Visual Search | Wizard | Browse

Bird name:

Least Tern

Sterna antillarum

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)

Code 4

LETE

Code 6

STEANT

ITIS

176923

Breeding Location:

Seashore, rocky or sandy

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Colonial

Breeding Population:

Fairly common, but local

Egg Color:

Buff to pale green with black, gray or brown marks

Number of Eggs:

1 - 3

Incubation Days:

20 - 25

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Lined with shell fragments and grass.

Migration:

Migratory

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

General

Least Tern: Small tern with slate-gray upperparts and white underparts. Crown and nape are black and forehead is white. Black leading edge of outer wing is conspicuous in flight. Tail is forked. Bill and feet are yellow. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has brown-and-white mottled upperparts.

Range and Habitat

Least Tern: Breeds along California coast, along rivers in Mississippi Valley, and coastally from Maine south to Florida and the Gulf coast. Spends winters from Baja California south to southern Mexico; also along coasts of South America. Preferred habitats include broad, level expanses of open sandy or gravelly beach, dredge spoil and other open shoreline areas, and more rarely, inland on broad river valley sandbars.

Breeding and Nesting

Least Tern: One to three buff to pale green eggs marked with black, gray or brown are laid in a scrape in sand, shells, or gravel and lined with small shells or other debris. Incubation ranges from 20 to 25 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Least Tern: Feeds on small fish; forages by skimming the water surface or diving from the air.

Vocalization

Least Tern: Call is a sharp, penetrating "kip-kip-kip" or shrill "zreep."

Similar Species

Least Tern: Black Tern has dark gray upperparts and tail and is entirely black below.

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

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.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

Outer wing

The alula and the primary feathers.

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