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Elegant Tern

Sterna elegansOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)

Elegant Tern Breeding Adult Portrait
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General

Elegant Tern: Medium-sized tern with pale gray upperparts and white underparts that may be tinged pink. Black cap has shaggy crest; orange or red-orange bill is long and slightly decurved. Outermost primaries have faint black smudges. Tail is deeply forked and legs are black. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has receded black cap with white forehead. Juvenile is similar to winter adult but with back faintly spotted brown and yellow bill and legs.

Range and Habitat

Elegant Tern: Breeds only in five breeding colonies: three in southern California, and two in northwestern Mexico. Spends winters along the Pacific coast from central Mexico to Chile. Preferred habitats include shallow estuaries and bays.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"karreck, karreck, karreck"

Interesting Facts

  • Elegant Terns are highly social and very vocal, especially when feeding in flocks.
  • Unlike some of the smaller white terns, it is not very aggressive toward potential predators, relying on the sheer density of the nests and nesting close to other more aggressive species such as Heermann's Gulls to avoid predation.
  • After hatching, the chick stays in the nest for about a week. Then it joins a group of up to several hundred chicks called a crèche. The adults take turns guarding the crèche, standing at the perimeter of the group and herding the chicks together.
  • A group of elegant terns are collectively known as a "cotillion" of terns.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Elegant Tern
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Sterna elegans
Length16 - 17 Inches
Wingspan34 Inches

Elegant Tern

Elegant Tern: Medium tern, pale gray upperparts, white underparts may have pink tint. Black cap has shaggy crest; orange or red-orange bill is long, slightly decurved. Outermost primaries have faint black smudges. Tail deeply forked, legs are black. Hovers above water before diving.

● Song: "karreck, karreck, karreck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Elegant Tern: Feeds on fish; forages by hovering over shallow water and then plunge diving.

● Breeding & nesting: Elegant Tern: Two white to pink buff eggs marked with black or dark brown are laid in a shallow ground scrape near water. Incubation ranges from 20 to 30 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Elegant Tern: Royal Tern is larger with thicker, shorter, straight bill and shorter crest.

Flight Pattern

Light buoyant flight on steady wing beats.
Elegant Tern Breeding Adult Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Elegant Tern: Breeds only in five breeding colonies: three in southern California, and two in northwestern Mexico. Spends winters along the Pacific coast from central Mexico to Chile. Preferred habitats include shallow estuaries and bays.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationExpanding northward, Increasing
MigrationMigratory
Weight9 Ounces