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Black Tern

Chlidonias nigerOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)
Codes: Common Name: BLTE Scientific Name: CHLNIG ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176959
Least Concern
 
Black Tern: The breeding adult Black Tern has a black head and underparts. The back, wings and tail are silver-gray and the vent is white. The legs and feet are dark red and the bill is black.
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Black Tern Variations

Black Tern
Juvenile
Black Tern
Black Tern
Breeding Adult
Black Tern

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Overview

Black Tern: Small tern with black head, bill and underparts. Back, wings, and tail are silver-gray. Vent is white; legs and feet are dark red but may appear black. Bouyant direct flight with deep rapid wing beats, hovers for insects. Uneven foraging flight. Plunge dives on occasion.

Range and Habitat

Black Tern: Nests across northern U.S. and southern Canada; spends winters in South America. Preferred habitats include lakes, ponds, marshes, and coastal areas.

Topo Map: Gull-like Body


Listen to Call

Voice Text

"ka-sheek", "kik-kik-kik"

Interesting Facts

 The Black Tern is very social. It breeds in loose colonies and usually forages, roosts, and migrates in flocks of a few to more than 100 birds, occasionally up to tens of thousands.

 The male performs a display flight where he carries a small fish or dragonfly in view of potential mates. A female that accepts the invitation follows him to a perch where he feeds her the prize.

 They are semi-colonial nesters and only defend a small territory a few feet around the nest. Nests may be as close as 1 yard apart, but more typically they are 15 to 60 feet apart, in clusters of 10 to 50 nests.

 A group of terns are collectively known as a "ternery" or a "U" of terns.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Yury Lisyak

Splitbar
Range Map for Black Tern

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Family Tern (Laridae)_blue
Species Chlidonias niger
Length9 - 10 Inches
Wingspan22 Inches

Black Tern

Black Tern: Small tern with black head, bill and underparts. Back, wings, and tail are silver-gray. Vent is white; legs and feet are dark red but may appear black. Bouyant direct flight with deep rapid wing beats, hovers for insects. Uneven foraging flight. Plunge dives on occasion.

● Song: "ka-sheek", "kik-kik-kik"

● Foraging & Feeding: Black Tern: Feeds on insects, crayfish, small mollusks, and fish. Forages by seizing prey at or near the water surface, darting quickly into the water from the air with the bill pointed down; also catches insects in air, especially during swarms.

● Breeding & nesting: Black Tern: Two to four buff to olive eggs with black, brown and green blotches are laid in a floating nest made of dead plants. Nest is sometimes built on top of a muskrat house. Incubation ranges from 17 to 22 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Black Tern: White-winged Tern, accidental in U.S., has white upperwings, white rump and tail, and black axillaries in breeding plumage.

Flight Pattern

Buoyant flight with steady fast wing beats.
Black Tern: Breeding Adult
● Range & Habitat: Black Tern: Nests across northern U.S. and southern Canada; spends winters in South America. Preferred habitats include lakes, ponds, marshes, and coastal areas.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationCommon to fairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight2.3 Ounces
Gull-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
VentX
Birds do not have two separate cavities for excrement and reproduction like humans do. In birds, there is one single entrance/exit that suits both functions called the vent, cloaca or anus.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX