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Aleutian Tern

Sterna aleuticaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)
Aleutian Tern Breeding Adult Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger
  • Eye Color: Dark brown.
  • Head Pattern: Capped
  • Crown Color: Black
  • Forehead Color: White
  • Nape Color: Black
  • Throat Color: White
  • Cere color: No Data
Aleutian Tern: Breeding Adult

Body

  • Length Range: 33-38 cm (13-15 in)
  • Weight: 119 g (4.2 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: White, Black, Gray
  • Underparts: Pale Gray
  • Upperparts: Dark Gray
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Aleutian Tern Breeding Adult Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Strong direct flight with graceful deep wing beats often high above water., Often hovers before dipping into water for food.
  • Wingspan Range: 74-81 cm (29-32 in)
  • Wing Shape: Long-Wings, Tapered-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Forked Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: White
  • Under Tail: White
  • Leg Color: Black
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Family
Species Sterna aleutica
Length13 - 15 Inches
Wingspan30.5 Inches

Aleutian Tern

Aleutian Tern: A medium tern, with white forehead, black cap, bill, and legs, gray under and upperparts, white rump and tail. Undertail coverts, cheeks, and area below cap are white. Wing projects beyond tip of tail at rest. Strong direct flight with deep wing beats, often high above water.

● Song: "twee-ee-ee, chif-chu-ak", "chip"

● Foraging & Feeding: Aleutian Tern: Usually forages in shallow water, including tidal rips, along rivers, and over inshore marine waters. Occasionally adults and fledglings catch insects by hawking over freshwater ponds and marshes. Searches for food from moderate heights, by swooping down to pick prey items from the surface; by hovering and diving to shallow depths; and by sitting on the surface and dipping. Eats primarily fish and zooplankton.

● Breeding & nesting: Aleutian Tern: One to three olive to buff eggs with dark brown markings are laid in a depression on the ground, near water. Nest is lined with plant matter, including moss and matted grasses. Incubation ranges from 22 to 23 days and is carried out by both sexes. Both parents feed the young.

● Similar species: Aleutian Tern: In Alaska, it might be confused with similarly-sized Arctic and Common Terns. The Aleutian Tern has a distinctive white forehead and a dark bar on the secondaries while Arctic Tern Breeding Adult has a black forehead and crown which extend onto nape.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight with graceful deep wing beats often high above water., Often hovers before dipping into water for food.
Aleutian Tern: Breeding Adult
● Range & Habitat: Aleutian Tern: This bird breeds in coastal areas of southern and western Alaska. Breeding colonies located along coast of Chukchi Sea, on Seward Peninsula, along Alaska Peninsula, in widely scattered locations in Aleutian Islands, in Kodiak Archipelago, on Kenai Peninsula and Copper River delta, and along Gulf of Alaska. Breeding colonies are located on flat vegetated islands, dwarf-shrub tundra, grass and sedge meadows, sandy spits and islands, and freshwater marshes. Aleutian Tern is not known to winter in North America.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationUncommon to locally common
MigrationMigratory
Weight4.2 Ounces