Elegant Tern

Sterna elegansOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)

Codes: Common Name: ELTE Scientific Name: THAELE ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176925

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Elegant Tern

Elegant Tern: Medium tern, pale gray upperparts, white underparts may have pink tint. Black cap has shaggy crest; orange or red-orange bill is long, slightly decurved. Outermost primaries have faint black smudges. Tail deeply forked, legs are black. Hovers above water before diving.

● Song: "karreck, karreck, karreck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Elegant Tern: Feeds on fish; forages by hovering over shallow water and then plunge diving.

● Breeding & nesting: Elegant Tern: Two white to pink buff eggs marked with black or dark brown are laid in a shallow ground scrape near water. Incubation ranges from 20 to 30 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Elegant Tern: Royal Tern is larger with thicker, shorter, straight bill and shorter crest.

Flight Pattern

Light buoyant flight on steady wing beats.

Elegant Tern Breeding Adult Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Elegant Tern: Breeds only in five breeding colonies: three in southern California, and two in northwestern Mexico. Spends winters along the Pacific coast from central Mexico to Chile. Preferred habitats include shallow estuaries and bays.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationExpanding northward, Increasing

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight9 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

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.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Elegant Tern

Elegant Tern

Flight Pattern