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Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consist of eleven genera. They are slender, lightly built birds with long, forked tails, narrow wings, long bills, and relatively short legs. Most species are pale grey above and white below, with a contrasting black cap to the head, but the marsh terns, the Inca tern, and some noddies have dark plumage for at least part of the year. The sexes are identical in appearance, but young birds are readily distinguishable from adults. Terns have a non-breeding plumage, which usually involves a white forehead and much-reduced black cap.
The Sandwich tern is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern, Chinese crested tern, Cabot's tern, and elegant tern and has been known to interbreed with the lesser crested. It breeds in the Palearctic from Europe to the Caspian Sea wintering to South Africa, India and Sri Lanka.
The roseate tern is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name Sterna is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific dougallii refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McDougall (1777–1814). "Roseate" refers to the bird's pink breast in breeding plumage.
The lesser crested tern is a tern in the family, Laridae.
The royal tern is a tern in the family Laridae.
The elegant tern is a tern in the family Laridae. It breeds on the Pacific coasts of the southern United States and Mexico and winters south to Peru, Ecuador and Chile.
The Chinese crested tern is a tern in the family Laridae, closely related to the Sandwich tern, T. sandvicensis, and the lesser crested tern, T. bengalensis. It is most similar to the former, differing only in the bill pattern, which is the reverse of the Sandwich tern's, being yellow with a black tip. From the lesser crested tern, which it overlaps in wintering distribution, it can be told by the white rump and paler grey mantle, as well as the black tip to the bill, which seen from up close also has a white point. The larger greater crested tern is also similar, differing in its stouter, all-yellow bill and darker grey mantle and rump, as well as in size.
The greater crested tern, also called crested tern or swift tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old World. Its five subspecies breed in the area from South Africa around the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific and Australia, all populations dispersing widely from the breeding range after nesting. This large tern is closely related to the royal and lesser crested terns, but can be distinguished by its size and bill colour.
Birding World was a monthly birding magazine published in the United Kingdom. It is the magazine of the Bird Information Service, based at Cley next the Sea, Norfolk. With the publication of issue No. 26/12 in January 2014, Birding World magazine ceased publication.
Stephen J. M. Gantlett is a British birder. He lives with his wife Sue in Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. A qualified optician, SJMG retired from this profession in 1982 to become a full-time ornithologist.
Thalasseus, the crested terns, is a genus of eight species of terns in the family Laridae.
The Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve near the village of Dawlish Warren in south Devon, England. It is part of the Exe Estuary Special Protection Area, and sits on a sand spit which runs across the mouth of the estuary. It is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest and part of it is a local nature reserve.
The West African crested tern is a bird species in the family Laridae.
References
- Gantlett, Steve (2003): Identification of orange-billed terns. Birding World16(7): 285-304.
- This article presents 51 captioned photographs of elegant, lesser crested and Cayenne terns, with an emphasis on "non-classic" individuals.
- Millington, Richard (2002): The orange-billed terns in summer 2002. Birding World15(7): 287-290.
- This article documents the 2002 influx into Britain, with discussion about the identification characters shown by each of the four or five birds, all of which are illustrated by photographs.
- Millington, Richard & Gantlett, Steve (2002): The orange-billed tern in Norfolk. Birding World 15(6): 244-246.
- This article documents a bird seen in Norfolk, England in summer 2002 which resembled both elegant and lesser crested terns to some degree; the article is accompanied by photos of this bird and a presumed elegant tern seen in a Florida tern colony in 2002.