Species: Sterna hirundo
Common Tern
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Sterna
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Charrán Común, Gaviotín Golondrina - Trinta-Réis-Boreal - sterne pierregarin
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Laridae - Sterna - Zink et al. (1995) found that populations on Asian and North American sides of Beringia exhibited a level of mtDNA differentiation intermediate between populations and species; however, sample sizes were small and no formal taxonomic change was recommended. Regional breeding populations in western Great Lakes area are not differentiated genetically into subpopulations (A90BUR01NA). Very rarely hybridizes with roseate tern (e.g., see Zingo et al., 1994, Connecticut Warbler 14(2):50-55).
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
A small sea bird (tern).
Migration
false - false - true - Arrives in breeding areas April-May (Bent 1921). Migration in Costa Rica occurs late September to mid-November and April-May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Eats mainly small fishes (sometimes also crustaceans and insects) obtained at surface of water by diving from air. Susceptible (especially females just prior to laying) to poisoning from dinoflagellate toxin accumulated in fishes (Nisbet 1983). Pair may defend feeding territory away from nest, especially prior to incubation (Ehrlich et al. 1992).
Reproduction Comments
Eggs are laid mostly May-July. Clutch size is 2-3. Incubation lasts 21-27 days, mainly by female. Both sexes tend young, which may leave nest after 3 days (return for brooding) and first fly at about 4 weeks. May lay 2 clutches/year, but second brood rarely fledges. In New York, breeding season was timed to overlap with seasonal increase in food abundance, but food availability began to decline before period of peak demand for food by chicks (Safina and Burger 1988); in a two-year study, fish abundance affected reproductive performance (Safina et al. 1988).
Ecology Comments
In Massachusetts, loss of eggs and chicks was attributed to nocturnal desertion of nests by adults in response to predation by great horned owl (Nisbet and Welton 1984). Presence of mink can reduce reproductive success (Condor 95:708-711). Nonbreeding: singly or in small loose groups, sometimes in large flocks in migration (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Length
37
Weight
120
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-27
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-27
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: northern Alberta across central Ontario and southern Quebec to southern Labrador, south to eastern Washington, southeastern Alberta, northeastern Montana, North Dakota, northeastern South Dakota, central Minnesota, northeastern Illinois, northwestern Indiana, southern Michigan, northern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, central and northern New York, and northwestern Vermont, locally along coast to North Carolina, and locally on Gulf Coast and Bermuda, Greater Antilles, and Netherlands Antilles (AOU 1983, van Halewyn and Norton 1984). In Old World. Nonbreeders occur in summer at James Bay, throughout Great Lakes region, along Atlantic-Gulf coast, south in Middle America to Costa Rica, and throughout West Indies. NON-BREEDING: Baja California and South Carolina to Peru and northern Argentina (AOU 1983); rare in Hawaii. In Old World.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)