Tern Totally Explained

Everything about Tern totally explained

Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily (Sterninae) of the gull family Laridae (van Tuinen et al., 2004). They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks. Terns have a worldwide distribution.
   Most terns were formerly treated as belonging into one large genus Sterna, with the other genera being small, but analysis of DNA sequences supports the splitting of Sterna into several smaller genera (see list, below) (del Hoyo et al., 1996; Bridge et al. 2005; Collinson 2006).
   Many terns breeding in temperate zones are long-distance migrants, and the Arctic Tern probably sees more daylight than any other creature, since it migrates from its northern breeding grounds to Antarctic waters. One Arctic Tern, ringed as a chick (not yet able to fly) on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast in eastern Great Britain in summer 1982, reached Melbourne, Australia in October 1982, a sea journey of over 22,000 km (14,000 statute miles) in just three months from fledging—an average of over 240 km per day, and one of the longest journeys ever recorded for a bird.
   They are in general medium to large birds, typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. They have longish bills and webbed feet. They are lighter bodied and more streamlined than gulls, and look elegant in flight with long tails and long narrow wings. Terns in the genus Sterna have deeply forked tails, those in Chlidonias and Larosterna shallowly forked tails, while the noddies (genera Anous, Procelsterna, Gygis) have unusual 'notched wedge' shaped tails, the longest tail feathers being the middle-outer, not the central nor the outermost. Terns ranges in size from the Least Tern, at 42 g (1.5 oz) and 23 cm (9 inches), to the Caspian Tern, at 630 g (1.4 lbs) and 53 cm (21 inches). Image:Smallarctern.jpg|Arctic Tern. Image:Captiva terns2.jpg|A flock of Royal Terns in flight in Florida, USA. Image:Tern-KayEss-2.jpeg|Common Tern by the River Thames Image:Lternwithfish.jpg|A breeding pair of Least Terns. One has just caught a fish. Image:Terns in flight.jpg|Terns in flight in California Image:Terns in flight 1.jpg|Terns in flight in California Most terns (Sterna and the noddies) hunt fish by diving, often hovering first, but the marsh terns (Chlidonias) pick insects of the surface of fresh water. Terns only glide infrequently; a few species, notably Sooty Tern, will soar high above the sea. Apart from bathing, they only rarely swim, despite having webbed feet.
   Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species now known to live in excess of 25-30 years.

Classification and species list

A recent study (Thomas et al., 2004) of part of the cyt b gene sequence found a closer relationship between terns and the Thinocori, some species of aberrant waders. These results are in disagreement with other molecular and morphological studies (see Paton & Baker, 2006) and are best interpreted to prove an extraordinary amount of molecular convergent evolution between the terns and these waders, or as retention of an ancient genotype.
According the mtDNA studies and review by Bridge et al (2005), the genera and species of terns are as follows:

Genera Anous, Procelsterna, Gygis - noddies. A tropical group, characterised by the notch-wedge shaped (not forked) tail; coastal and pelagic oceanic.

Brown Noddy Anous stolidus
Black Noddy Anous minutus
Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris
Blue Noddy Procelsterna cerulea
Grey Noddy Procelsterna albivitta
White Tern Gygis alba
Little White Tern Gygis microrhyncha

Genus Onychoprion - "brown-backed" terns

Grey-backed Tern Onychoprion lunata
Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus
Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscata
Aleutian Tern Onychoprion aleutica

Genus Sternula - little white terns

Fairy Tern Sternula nereis
Damara Tern Sternula balaenarum
Little Tern Sternula albifrons
Saunders's Tern Sternula saundersi (formerly considered a subspecies of Little Tern)
Least Tern Sternula antillarum (formerly considered a subspecies of Little Tern)
Yellow-billed Tern Sternula superciliaris
Peruvian Tern Sternula lorata

Genus Phaetusa - Large-billed Tern

Large-billed Tern Phaetusa simplex

Genus Hydroprogne - Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia

Genus Gelochelidon - Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica

Genus Larosterna - Inca Tern
Inca Tern Larosterna inca

Genus Chlidonias - marsh terns
Black Tern Chlidonias niger
White-winged Tern or White-winged Black Tern Chlidonias leucopterus
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus
Black-fronted Tern Chlidonias albostriatus (ex-Sterna albostriata)

Genus Thalasseus - crested terns
Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
Greater Crested Tern or Swift Tern, Thalasseus bergii
Chinese Crested Tern Thalasseus bernsteini
Elegant Tern Thalasseus elegans
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis

Genus Sterna - large white terns
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
Trudeau's Tern Sterna trudeaui
Common Tern Sterna hirundo
Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii
White-fronted Tern Sterna striata
Black-naped Tern Sterna sumatrana
South American Tern Sterna hirundinacea
Antarctic Tern Sterna vittata
Kerguelen Tern Sterna virgata
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
River Tern Sterna aurantia
Black-bellied Tern Sterna acuticauda (possibly Chlidonias)
White-cheeked Tern Sterna repressa (possibly Chlidonias)
Further Information
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