the colony was beginning to dwindle in size. We were surprised to see a pair of adult Least Terns seemingly taunting their offspring with a tiny fish. They would dangle it enticingly in front of the young bird, then jerk it away just as the bird reached for it. This behavior went on for a while with a couple of young birds. Finally, one of the young birds flapped its wings and suddenly flew off. Apparently, it was time for them to leave the nesting colony and the parents were doing their best to get them to fly. The ploy seemed to work eventually. This tern is heading to the nesting colony with a tiny fish, perhaps not just to feed its young but to encourage it to fly.