Inca tern | |
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Inca tern at Walsrode Bird Park, Germany, eating a fish | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Laridae |
Genus: | Larosterna Blyth, 1852 |
Species: | L. inca |
Binomial name | |
Larosterna inca | |
The Inca tern (Larosterna inca) is a near-threatened species of tern in the subfamily Sterninae of the family Laridae (the gulls, terns, and skimmers). [2] [1] It is found along the Pacific coasts of Chile, Ecuador and Perú, [3] and has appeared as a vagrant in Central America and Hawaii. [4]
The Inca tern is the sole member of its monotypic genus, Larosterna, and has no recognized subspecies. [2]
The Inca tern is roughly 39 to 42 cm (15 to 17 in) long and weighs between 180 to 210 g (6.3 to 7.4 oz). Its plumage is uniquely colorful, among terns; adults have a mostly dark, slate-gray body, with a paler throat and underwing coverts. A white stripe extends back from the base of the bill and fans-out as long, satiny feathers along the side of the neck. The trailing edge of their wing, and the edges of the four outer primaries, are white. Their tail is black and moderately forked. Their iris is brown, with legs and feet that are dark red. Their bill is dark red with bare yellow skin at the base. Chicks are, upon hatching, a purplish-brown, progressing through brownish-gray before developing mature plumage. The chicks' bills and legs are dark and horn-colored, and gradually attain the red of adults'. [5] [6]
The Inca tern is an inhabitant of the Humboldt Current region. It breeds from Lobos de Tierra, in northern Perú, south to the Aconcagua River, near Valparaíso, Chile. Some disperse north into Ecuador after breeding. [5] [3] It is a casual visitor to Panamá and Costa Rica, and has also been recorded as a vagrant in Guatemala and Hawaii. [4] The Hawaiian documented birds, in particular, remained from March through November on the Hawaiian archipelago. [4]
The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society treats the Inca tern's presence in Colombia as "hypothetical", due to a number of unverified or undocumented sightings. [3] On the biodiversity database iNaturalist, one 'research-grade' sighting (with photo) has been documented from the coast of Buenaventura, Colombia's Isla Cascajal, dated July 2023. [7]
The Inca tern nests on sea cliffs and guano islands, as well as manmade structures (such as ledges under piers) and abandoned barges. It will gather with other sea and shorebirds on sandy beaches. [5] [6]
The Inca tern is essentially non-migratory, although some disperse northwards after breeding. Some rogue individuals have flown great distances. [5]
The Inca tern feeds primarily on small fish, such as anchoveta (Engraulis ringens), and also consumes planktonic crustaceans and offal or carrion in its diet. Large flocks congregate around fishing boats and will also follow the feeding patterns of cormorants, sea lions, and whales and dolphins. Feeding flocks can number over 5,000 birds. The Inca tern catches its prey mainly by plunge-diving, but also picks items from the surface while flying or floating on the water. [5] [6]
The Inca tern's breeding does not appear to be concentrated in any season. Eggs have been found between April and July and between October and December, and other evidence of breeding has been noted in August. It nests in a variety of sites including fissures and caves in rock cliffs, among rocks and boulders on island slopes, in abandoned petrel and penguin burrows, and on and under human structures. The clutch size is usually two eggs though sometimes one. Both sexes incubate the clutch and provision the young. The incubation period is not known; fledging occurs about four weeks after hatch and the young are fully dependent on the adults for at least a month after fledging. [5]
The Inca tern is most vocal at its nesting colonies. Its calls include "raucous cackling notes" and "mewing"; the latter call has been likened to that of a kitten. [5] [6]
The IUCN has assessed the Inca tern as Near Threatened. It has a somewhat restricted range; its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. "Reproductive success is dramatically reduced during El Niño events". Human harvesting of its primary prey is a probable threat as is climate change. [1] One estimate placed its population at about 150,000 in 2011. [5]
The common tern is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions. Breeding adults have light grey upperparts, white to very light grey underparts, a black cap, orange-red legs, and a narrow pointed bill. Depending on the subspecies, the bill may be mostly red with a black tip or all black. There are several similar species, including the partly sympatric Arctic tern, which can be separated on plumage details, leg and bill colour, or vocalisations.
The common gull or sea mew is a medium-sized gull that breeds in the Palearctic. The closely related short-billed gull is sometimes included in this species, which may be known collectively as "mew gull". Many common gulls migrate further south in winter. There are differing accounts as to how the species acquired its vernacular name.
The little gull, is a species of gull belonging to the family Laridae which is mainly found in the Palearctic with some colonies in North America. It breeds on freshwaters and spends winters at sea. It is the smallest species of gull in the world and the only species in the monospecific genus Hydrocoloeus.
The gull-billed tern, formerly Sterna nilotica, is a tern in the family Laridae. It is widely distributed and breeds in scattered localities in Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and the Americas. The Australian gull-billed tern was previously considered a subspecies.
The royal tern is a tern in the family Laridae. The species is endemic to the Americas, though strays have been identified in Europe.
Forster's tern is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name Sterna is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and forsteri commemorates the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster.
The black skimmer is a tern-like seabird, one of three similar bird species in the skimmer genus Rynchops in the gull family Laridae. It breeds in North and South America. Northern populations winter in the warmer waters of the Caribbean and the tropical and subtropical Pacific and Atlantic coasts, but South American populations make only shorter movements in response to annual floods which extend their feeding areas in the river shallows.
The Antarctic tern is a seabird in the family Laridae. It ranges throughout the southern oceans and is found on small islands around Antarctica as well as on the shores of the mainland. Its diet consists primarily of small fish and crustaceans. It is very similar in appearance to the closely related Arctic tern, but it is stockier, and it is in its breeding plumage in the southern summer, when the Arctic tern has shed old feathers to get its non-breeding plumage. The Antarctic tern does not migrate like the Arctic tern does, but it can still be found on a very large range. This tern species is actually more closely related to the South American tern.
The stripe-breasted starthroat is a species of hummingbird in the "mountain gems", tribe Lampornithini in subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Brazil.
The rufous-chested dotterel or rufous-chested plover, is a species of bird in subfamily Charadriinae of family Charadriidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and the Falkland Islands.
The tawny-throated dotterel is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae, the plovers and their relatives. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay.
The grey-capped cuckoo is a species of bird in the tribe Phaenicophaeini, subfamily Cuculinae of the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, as a vagrant on Bonaire and in the Galápagos Islands, and possibly in Panama.
The Andean gull is a species in subfamily Larinae of the family Laridae, the gulls, terns, and skimmers. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The snowy-crowned tern, also known as Trudeau's tern, is a species of bird in subfamily Sterninae of the family Laridae, the gulls, terns, and skimmers. It is native to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and possibly Paraguay, and also vagrant in Peru and the Falkland Islands.
The sharp-billed canastero or lesser canastero is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and has also occurred as a vagrant in Brazil.
The buff-winged cinclodes is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and as a vagrant on the Falkland Islands.
The white-lored spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.
The yellow-browed woodpecker, also known as the white-browed woodpecker, is a Near Threatened species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Cabot's tern is a species of bird in subfamily Sterninae of the family Laridae, the gulls, terns, and skimmers. It is found in the eastern U.S. and Middle America, the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago, and in every mainland South American country except Bolivia and Paraguay.
The Chiriqui foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.
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